Quantity and Quality

It’s been a busy month at EMS Magazine. No sooner did we return from EMS EXPO than we found ourselves in the midst of producing the Annual Gold Book/Buyer’s Guide. This year’s issue offers a jam-packed 304 pages, which include all the regular features that make our Buyer’s Guide the leading industry resource, plus the quality educational content that EMS Magazine is renowned for.

This month’s CEU article and test focus on osteoporotic hip fractures. Authors Brian Peck and Maureen Bruce offer comprehensive coverage of this subject starting on page 73. According to Peck and Bruce: “Hip fracture is among the most pervasive, expensive and harmful of all of the health problems of our society. Most health professionals, let alone the lay public, fail to appreciate the significance of hip fracture to our socioeconomic well-being.” Other articles in this issue include a look at what happens when an emergency occurs at 35,000 feet (page 97), assessment of intoxicated patients (page 88) and developing your personal reference library (page 93).

This issue also features a pictorial report from EMS EXPO, which was held in conjunction with NAEMT’s Annual Meeting, October 19–23 in Atlanta, GA. If you missed the conference, which was attended by 4,665 EMS professionals from across the country and around the world, these images will offer you a taste of the largest EMS conference and trade show in the nation. Mark your calendar now for next year’s show, which will take place in New Orleans, LA, August 23–27.

In addition, we present the results of our 2nd Annual National EMS Systems Survey. Turn to page 63 to review this comprehensive picture of how EMS is delivered across the country. To participate in next year’s survey, please e-mail your name and contact information to emseditor@aol.com.

If you’re new to the EMS Buyer’s Guide, turn to page 118 for our company section, which details company contact information and product descriptions. The product section, listing companies by the type of product they make, begins on page 190, and our handy listing of company toll-free and fax numbers can be found on page 215. Advertisers in this issue are listed in boldface wherever they appear. We would like to thank them for their continued support of the biggest Buyer’s Guide in the EMS industry. To contact advertisers to receive more information on their products, you can either use the reader service cards located between pages 284–287, or visit our website at www.emsmagazine.com for online reader service response.

The 27th Annual State and Province Survey begins on page 223; government agencies related to the EMS industry are listed on pages 262–263, while a directory of EMS Organizations starts on page 264.

We hope you enjoy this comprehensive issue, and as 2004 draws to a close, on behalf of the EMS Magazine staff, I wish everyone a safe and happy new year.