Medical Transport System history

8.  The first motorized ambulance appeared in 1899.  The ambulance had a top speed of sixteen miles an hour.  Ambulances had two horsepower electrical engines with capability of traveling as far as twenty to thirty miles.

However, the first major shift to the modern medical transportation field occurred in 1901.

In 1917, British forces in Turkey used a biplane to transport a wounded soldier to a medical facility for treatment.

Interest in the life saving potential of air ambulance aircrafts continued in many places during the 1920s.

While not air ambulance journeys per se, these flights helped demonstrate the utility of aircraft in a medical context.5 By 1928, Australian authorities had organized a formal full-time Royal Flying Doctor Service to assist people in isolated communities.4

Reportedly, the United States evacuated wounded British soldiers from the ground in Burma in April, 1944 for medical treatment.

Since 1971, Acadian Ambulance has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s most respected and largest privately held medical transportation companies.

The company’s name was changed from Green Cross and Ace Ambulance to Peoria Hospitals’ Mobile Medical Service in January 1978.

Later, additional funds enhanced the EMS system for pediatric patients. For example, the American Ambulance Association was formed in 1979.

Advanced Medical Transport of Central Illinois (now generally referred as AMT) was established in September of 1991 following the Board’s desire to modernize the EMS system for the future and to work to make the organization self-sustaining and best-in- class.

A first-of-its-kind Critical Care Paramedic Transport Program was developed in 1992 to meet the needs of smaller communities.

Classes were offered to all EMT-paramedic personnel and in June of 1993 AMT began to provide Critical Care Transport services to assist in the transfer of critically ill patients across the region.

In November of 1995 AMT moved from 8202 N. University to a specially designed 30,000 square foot facility at 1718 N. Sterling Avenue.

In 1996, the EMS Agenda for the Future was released, and it outlined necessary improvements for the field.

To meet the ever growing needs of the company, a 2001 decision to charter the company’s Training and Research Institute gave rise to a 6000 square foot education center with modern classrooms and high tech training systems.

In 2003 regulators approved AMT to host and sponsor its own paramedic class.

In August 2004, AMT acquired the hospital’s ambulance company and became the paramedic service provider for Streator, Illinois and the surrounding rural areas.

AMT diversified its services when asked to leverage our core competencies in EMS. By expanding into operations management in 2005, AMT began providing intellectual and turn-around service to Area Ambulance Service in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

In January of 2007, the Peoria City Council approved a Franchise Agreement between the City of Peoria and Advanced Medical Transport.

In 2008, AMT and the State of Illinois assessed the potential methods and transportation coordination of patients with behavioral health needs.

In 2011, AMT Incorporated created Advanced Medical Transport of Iowa.