PRIOR TO THE DISCUSSION OF THE STUDY AND ITS RESULTS, THE IMPORTANCE OF POLICE INVOLVEMENT IN EMERGENCY MEDICAL CARE TO FULFILL THE MANDATE FOR PROTECTING AND PRESERVING LIFE IS ADVOCATED. THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL PROGRAMS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN A NUMBER OF JURISDICTIONS ARE ALSO BRIEFLY DESCRIBED. IN THE RESEARCH STUDY ITSELF, THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE SELECTED WAS COMMUNITY POPULATION SIZE, AND THE DEPENDENT VARIABLES WERE TRAINING AND ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSES TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL SITUATIONS BY POLICE AGENCIES REPRESENTED IN THE SAMPLE. DATA WERE OBTAINED THROUGH A SURVEY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL IN ATTENDANCE AT THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION NATIONAL ACADEMY, 104TH SESSION, AT QUANTICO, VA., IN FEBRUARY 1976. A RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE WAS CIRCULATED AMONG REPRESENTATIVES OF 150 MUNICIPAL POLICE AGENCIES IN ATTENDANCE. THE SAME QUESTIONNAIRE WAS ALSO GIVEN TO REPRESENTATIVES OF 35 COUNTY AGENCIES AND 40 STATE POLICE AGENCIES IN ORDER TO GAIN CORRELATIVE INFORMATION ON THE NATURE OF THE COMMUNITY SERVED BY THE AGENCY AND THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE TRAINING RECEIVED BY AGENCY PERSONNEL. COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRES WERE RETURNED BY 103 DIFFERENT MUNICIPAL RESPONDENTS REPRESENTING 37 STATES. RESULTS OF THE SURVEY SHOW THAT AN AVERAGE OF 53.2 PERCENT OF THE AGENCIES SURVEYED HAD A MANDATE FOR AMERICAN RED CROSS ADVANCED FIRST AID AND EMERGENCY CARE TRAINING, A COURSE CONSIDERED TO BE THE MINIMUM LEVEL OF TRAINING FOR A POLICE AGENCY. REGARDLESS OF LEVEL OF TRAINING, HOWEVER, RESULTS SHOWED THAT RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY MEDICAL CALLS IS STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE OF POLICE AGENCIES NATIONWIDE. LARGER MUNICIPALITIES TEND TO PLACE THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES ON THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS, IN ORDER TO FREE POLICE TO FULFILL INVESTIGATIVE DUTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CALL. DATA ARE INCLUDED, AND A SAMPLE OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE IS PROVIDED. (RCB)