Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provide pre-hospital emergency medical care and transportation. When people call 911 for medical emergencies, EMS dispatches paramedics in ambulances to assess, stabilize, and transport patients to hospitals. Services range from basic life support to advanced care including cardiac monitoring, medication administration, and airway management. In Canada, EMS delivery varies by province: some provinces operate provincial ambulance services, while others delegate responsibility to municipalities or regional authorities. Paramedics are healthcare professionals with specialized training, regulated by provincial bodies. Municipal EMS departments (where they exist) face challenges including increasing call volumes, hospital offload delays (waiting to transfer patients to emergency departments), and demands for services beyond traditional emergency response. EMS costs represent a significant portion of municipal budgets where locally delivered.