Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Data Systems

Overview 

The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Section has primary responsibility for facilitating the statewide data collection, analysis, surveillance, and reporting of EMS data. EMS data supports the Department's mission by having valid health information that is accessible when and where it is needed to improve and protect the health and well-being of Florida's residents and visitors.

Emergency Medical Services Tracking and Reporting System (EMSTARS)  

The Department continues its commitment to ensuring quality EMS. To make this commitment a reality, the Emergency Medical Services Tracking and Reporting System (EMSTARS) was created to collect incident level records of emergency calls from EMS agencies, resulting in the subsequent analysis for benchmarking and identifying quality improvement initiatives.  The EMSTARS database collects a subset of nationally recognized EMS data from the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS).

Florida remains committed to collecting a minimum set of data elements that can provide specific, useful, and actionable health information to facilitate the Department's mission. The ability to collect information, develop benchmarks, and assess trends in Florida's EMS system is critical to ensuring the protection, promotion, and improvement of the health for all people in Florida. Additional information about EMSTARS is available at www.FloridaEMSTARS.com.

Prehospital Aggregate System 

This system was implemented in 2002 and provides aggregated EMS agency response information. EMS agencies are required to complete a quarterly report of the volume and type of calls that were completed. Upon receipt of this report, EMS Section staff enter the information into a Structured Query Language (SQL) database. These data do not provide incident level specific information and cannot be used to assess the complete continuum of care. Agencies not currently reporting to EMSTARS utilize this system to report prehospital aggregate data to the Department.

Aggregate Prehospital Quarterly Report Form

EMS Aggregate Prehospital and Provider Profile Information Form (DH 1304) Instruction Manual

Emergency Medical Oversight Continuum of Care Data Warehouse  

The data warehouse currently hosts data from the EMSTARS patient care records that are linked with hospital discharge and emergency department data from the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). A comprehensive data warehouse business strategy is under development to enhance this capability to ensure valid health information is accessible when and where it is needed to improve and protect Florida's health and well-being.

Data Request and Use  

The Department encourages the use of EMS data for the advancement of medical research. Additionally, EMSTARS data should be used for local, regional, and state-level quality improvement efforts. Aggregated state-level reports and data request forms can be found at the Department's EMS Data Reports & Research web page.

Contact 

The Department of Health is dedicated to providing excellent customer service. For technical assistance or questions regarding Florida EMS data, contact the EMS Data Section at EMSTARS@flhealth.gov. You may also call 850-245-4440 or toll free at 1-800-226-1911 if you need to reach the section by phone.

For more information, please contact the EMS Section at:

Florida Department of Health
Division of Emergency Preparedness and Community Support
Emergency Medical Services Section
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A-22
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1738

Under Florida law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.

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