NASEMSO Requests Input on Model EMS Clinical Guidelines Project
In 2014, the NASEMSO National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines were released following the conclusion of a two-year project initiated by the National Association of State EMS Officials (NASEMSO) Medical Directors Council.
The project was developed for the purpose of helping state and local EMS systems ensure a more standardized approach to the practice of prehospital patient care using the most current knowledge and to encompass evidence-based guidelines as they are developed.
The NASEMSO National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines Project Team is reconvening in 2016 to continue the project. Input is requested to help determine which new guidelines to develop. Proposed revisions to existing guidelines are also posted for your review and feedback. Please review and comment here.
The guidelines are not intended to determine local scope of practice. Rather, the goal is to provide a resource to prehospital clinical practice and to maximize patient care, safety and outcomes. The prehospital guidelines may be used as presented or adapted for use on a state, regional or local level to enhance patient care and benchmark performance of EMS practice. The initial set of guidelines (2014) were intended to be a core set until resources allowed additional guidelines to be developed.
The initial project was funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Office of EMS and the Health Resources Services Administration, EMS for Children Program. Co-Principal Investigators Dr. Carol Cunningham and Dr. Richard Kamin led a project team comprised of emergency and other physicians from eight national EMS-related physician organizations in creating the document.
Experts from a multitude of specialties provided input, and technical assistance in creating the guidelines and feedback from the EMS stakeholder community were incorporated into the final version. The same process will be followed in the next phase as new guidelines are developed and existing guidelines are updated.
The guidelines may be downloaded at National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines (10/23/14). If you would like the document in Word format to adapt for your own use, contact Mary Hedges, NASEMSO Program Manager, at hedges@nasemso.org.
