Edward E. Eckart, Jr., Commissioner
"We are committed to improving the quality of life in the City of Cleveland by maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards of pre-hospital care, treating our patients with dignity and respect, and caring for each patient as if they were
a member of our own family."
-Cleveland Division of EMS Pledge to the Community
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History
Cleveland's Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Division was one of the country's first. Prior to its formation, police cars were used for emergency hospital transportation. A federal grant enabled the City to purchase a dozen ambulances and train 120 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's).
EMS Medic 9 (based out of University Hospitals at that time) responded to its first call at 9:00 am on October 13th, 1975. Cleveland EMS handled over 80,000 emergency calls that year. At that time, a central dispatch center received nationwide 911 calls which were then routed to the appropriate cities.
Advances in medicine, technology, education and training allowed the division to make major improvements. Public awareness grew as people recognized that EMS services were increasing survival rates for the critically sick and injured.
Cleveland EMS Today
Cleveland EMS is staffed with, on average, 300 professionals who run 22 state-of-the-art advanced life support ambulances handling 85,000 to 95,000 emergency calls annually. The dispatch center is now run locally with certified Emergency Medical Dispatchers trained on a Computer Aided Dispatching system which allows for call prioritizing, pre-arrival instructions, and the tracking of ambulances and support vehicles.
All of the Division’s emergency medical personnel receive rigorous education, training, and performance evaluations to make certain that Cleveland's citizens and visitors receive the best pre-hospital medical care in times of need.
Division of EMS photos provided by Sergeant Caroline Watson
