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This page describes products and general use; it is not medical advice.
An EMT bag, also called a jump bag or first responder bag, is the portable bag a crew carries from the vehicle to the patient. No national standard fixes its contents: they are set by the agency, its medical director and the state EMS office. What national and state bodies do publish is the module structure (airway and ventilation, oxygen, bleeding control, diagnostics) and the equipment lists that national and state bodies publish for ambulances and non-transport response vehicles. This page maps those lists onto the bag by module.
Who uses it: EMRs, EMTs, AEMTs and paramedics, first-response and non-transport units, and the buyers and managers who stock them.
What an EMT bag (jump bag) is
A jump bag is a carried kit, usually split into modules or removable pouches, that holds the equipment needed in the first minutes at a scene: airway and ventilation devices, oxygen delivery, bleeding control and basic assessment tools. Variants of the name (EMS trauma bag, EMS airway bag, EMS oxygen bag, EMS medical bag) usually describe a single module or a bag built around it, while a first responder bag is the same idea for response units that do not transport patients.
What is in an EMT bag? Contents by module
There is no single official EMT bag contents list. The table below shows what two published lists require for response equipment, sorted into the modules a bag is normally built around. The 2020 joint position statement applies to ground ambulances and the New Mexico rule applies to non-transport rescue vehicles, so neither prescribes what goes in the bag itself.
| Module | Items listed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Airway and ventilation | Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airways in sizes to fit neonates to adults; self-inflating manual ventilation devices and masks to fit neonates to adults; manual or powered suction with rigid oral and flexible pharyngeal/tracheal catheters; bulb suction for pediatric patients | 2020 joint position statement (BLS) |
| Airway and ventilation | One adult and one pediatric bag-valve-mask connectable to oxygen; airways in adult, child and infant sizes; supraglottic airways | New Mexico 7.27.10.17 |
| Oxygen | Portable oxygen supply; devices to deliver oxygen in a titratable manner through nasal, partial-face or full-face routes, sized neonate through adult | 2020 joint position statement (BLS) |
| Oxygen | Two portable units, each at least a “D” cylinder with yoke, gauge, flowmeter and cylinder wrench, delivering at least 15 L/min; adult and pediatric masks with reservoir, simple masks, nasal cannulas | New Mexico 7.27.10.17 |
| Bleeding control and trauma | Commercial arterial tourniquets; wound packing material; gauze sponges; adhesive bandages and tape; occlusive (“chest seal”) dressing; fluid for wound irrigation; bandage/trauma shears | 2020 joint position statement (BLS) |
| Bleeding control and trauma | Triangular bandages; universal dressings (about 10 x 30 in); 4 x 4 in gauze pads; self-adhering roller and elastic bandages; sterile occlusive dressings; tape; cold/heat packs; burn sheets; trauma shears | New Mexico 7.27.10.17 |
| Diagnostics and medical | AED with adult and pediatric pads; glucometer; pulse oximeter with sensors neonate to adult; stethoscope; blood pressure cuffs neonate to adult; thermometer | 2020 joint position statement (BLS) |
| Diagnostics and medical | Aneroid sphygmomanometer with infant, pediatric, adult and obese cuffs; more than one stethoscope; glucose monitor; pulse oximeter; colorimetric end-tidal CO2 device; penlights; AED with extra pads and batteries | New Mexico 7.27.10.17 |
BLS versus ALS additions
The 2020 statement defines BLS as the EMR and EMT levels and ALS as the AEMT and paramedic levels. For airway, breathing and bleeding equipment, it adds the following at the ALS level. This is why an ALS or paramedic airway bag is larger than a BLS one. See the BLS versus ALS comparison for the scope-of-practice side.
| ALS addition | What the statement specifies |
|---|---|
| Laryngoscopy | Direct and/or video laryngoscopy equipment, and Magill forceps |
| Supraglottic airways | Sizes from neonate to adult |
| Chest decompression needles | Adult: 14 gauge or larger, minimum length 3.25 in (8.25 cm). Pediatric (under 56 in): 14 gauge, maximum 1.5 in (3.8 cm). Newborn: 23 gauge, maximum 0.75 in (2 cm) |
| Monitoring | Continuous waveform capnography; monitor/defibrillator with 12-lead capability |
What the 2020 national statement and state lists say
The 2020 joint position statement, “Recommended Essential Equipment for Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Ground Ambulances”, was written by NAEMSP with the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center, the Emergency Nurses Association and NASEMSO, and endorsed by NAEMT. It states that some items may be considered optional at the local level. It lists vehicle equipment, so it does not tell you what a given bag holds.
State rules vary. New Mexico’s rule for non-transport medical rescue vehicles (N.M. Admin. Code 7.27.10.17) is one state’s example: it names items and gives few counts, stating most items “in sufficient quantities”. Another state can list different items, so check your own state EMS office for the list that applies. For the vehicle-level list, see EMS equipment on BLS and ALS ambulances.
Sizes that matter
Both lists stress coverage across patient sizes: airways, masks, oxygen devices, pulse oximetry sensors and blood pressure cuffs are listed from neonate or infant through adult. Airway sizing detail is in oral airway sizes, and the ventilation device is covered in what is a bag-valve-mask. The decompression-needle gauges and lengths above are the only needle specifications the 2020 statement gives.
How agencies decide bag contents
- The national statement is a recommendation for vehicle equipment, with items that may be optional locally.
- The state EMS office sets minimum lists, and these can differ for transport and non-transport vehicles.
- Within those lists, the agency and its medical director decide what each bag carries, matched to the certification level of the crew.
Safe handling and restocking basics
- The 2020 statement lists infection-control items such as a sharps container and waterless hand cleanser, and blankets, towels and heat packs for temperature management.
- Devices with batteries, such as the AED, and oxygen cylinders (gauge, flowmeter, wrench in the New Mexico list) are part of what the lists expect to be present and working.
- Check your agency’s own checklist and manufacturer instructions for use for inspection and replacement intervals; neither list sets them.
Common mistakes
- Treating a vendor kit or an online list as the required contents, when the state list and agency protocol govern.
- Stocking only adult sizes, when the lists cover neonate-to-adult coverage.
- Assuming the ambulance list and a non-transport list are the same; they come from different rules.
FAQ
What is in an EMT bag?
Typically airway and ventilation devices, oxygen delivery, bleeding control supplies and assessment tools such as a pulse oximeter, stethoscope and blood pressure cuff, as in the module table above. The exact contents are set by the agency and state list.
What is an EMS trauma bag or trauma kit?
It is the bleeding-control and trauma module: the 2020 statement names tourniquets, wound packing, gauze, adhesive tape, occlusive dressings and trauma shears, and the New Mexico rule adds triangular bandages, universal dressings and burn sheets.
What goes in an EMS airway bag?
Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airways, suction, and manual ventilation devices with masks in neonate-to-adult sizes at BLS level. ALS crews add laryngoscopy equipment, Magill forceps and supraglottic airways.
What is in an EMS oxygen bag?
A portable oxygen supply and masks or cannulas in neonate-to-adult sizes. New Mexico’s non-transport rule specifies two portable units of at least a “D” cylinder, delivering at least 15 L/min.
What is an EMS medical bag?
The diagnostics module: glucose monitor, pulse oximeter, stethoscope, blood pressure cuffs, thermometer and an AED, per the two lists above.
What is a first responder bag?
The carried kit of a first-response or non-transport unit. State lists for those vehicles can differ from the ambulance list, as in the New Mexico example.
Related reading: splint kit contents and PEEP valves for bag-valve-masks.
Sources
- Lyng J, et al. Recommended Essential Equipment for Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support Ground Ambulances 2020: A Joint Position Statement. Prehospital Emergency Care 2021;25(3):451-459. DOI 10.1080/10903127.2021.1886382. https://naemsp.org/position-statement/recommended-essential-equipment-for-basic-life-support-and-advanced-life-support-ground-ambulances-2020-a-joint-position-statement/. Date checked: 2026-11-01.
- N.M. Admin. Code 7.27.10.17, Minimum required equipment for non-transport medical rescue vehicles. https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/new-mexico/N-M-Admin-Code-SS-7.27.10.17. Date checked: 2026-11-01.
