About EMSTARS

There is no opportunity to analyze or improve quality or systems efficiencies without reliable data.

In 2004, The Florida Department of Health (FDOH) signed a memorandum of understanding to participate in a national project that would standardize data collection for EMS agencies nationwide. The National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) is the national repository used to aggregate and analyze prehospital data from all participating states.

The Prehospital EMSTARS Program is Florida's contribution to this national effort. This program will make available to our state's EMS administrators, quality managers, educators, physicians, researchers and public policy makers new facts and new tools to measure and improve prehospital medical care for Florida's citizens and visitors.  Currently, the EMSTARS program and its data repository is administered through the biospatial system.  Therefore, these two programs are referred to as EMSTARS/biospatial. Additional information about Florida's Prehospital EMS Tracking and Reporting System is available in this EMSTARS Basic Facts document.

The Prehospital EMSTARS program has been implemented under the guidance of a standing EMSAC Data Committee made up exclusively of EMS providers and constituency groups.