Emergency Medical and Trauma Services
The goal of the Toward Zero Deaths program is to reduce not just crashes, but total road injuries and fatalities. Fast, efficient emergency medical services are critical to reducing fatalities and serious injuries whenever a crash does occur.
Prompt emergency service response is particularly important in rural Minnesota, where crash victims are far from medical facilities and crashes can go unnoticed until another vehicle passes by.
EMS Resources
2010 ENA National Scorecard on State Roadway Laws: A Blueprint for Injury Prevention
The 2010 ENA National Scorecard on State Roadway Laws: A Blueprint for Injury Prevention is a tool to empower ENA members, public health and highway safety professionals and the public at large to engage in collaborative efforts that encourage lawmakers to pass research-based laws protecting people from roadway-related injuries focuses on developing specific state laws to prevent injury and save lives.
Office of Emergency Medical Services—National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Focuses on the areas of standards, education, systems, workforce, and a national EMS information coordination
Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board (EMSRB)
The lead state agency regulating emergency services providers
Guidance for Implementation of the AASHTO Strategic Highway Safety Plan: A Guide for Enhancing Rural Emergency Medical Services (Transportation Research Board NCHRP Report 500, Vol. 15)
Provides strategies to enhance rural emergency medical services
Rural Highway Safety Clearinghouse - EMS section
Provides links to safety publications and other resources, organized by topic.
Patient Data Collection System: MNSTAR
MNSTAR is a web application developed by the EMSRB to collect, store and query EMS data in Minnesota and is part of the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS). NEMSIS is a national effort to standardize the prehospital data collected by EMS agencies. NEMSIS is the national repository that will be used to potentially store EMS data from every state in the nation. Since the 1970s, the need for EMS information systems and databases has been well established, and many statewide data systems have been created.
The MNSTAR system has several key features for use by Minnesota ambulance providers. Licensed ambulance services serving Minnesota communities can now report and review local prehospital data for quality assurance and administrative purposes. Working together, Minnesota-licensed ambulance services and the EMSRB will strive to maintain and improve the quality of prehospital emergency care provided within the State of Minnesota. The goal of MNSTAR is to enable the EMSRB and licensed ambulance services to monitor prehospital emergency care, and therefore protect and improve the quality of life for the citizens of Minnesota. Trauma data is now being collected from ambulance services and hospitals and being reviewed by State and Regional Trauma Committees.
EMS and public education
Emergency service workers such as paramedics, fire fighters, law enforcement officers, doctors, and nurses know a lot about the effects of traffic crashes. Because they are experts and respected by their communities, they can be highly effective as part of a public outreach and education campaign.