Q&A with Aarron Reinert

David Strickland, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), recently announced the appointment of Aarron Reinert, NREMT-P, BA, executive director of Lakes Region EMS in North Branch, MN, to serve as chairperson of the 24-member National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (NEMSAC).

First chartered in 2007, NEMSAC provides expert EMS advice to the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS), and makes recommendations on key issues like recruitment and retention, patient and provider safety, research and EMS system improvement and sustainability.

Reinert, who has served on the council since its inception says it was an honor to be asked to take over the position formerly held by Dia Gainor.

"Dia is an extremely talented individual and an excellent facilitator, so filling her shoes will be an enormous task," he says. "My previous role on the council was as a data manager, and I've tried hard to represent the group I was nominated from. Under Dia's leadership, the council created as its No. 1 guiding principal to foster a culture of safety within EMS, and my intent is to continue on that path. I feel strongly about making sure we're focused on delivery, making incremental progress and representing the EMS industry well. All of us on the council bring expertise and passion to our work, and that will help move us in the right direction."

The council is made up of many committees, and Reinert hopes to meet with the committee chairs at least monthly to understand what they're working on and see what he can do to help them accomplish their individual goals.

"The council typically meets three or four times a year in person," he says, "and we have some tentative dates in September and December for those meetings, and a web meeting is scheduled for some time in August."

With so many committees, there are understandably many projects. The three-year culture of safety project is currently the largest, but there are many more industry issues that also need attention, says Reinert.

"All council members have been allowed to share what they think are the most critical issues, then use a consensus process to go through and condense hundreds of items down to a small number that the council can focus on," he explains. "At the last in-person meeting, FICEMS and NHTSA's Office of EMS asked the council to weigh in or provide feedback on the question of whether a lead federal EMS agency is needed and, if so, what agency it might be. Council members shared their thoughts about not necessarily who that agency might be, but what would be its critical functions. It's a question we continue to work with."

As a past member of the Data Committee, Reinert's special focus has been on data: what is available, how does EMS continue to support the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) and its newest 3.0 version, and what other sources of data can be linked to that are not currently in place.

"Finance also continues to be a large question for the council," says Reinert. "How is the EMS system as a whole funded? Is that funding adequate for the level of service currently being provided, as well as for future technology? How about reimbursement for transports compared to reimbursement for readiness? There is also the big issue of the workforce and volunteerism. How will the future workforce be trained? We need a prepared workforce that sees safety as a paramount issue for themselves, their patients and their communities. We have to have a system that is appropriately funded so safe practices, safe equipment and safe vehicles are all readily available to all services. And we need data that helps us understand what's working and what's not.

"From a chairman's perspective, the most important thing is that we're listening to the people we're intended to serve and being productive by doing things like supporting the federal agencies and creating initiatives like the culture of safety and evidence-based practice."

For more information on NEMSAC, see www.ems.gov/nemsac.