Designing Resilient EMS Operations:\\ A Business Continuity Perspective on Impactful Emergency Medical Response

When people are injured or ill, they rely on Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for immediate assistance. EMS provide urgent medical care and transports patients to hospitals, making them a vital component of the public health system. The availability and effectiveness of these services determine whether individuals receive timely and adequate medical attention. As such, EMS are an integral part of a nation's critical infrastructure and are therefore held to high standards of resilience. Although emergency response organizations and their processes can, at an abstract level, resemble many other organizations, they differ considerably in operational detail. As a significant characteristic, EMS must respond effectively to crises while ensuring their own operational continuity during such events. This duality demands specialized processes and resources. This paper explores how EMS can maintain functionality while delivering impactful medical response. It examines business processes of EMS and their related dependencies and supply chains. By contrasting relevant factors for effective operations with associated hazards, potential weaknesses are identified and described. Eventually, general key design characteristics for suitable Business Continuity Management (BCM) in EMS are suggested.

Keywords: Critical Infrastructure, Business Continuity Management, Emergency Medical Services, Ambulance.