Emergency medical transport is usually mentioned in context with insurance-related medical services. Where an insurance policy is supported by an emergency medical treatment rider, the policy holder can avail of pre-approved emergency medical transport when required.

The response times and costs involved in emergency medical transport differ vastly from advanced medical transport. There is usually an extensive ‘paper trail’ of verifiable billings to be maintained, and the most cost-effective means are often considered the most viable by the service providers. However, the fact remains that it is a valuable service that can save lives and avert untold suffering where normal medical services will not suffice.

The commercial and bureaucratic angles aside, emergency or critical care medical transport personnel, such as nurses and paramedics, are trained in the special requirements of patients who are being transported from one place to another. The idea is to enable them to offer a degree of in-transit medical service that is comparable to that available at a full-fledged hospital or trauma unit. Such training includes life-saving techniques such as cardiac, hemodynamic and neurological management.

Emergency medical transport is usually called for when a patient (or group of patients) requires instant care for shock, multiple traumas, organ failure, contamination (especially in industrial accidents), etc. Emergency medical transport personnel are able to transfuse blood, keep airways open, restart and maintain heart functioning in the case of heart attacks or strokes, counter diabetic or drug overdose-related reactions, deliver babies, administer sedatives and otherwise deal with a plethora of medical situations as effectively as in a hospital setting.