Emergency medical services (EMS) provide emergency medical care to individuals who have had a sudden or serious injury or illness, or who have suffered major trauma. Access to EMS is critical for rural residents but providing EMS in rural areas can be challenging. Responses to mass casualty incidents, such as a crash involving a bus, can deplete EMS resources from multiple jurisdictions.

Rural EMS typically serve a geographically large and sparsely populated area. Due to the nature of rural areas, EMS may be required to travel farther or navigate difficult terrain when responding to a call or transporting a patient to the hospital. Adverse weather conditions, when coupled with longer distances and geographical obstacles, can significantly affect response or transport times.

Most of the people involved with EMS/Ambulance Services are volunteers.  While the frequency of EMS runs can be lower in rural areas, EMS personnel are frequently on-call, participate in inter-facility and nonemergency transfers, and attend training to validate their skills and meet the continuing education requirements to maintain their license or certification, which places a substantial burden on volunteers working full-time jobs with family responsibilities. (Source: ruralhealthinfo.org)