INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is celebrating a milestone. In 1887 and 1888, the first City Hospital ambulance began transporting sick and injured patients. Today, this ambulance service is Indianapolis EMS, and it has a fleet of 44 ambulances and 39 support vehicles on the streets providing care to those most in need.
“Our history is traced back to those first horse-and-buggy ambulances from City Hospital in the late 1880s,” said Dr. Charles Miramonti, chief of Indianapolis EMS. “We are proud of that history and look forward to the future of EMS in this city.”
Indianapolis EMS celebrated its 125th anniversary during National EMS Week, at the inaugural McCormick & Medley Public Safety Awareness Day on May 22, at Indianapolis City Market. The event is in memory of Private Tim McCormick and Specialist Cody Medley, two service members who were killed in the line of duty in February.
Besides being one of the first to have an ambulance treating patients, in 1944 Indianapolis EMS also became the first EMS provider in the country to use two-way radio communication to coordinate ambulance dispatch. This pioneering communication tool made it possible for the hospital’s ambulances to alert the receiving ward about the patient’s illness or injury en route, improving patient care.