Emergency medical services: Literature review.

Emergency Medical Service (EMS) systems worldwide are complex systems, characterized by significant variation between countries, care pathways and quality care indicators.  Therefore, analyzing and improving them is challenging. As the EMS systems differ between countries, it is difficult to provide generic rules and approaches for EMS planning. However, the common target of all countries is to offer medical assistance to patients/victims with serious injuries or illnesses in disaster/ mass casualty incidents as quickly as possible. This paper presents an overview of logistical problems arising for EMS providers.