Advocates Turn Up the Heat on Capitol Hill

Having established its presence in the nation's capital, Advocates for EMS-an emergency medical services advocacy group created a year ago by members of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors-is turning up the heat on Congress, pushing it to assist EMS in an array of recent legislation.

In the fall, the group issued a number of policy and position papers, following earlier testimony by its president, Rick Hunt, MD, FACEP, before the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

In formal statements to lawmakers, Advocates:

• Joined the ComCARE Alliance in urging funding and support for state and local deployment of integrated, interoperable emergency communications systems, including E9-1-1;
• Supported Sen. Susan Collins' bill S. 1245, which would coordinate and simplify federal homeland security grants, helping funds reach EMS and other first responders;
• Endorsed Senate-proposed funding levels for the proposed HRSA Rural EMS Training and Equipment Access ($1 million) and Community Access to Emergency Defibrillation ($2 million) programs, and House-proposed funding levels for the Rural Access to Emergency Devices program ($12.4 million).
• Sought support for funding levels set in HR 1, the Medicare Prescription Drug and Modernization Act, and the deletion of a provision that would require 95% of Rural Hospital Flexibility Grant program funds to go to hospitals. Currently, about 20% of those funds support rural EMS.

Having caught politicians' ears, the group is now raising its voice for improved support of all aspects of EMS operations.

"The biggest challenge is just that EMS is so unknown and overlooked in the big picture of federal support for first responders and public health and safety," says Hunt, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse and past president of the NAEMSP. "After September 11, as the country focused on terrorism preparedness for first responders, there wasn't any voice for EMS in any of the Washington policy discussions. All over the place, first responders were described as 'police, fire and other.' Yet EMS needs increased funding not just for terrorism response; we also believe that if you don't support the EMS infrastructure, you'll never be able to mount a terrorist response. If you have a good baseline infrastructure, you'll be able to respond to anything."

An array of EMS and medical organizations have signed on to these efforts in the last year, including the American Ambulance Association, American Heart Association, American College of Emergency Physicians, National Association of EMS Educators and more.

That's a strong lineup, but the group isn't stopping there. For even greater clout, it is looking to incorporate more faces and voices for 2004-both individual and organizational members to bolster the message.

"It's a big job that the entire EMS community is going to have to help with," says Hunt. "It can't be just a few organizations; it really has to get into the grass roots. Being able to have a bunch of folks in EMS uniforms up there at the Capitol would help a lot."

For more on joining or supporting Advocates for EMS, or on its positions and activities, see www.advocatesforems.org.

-JE