New vision for the role of emergency medical services.

Thirty years ago, the National Academy of Science paper, Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society, created EMS as we know it today. The document has served us well, but recent shifts in health care require new insights, goals, skills, and resources for continued success in EMS. The 1996 document EMS: Agenda for the Future merges the many facets of EMS into a common vision and lays out 3 areas for change-building bridges, creating infrastructure, and developing new tools and resources. Emergency physicians' leadership is essential to steer the EMS community toward a productive future that will strengthen the nation's emergency medical safety net for the next 30 years.