Operating an Emergency Medical Service (EMS) is an equipment-intensive undertaking. Providing the best service requires a lot of items for your apparatus and each EMT: everything from high tech equipment like defibrillator, pulse oximeters, radios, resuscitators, and vital signs monitors to bandages, clipboards, flashlights, pens, and tongue depressors.

When buying equipment for your EMS organization, here are some tips:

• Can you justify it given your limited budget because the benefit outweighs the expense?
• Funding: who will pay for the equipment?
  • each EMT
  • donations from local civics groups
  • state, county, and local government grants
  • federal grant money
• What is the total cost of the equipment?
  • acquisition
  • financing
  • operating
  • maintenance
  • training
  • insurance
• Is the equipment compatible with other equipment that the organization uses or is planning to acquire?
• How long does it take to acquire and make operational the equipment?
• What do you do if you decide it is not appropriate to continue using the equipment?

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