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Toronto Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provides ambulatory and paramedic care for the city of Toronto. Before 1998 it was known as Metro Toronto Ambulance and shortly after as Toronto Ambulance.
HistoryThe City of Toronto has operated an ambulance service directly on an uninterrupted basis since 1889, when the City's Health Department acquired ambulances to transport those with infectious diseases. Full-time emergency ambulance service began in 1888, with the provision of emergency ambulance service by the Toronto Police Ambulance Service, which eventually operated four horse-drawn vehicles. Prior to these two municipal initiatives, ambulance service was provided for the young city by a variety of means, including both hospital-based and private companies. This 'broad spectrum' approach to service delivery would continue for more than ninety years. Toronto may very well be able to claim to have the first formally trained 'ambulance attendants' in North America, with the Toronto Police Ambulance Service staff receiving five days of formal training in their jobs from the St. John Ambulance Brigade in 1889. As the City grew and technology progressed, so did the ambulance service. The first motorized ambulance was actually purchased by a local funeral home in 1911, and the Toronto Police Ambulance Service began the conversion from horse-drawn to motorized vehicles in 1913, with the process largely completed by 1918. Over the years, the two City of Toronto departments would have their services supplemented by more than 130 individual ambulance operators, most of them private companies, and in suburban areas by several of the tiny, local Fire Departments. The two municipal services would finally be merged in 1933, when the Toronto Police Department turned the operation of their ambulances over to the Department of Public Health, and ended their involvement in the City's ambulance service. This service would grow again in 1953, as the result of the creation of the municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, dramatically expanding the required service area. Service would continue in this fashion until 1967, when the amalgamated City's suburban Fire Departments surrendered their ambulances, resulting in the evolution of the Department of Public Health Ambulance Service into the City-operated Department of Emergency Services (DES). Some private companies, and one operated by the Provincial government, would continue to operate in 'Metro' Toronto until 1975, although with centralized dispatch services provided by D.E.S.. The Metropolitan Toronto Department of Ambulance Services was created in 1975, and absorbed the five remaining private ambulance companies and single provincial service, providing a single, unified ambulance service in Metro Toronto. Known colloquially as Metro Toronto Ambulance (never its' official name)or simply 'Metro Ambulance' the service provided ambulance services from 1975 to 1998. Metropolitan Toronto was restructured during 1998, transforming it from a regional government overseeing six member municipalities into a single, unified city, and many municipal and regional services were restructured as a result. Metro Ambulance became Toronto Ambulance, and later adopted its current name, in order to reflect its' evolving role from primarily a provider of medical transportation to an actual provider of medical care. The service introduced its' first paramedics in 1984 (although experiments in pre-hospital advanced life support actually began in 1968), and introduced many other innovations, such as the specialty support units described in this article, many of which were of types originally conceived and pioneered by the service. As of April 2005, the departments and commissioners were replaced by divisions under the city manager (and deputy managers). Toronto EMS is now under Emergency Medical Services Division. It is the largest municipal EMS operation in Canada. OperationsToronto EMS operates in geographical locations in conjunction with area hospitals. Emergency service headquarters (for both fire and ambulance) is located at 4330 Dufferin Street. A total of 41 stations serves a city of with a population of 3.5 million in an area of 650 square kilometres (251 square miles). FleetOf the 242 vehicles are in the EMS fleet, 150 are ambulances. The rest are support vehicles (mainly buses and trucks). 
A list of vehicles used by EMS:
Retired Fleet
Command
StaffToronto EMS has 1,171 members including paramedics and other support staff. There are 112 Emergency Medical Dispatchers, or EMDs. Toronto EMS is divided into teams:
Toronto EMS has the largest EMS Communications Centre in Canada and uses Tritech VisiCAD computer aided dispatch system. Community InvolvementToronto EMS Paramedics are heavily involved in various community programs and partnerships. See alsoExternal links
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