About Boston EMS (the Unofficial Version)

Boston EMS is the lead prehospital agency for the City of Boston. Until July 1, 1996 Boston EMS operated under the Department of Health and Hospitals. However, with the merger of Boston City Hospital and Boston University Medical Center as Boston Medical Center, the Department ceased to exist and was replaced by the Boston Public Health Commission which now operates Boston EMS. It is a two-tiered agency comprised of approximately 300 uniformed personnel, providing service to a permanent population of 600,000. Commuters, students, and visitors swell the day time population to approximately 2 million, and consequently increase call demand during business and early evening hours. Annual responses for community service currently top 140,000. Additionally, Boston EMS is the primary EMS provider for Logan International Airport. Current peak time deployment is 15 BLS, 5 ALS units, 2 Field Supervisors, and one Shift Commander. BLS units are staffed by two EMT-Ds; ALS units are staffed by two Paramedics.

Ambulances are currently housed in a combination of free standing EMS stations (13), Boston Police Stations (5) and Logan Airport (1). The department recently completed a program of renovations for all EMS stations and is in the process of expanding the computer network to include all EMS locations.

Boston EMS operates several specialty units, including the bike team, two technical support trucks, and EMTs on Boston Police Harbor Patrol Units. We also provide medical support for large public gatherings such as First Night, the Boston Marathon, and the Fourth of July concert on the Charles River Esplanade. The bike team recently acquired 10 Smith and Wesson police bikes and accessory equipment.

First response is provided by the Boston and Massachusetts Port Authority Fire Departments, whose personnel are Certified First Responders with defibrillator training. In addition to fire first response, a number of institutions have entered into defibrillation partnerships with Boston EMS. These include, The Boston Globe, Federal Reserve Bank, Fidelity Investments, John Hancock Insurance, Hynes Convention Center, Massachusetts College of Art, MDC Park Rangers, Seaport Hotel, Suffolk County Sheriff's Department, Suffolk University, and Massachusetts State House Nurses. Boston EMS provides the training, Medical Control, and Quality Assurance. The institutions provide the personnel and AEDs. Currently AEDs manufactured by Physio Control, Zoll, Heartstream, Survivalink, and Laerdal are used. To date, a total of 1999 EMTs and First Responders have been trained to use AEDs.

Hiring at Boston EMS is by competitive exam, with written, practical, and oral components. Recruits enter the EMS Academy and complete a twenty two week class room and field training period. Additionally, criminal and driving record checks are performed. All new employees are required to establish residency in the City of Boston within six months of hire.

Promotion to paramedic is also by competitive examination. Candidates must be Massachusetts certified paramedics and have one year's experience with the department. Paramedic interns complete a 500 hour clinical and field internship, and must pass a final oral examination before the Medical Directors before being certified as City of Boston paramedics.

The Training and Quality Improvement Division provides training to new and veteran employees, oversees quality improvement efforts, provides inservice training on new equipment and techniques, and oversees research projects. Current or future research subjects are violence against EMTs, Continuous Postive Airway Pressure (CPAP) treatment for respiratory patients, the Boston Stroke Study, and the Time Insensitive Predictive Instrument for Acute Cardiac Ischemia (TIPI-ACI) study to speed treatment for heart attack victims. Boston EMS paramedics are currently involved in a demonstration project involving the use of medication-assisted intubation. This program involves the use of both conscious sedation intubation and paralytic assisted intubation. Boston EMS BLS personnel are currently participating in the Assitive Albuterol Demonstration Project. Under this innovative Boston EMS lead initiative, BLS personnel can assist Asthma patients with Albuterol Nebulizer Treatments under certain conditions. This make Boston EMS the only service in the Commonwealth with this capability.
Boston EMS, as part of the Boston Public Health Commission provides several community based programs to better serve our patients. Through the TQI Division, Boston EMS is also participating in a grant program to provide outreach to victims of domestic violence. The Division also provides community CPR training and is the resource for training for the Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) program. Boston EMS also operates the File of Life program.

Communications are provided by the Communications Division, which is staffed by six EMTs and an EMS supervisor. Call triage, dispatch, and ambulance to hospital communications are all provided from the Operations Division. Additionally, Metro Boston CMED is operated from the Communications Division.


Boston EMS Unit Call signs and Station Locations
Callsign	  Station Location	 Primary Response Area
Ambulance 1       Purchase Street         Downtown Boston
Ambulance 2       Warren St/Edgewood St   Roxbury (Dudley)
Ambulance 3       Morton St/Blue Hill Av  Mattapan
Ambulance 4       (Future unit)           South End
Ambulance 5       Faulkner Hospital       West Roxbury
Ambulance 6       101 W. Broadway         South Boston
Ambulance 7       Logan Airport           East Boston
Ambulance 8+      Glynn Way %             Downtown/East Boston
Ambulance 9       (Future unit)           Roxbury Crossing
Ambulance 10+     Glynn Way               Dorchester/South Boston
Ambulance 11      Gibson Street           Dorchester
Ambulance 12+     River Street, Mattapan  Roxbury/Dorchester
Ambulance 13      Washington St/Green St  Jamaica Plain
Ambulance 14      Washington St Brighton  Allston/Brighton
Ambulance 15#     Main Street             Charlestown
Ambulance 16+     Beth Israel Hospital    Back Bay/Kenmore
Ambulance 17$     With Ambulance 13       Roslindale Square (when in service)
Ambulance 18      Dana Ave                Hyde Park
Ambulance 19      (Future Unit)             Mattapan/Dorchester
Paramedic 1       With Ambulance 1
Paramedic 2       With Ambulance 2
Paramedic 3#	  With Ambulance 12
Paramedic 5       With Ambulance 5
Paramedic 16#     With Ambulance 16
Division 1        North Side Supervisor
Division 2        South Side Supervisor
Division 3        Additional Supervisor, when staffing permits
Gold 1            Domestice Violence Outreach Unit
Tango 1           North Side Special Operations Support Vehicle
Tango 2           South Side Special Operations Support Vehicle
TC-411            Special Operations Captain
Tango xxx         Special Operations Staff
Ambulance 20-29   Future Primary BLS units
Ambulance 30-39   Additional BLS units, as staffing permits
Paramedic 40-49   Additional ALS units, as staffing permits
Ambulance 50-54   BLS special event units
Paramedic 55-59   ALS special event units
Ambulance 60-64   BLS detail units
Paramedic 65-69   ALS Detail units
Squad 70-79       BLS non transporting units
Squad 80-89       ALS non transporting units
Ambulance 90-94   BLS training units
Paramedic 95-99   ALS Training units
EMTxxx            EMTs individual numbers
Medicxxx          Paramedics individual numbers
MDxx              Medical Control Doctors
Sxx               Supply, Fleet Maintenance Personnel
Academy 1xx       Personnel assigned to EMS Academy
Xray xx           Bicycle Units, operational during warm months, and for special events
HU-2             Harbor Unit, EMTs assigned to Boston Police Harbor patrol boat
                  during spring and summer months.
HU-x              Additional Harbor Units, for special events.
C1-9              Command Staff
C10-19            Shift Commanders
C20-22            Captains assigned to Training Section
C30-70            Individual Supervisor Call Signs

"Reserve" Units are in service when extra staffing permits. They "float" to cover other districts as needed.
+ Units in service 20 hours per day, unless extra staffing permits.
# Units in service 16 hours per day, unless extras staffing permits.
% Temporary, will be moved to new station in the future.
$ When staffing permits 
Boston EMS Radio Channels. CH 1-8 are MED 1-8
CH.    Frequency   Use
09     462.950    Unit to Unit, Tactical Ops
10     462.975    Citywide Dispatch
11     458.1375   Unit to Unit on scene, simplex portables only
12     460.550    Tactical
13     458.0625   Unit to Unit on scene, simplex portables only
14     460.525    Secure communication
15     460.525    Secure simplex
16     453.775    Radio Shop