Boston EMS Incidents

T's and Paramedic's to the citizens and visitors of Boston. This page is operated by off duty Union Officials and only uses information from publicly available sources. Any media inquiries, questions or comments can be directed to [email protected]

Primary Response Areas(Below is Minimum Compliment during peak hours.
* Denotes Night Minimum Compliment):

*A1 - Downtown Boston
*A2 - Roxbury
*A3 - Mattapan
*A4 - South End
*A5 - West Roxbury
*A6 - South Boston
*A7 - East Boston
A8 - Zone Impact Downtown Boston
A9 - Allston
A10 - Zone Impact Dorchester
*A11 - Dorchester
A12 - Zone Impact Dorchester
*A13 - Jamaica Plain
*A14 - Brighton
*A15 - Charlestown
A16 - Zone Impact Back Bay
A17 - Roslindale
*A18 - Hyde Park
A19 - Mattapan Square
A20 - Zone Impact Roxbury Crossing
A27 - East Boston

*P1 - Boston/Charlestown/East Boston/South Boston/South End
*P2 - Roxbury/Dorchester/South End/Jamaica Pain
P3 - Mattapan/Dorchester/Hyde Park/Roxbury
*P5 - West Roxbury/Roslindale/Hyde Park/Jamaica Plain
P16 - Back Bay/Brighton/Allston/South End/Roxbury

As requested we compiled a list of common terms. Common Terms:

Push: Police and fire may request a "push" if the patient is deemed to be critical or EMS is needed quickly.
80Z: an old police term used for a non viable patient. This term has been replaced with "Non viable." however, 80z is sometimes still used. Ring down: Used by crews who do not have time to notify the hospital of the patients condition via CMED. The EMT assigned to dispatch will notify the hospital for the crew via phone. CMED: Central Emergency Medical Direction: the network ambulances use to provide hospital entry notes or obtain medical direction. EDP: Emotionally disturbed person- person experiencing a mental health emergency. REQE: EMS type code for another agency requesting an EMS response. Trauma X: Sexual assault. L20: A crew can request this when they anticipate a delay on-scene/at a hospital. H&H: Health and Hospitals, the former name of Boston EMS
BCH: "Boston City Hospital" now known at BMC/Menino. HOC / OCC: Highway Operation or the old Operations Control Center for the tunnel system and now I-93 and I-90 in the city, Ability to direct responding unit and provide updates directly via Boston EMS radio to the responding units using video cameras and State Police and DOT personnel
UCC: Unified command center. During large scale events/weather emergencies, this command center is staffed by representatives from most city agencies

Common call signs:
C #'s: All supervisors are issued a C number, C1 being the Chief of department. C1: Chief of department
C2: Superintendent in Chief
C3-C5: Superintendents (Senior command staff)
C7-C19: Deputy Superintendents (shift Commanders) 1 DS per shift. Their call sign is their assigned C#. C20-C29: Captains. 1 Administrative on days/evenings. C30-89: Lieutenants. 2 Lieutenants per shift (Their call sign is either Division 1 or Division 2.) Communications also has 1-2 Lieutenants assigned per shift. EMT###: EMTs individual numbers
Medic###: Paramedics individual numbers
Academy 101: Personnel assigned to Training and Quality Improvement Section
Tango 1-5: EMT's assigned to the Special operations division. Tango 10: Medical Ambulance Bus capable of transporting multiple patients or being set up a field treatment center. A in front of a number: IE: A15- A BLS ambulance with two EMT's
P in front of a number: IE P1- An ALS unit with two Paramedics
X-ray units: Bicycle units
HU2: Harbor unit 2. During the summer months EMT's are assigned to the Boston Police harbor unit. Jake team: 6 wheeled gators capable of transporting patients to medical tents. A40: bariatric ambulance
A50/51: Detail ambulances
Squad 70-79: Detail SUV
S61-68: Materials unit/Mobile supply
S70's: Fleet maintenance- mechanics
MD1, MD2, MD3: Medical director and associate medical directors. Common Call Types
CARST: Cardiac Arrest - a person who is not breathing and has no pulse
CARDIS: Cardiac Disorder - a person who is experiencing chest pain
UNCON: Unconscious - a person who is unconscious or unresponsive
Injury-1: Major injury - a patient who has suffered a life-threatening injury, typically falls from height, struck by a train, exsanguinating hemorrhage etc. Ped Struck: Pedestrian Struck - a person who has been struck by a vehicle or a motorcyclist thrown from their motorcycle
PSHOT: Person shot
STAB: Person stabbed