A subspecialty of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was approved in late September by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), and will focus on training on out-of-hospital emergency patient care, including initial patient stabilization, treatment, and transport in specially equipped ambulances or helicopters to hospitals.

“The purpose of subspecialty certification in EMS is to standardize physician training and qualification for EMS practice, to improve patient safety and enhance the quality of emergency medical care provided to patients in the prehospital environment, and to facilitate further integration of prehospital treatment into the continuum of patient care,” said Dr. Mark T. Steele, president of the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM).

EMS becomes the sixth subspecialty available to ABEM diplomates along with medical toxicology, pediatric emergency medicine, sports medicine, undersea and hyperbaric medicine, and hospice and palliative medicine.

The development of EMS as a subspecialty has been discussed for many years, but it was through the concerted efforts of the National Association of EMS Physicians, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and ABEM that certification in the subspecialty was approved.

In a statement, ABEM announced that it has assembled 12 EMS physicians as an EMS Examination Task Force to develop the EMS subspecialty examination and the maintenance of certification program. According to the statement, the first examination will be given in the fall of 2013.