Emergency medical services (EMS) workers serve on the front lines of emergency medical care. The EMS system is vitally dependent on the ability of these workers to provide high-quality emergent health care in dynamic and oftentimes dangerous circumstances. In the community-based EMS system envisioned in the 1996 EMS Agenda for the Future, EMS workers would contribute to the health of the populations they serve by providing services that reflect the integration of EMS with other health care providers, and in other arenas, such as public health and public safety. The Emergency Medical Services Workforce Agenda for the Future (EMS Workforce Agenda) envisions a future in which all EMS systems have a sufficient number of well educated, adequately prepared, and appropriately credentialed EMS workers who are valued, well compensated, healthy, and safe. The EMS Workforce Agenda identifies the following four components critical to developing an EMS workforce that will thrive and be a driving force for achieving integrated, community-based EMS systems: health, safety and wellness of the EMS workforce; education and certification; data and research; workforce planning and development.