The trend of change in the role of pre-hospital emergency medical services in Iran's healthcare system: a situational analysis.

Considering the trend of change in the approaches adopted by healthcare systems across the world, and given the breakthroughs in nursing and medicine, along the education of professionals during the last thirty years, the descriptions of duties and performance in EMS have moved from primary care and patient transfer to specialized services and outpatient care. In addition, the cultural context specific to Iran, the challenges of women working in EMS centers, the disconnection of service providers, namely, the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) Relief and Rescue Organization (R&RO), Iran's National Police Force (INPF), and Iran's National Medical Emergency Organization (INMEO), as well as lack of resources and equipment, and the geographical distribution of human resources (HRs) based on population dispersion, are thus among the significant issues facing pre-hospital EMS in this country.