The White Paper

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In the 1966 the National Academy of Sciences - National Research Committee on Trauma and Shock, a federally funded department of the United States government, released research and a report entitled “Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society,” (1966), also known as the "White Paper", which concluded, in part, that both the public and their government were “insensitive to the magnitude of the problem of accidental death and injury”; that the standards to which ambulance services were held were diverse and “often low”; and that “most ambulances used in this country are unsuitable, have incomplete … equipment, carry inadequate supplies, and are manned by untrained attendants.” The research lead to the design an implementation of the United States first federally qualified ambulance services and personnel. The release of this paper is thought to be the beginning of modern Emergency Medical Services in the United States, which places a higher emphasis on quality care provided on-scene and in-transit by Paramedics and EMT's.