Paramedicine

In the US, paramedicine is the physician-directed practice of medicine, often viewed as the intersection of health care, public health, and public safety. While discussed for many years, the concept of paramedicine was first formally described in the EMS Agenda for the Future.^[1] Paramedicine represents an expansion of the traditional notion of emergency medical services as simply an emergency response system. Paramedicine is the totality of the roles and responsibilities of individuals trained and credentialed as EMS practitioners. These practitioners have been referred to as various levels of emergency medical technician (EMTs).^[2] In the United States paramedics represent the highest practitioner level in this domain. Additional practitioner levels in this domain within the U.S. include emergency medical responders (EMRs), emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and advanced emergency medical technicians (AEMTs).^[3]