Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is a specially organized system that provides personnel, facilities and equipment for the effective and coordinated delivery of emergency medical services within a geographical area. An effective EMS system involves many different agencies and organizations working together seamlessly to provide rapid emergency medical care to patients and ensure that the right patient gets to the right hospital at the right time.
In Mississippi, the emergency medical services system is extraordinary in that member services and personnel not only provide the highest standards of pre-hospital care for the citizens and visitors of Mississippi, but ensure that patients are delivered to the right hospital at the right time.
The Office of Emergency Medical Services and Acute Care Systems (OEMSACS) organizes, regulates and maintains a statewide program to improve emergency medical care. Further, it coordinates agency resources in "all hazard" planning and response to disasters. This includes both incidents involving weapons of mass destruction as well as natural disasters, from hurricanes on the coast to ice storms in the Delta.
The Office works with the Division of Strategic Planning and Response to implement and coordinate the agency's Emergency Response Plans and Emergency Response Team with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the Mississippi Department of Public Safety (MDPS), the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), and other agencies for all disasters including weapons of mass destruction and bioterrorism.
