EMS Coalition Breaks Ground

     While preparing this 35th anniversary issue, we reviewed old issues of EMS Magazine. It soon became clear that we have been wrestling with many of the same critical industry issues for the past 35 years.

     Around the same time as we were prepping the issue, I received an invitation to ACEP's EMS Summit, which was held July 10-11 in Washington, DC. The goal of the summit was to prioritize the 20 recommendations made in the 2006 report Emergency Medical Services at the Crossroads, issued by the Institute of Medicine's Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the United States Health System.

     On July 10, 43 individuals representing 30 organizations gathered together as an "EMS Coalition" to take on this goal. The group included representatives from the nation's leading EMS associations, as well as federal agencies with EMS budgets.

     The first day was dedicated to reviewing the 20 IOM recommendations and then breaking them down into actionable steps. On the second day, NAEMT President Jerry Johnston introduced a discussion on EMS workforce issues. This area was broken into six topics: research, compensation, recruitment, retention, health and safety, and diversity.

     The summit ended with the question of: "Where do we go from here?" As action items were being doled out, EMS Magazine took on the opportunity to offer an EMS Town Meeting Reception at the EMS EXPO in Orlando, FL, October 9-13, to get the word out about the initiative and garner grassroots support. Invitations will be sent out to EMS leaders registered for the EMS EXPO.

     EMS Magazine will also be publishing a quarterly newsletter dedicated to moving the actionable items forward and keeping both industry and federal organizations accountable to the EMS profession. The newsletter will be mailed to members of the EMS Coalition, EMS state directors, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, members of the U.S. Senate, top EMS agency heads and leading EMS manufacturers.

     If you are the chief decision maker at your location and would like to receive a copy of the newsletter, e-mail me at scott.cravens@cygnusb2b.com.