Prior FMT rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) studies have identified critical information gaps facing EMS agencies and systems of care. These include difficulties in quantifying the amount of volunteer staffing and a concurrent lack of data on EMS agency staffing and service levels, and a limited understanding of the service areas of individual EMS agencies. The current study builds upon recommendations from the previous studies and identifies a consensus set of core EMS licensure elements and definitions for consideration by state EMS authorities.

Based on state licensure review and expert panel input, we offer suggested standardized measures and definitions for consideration by state EMS authorities to enhance their agency licensure application processes and to align their licensure data collection efforts with other states. This brief will help EMS authorities inform their efforts to improve the ability of national EMS data sets in supporting rural EMS systems of care.