An Assessment Tool for Ambulance Services

In the summer of 2015, the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health convened a national group of EMS leaders to create a mechanism to assess the capacity of Ambulance Services.  The goal was to create an assessment instrument that could be used on multiple levels:

• By individual ambulance services, to identify their strengths and areas for improvement, benchmarked against other services across the state and nation;
• By state agencies and organizations, seeking more information about the status of the EMS system, and looking to target funding to specific issues and to cohorts of like-performing services;
• By federal agencies, seeking to identify funding needs on a state-by-state basis and measure outcomes of that funding.

With that in mind, 18 “Attributes of a Successful Rural Ambulance Service” were identified and a questionnaire developed to measure services’ adoption of each attribute.  Distributed as an electronic survey, the self-assessment lists each attribute of success, and the participant places their service within a five-point range of adoption - building from, “Say what, again?” to “We’ve adopted this attribute to the Gold Standard.”  Examples for each point on that scale are provided so there is consistency; a "3" on the scale means the same for everyone. 

Ambulance Service Assessment Instrument

EMS Agency Assessment-Attributes by Category

A printed version of the assessment questionnaire can be downloaded above.  All 18 attributes and their examples of adoption are detailed.  For statewide distribution, we strongly recommend utilizing an electronic survey tool. Our office has helped other states roll this out, please contact Penny Black (WI-ORH's Rural Health Epidemiologist) with questions. 

The assessment instrument has the advantage of providing both quantitative results (each attribute is scored from 1 to 5, so answers can be benchmarked against statewide averages, other rural services, urban counterparts, etc), and a qualitative narrative. If a service scores a 2 on an attribute, the examples for 3, 4, and 5 describe the path toward the gold standard of adoption.

Wisconsin Assessment Results - 2016

EMS Assessment Results Summary

A brief summary of findings can be downloaded above; the full report of assessment findings is available for download below.

Ambulance Service Assessment 2016 Report

Attributes of Success - A Workbook

While the assessment itself sketches out a roadmap toward improvement, services may have questions about how to proceed, or appreciate more in-depth guidance in implementing new procedures.  Our office turned to Paul Anderson of the Paramedic Foundation, to create a manual for that purpose, and it is available free-of-charge below.  Feel free to share it with anyone you think may benefit from it. 

EMS Attributes of Success Workbook

As you review and utilize the workbook, we'd love to hear your thoughts on it.  Please send your feedback by clicking the button below:

Permission for use

Both the assessment and workbook were produced by the WI Office of Rural Health, and are provided free of charge to any ambulance service or organization working with ambulance services, under the Creative Commons Non-Commercial license:

You are free to copy, distribute, display, perform, modify, and use this work for any purpose other than commercial gain, under the following conditions: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made; you may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.