Promoting Your Agency on a Budget

This is part of a series of articles from MONOC Mobile Health Services, New Jersey's largest provider of EMS and medical transportation and first CAAS-accredited agency. The goal of this series is to provide insight and solutions for the different managerial and operational challenges facing the EMS leaders of tomorrow. For more, see www.monoc.org.

Whether your agency is paid or volunteer, in today’s environment where municipalities are short on resources and even shorter on cash, it’s important to have the community on your side and supporting you. Government leaders who are familiar with their EMS agencies, understand what they do and know the community passionately supports them, tend to provide better funding, equipment and staffing. It’s possible for an agency to become a leader in its community without spending a lot of money. Programs can be as simple as standing by during local sporting events or holding free CPR classes at the senior center. When it comes to gaining public support, little things go a long way.

Community Education

Since most EMS agencies have their own internal instructors of one type or another, it’s simple to host a “CPR Day” or “First Aid Day” in your community. Simply provide a series of free first aid or CPR classes, or hold a “CPR Marathon” for a group of 100 or more people in a large auditorium or sporting arena. If additional money is needed for equipment or books, local businesses are usually glad to support this type of worthwhile event in exchange for a little recognition.

Standbys

Offering an ambulance to stand by at local sporting events, the occasional fundraising walk or run, parade or outdoor concert allows for thousands to see your agency in action in just a single day. Given enough manpower, you can even take advantage of the large crowds by setting up an information table next to an ambulance so staff can talk one on one with passersby about your agency, general health and safety, as well as demonstrate various life-saving techniques. Similarly, the same informational opportunities are available by attending local health fairs, founders’ days and other community activities.

Prevention Programs

Another opportunity to decrease accidents and improve overall health in your community would be to implement one or more prevention programs. The programs should be customized to fit the needs of your community. For instance, if you have a large elderly population a fall prevention program, where members of your organization go into people’s homes to do a fall prevention assessment, would be appropriate. If you live in a community where many people have pools, a pool safety program would be helpful. A popular program for young communities is a “child proofing” program for new parents. In this program, members of your organization would assess a home for possible child hazards and provide a report for new parents on the dangers that exist and ways to mitigate them. At the same time, recommend the parents attend an upcoming child CPR class in your area.

Support a Local Charity

Still another opportunity involves providing a local charity with donations during the holiday season. You can take donations directly from your staff or serve as a sponsor of a community-wide effort. While any legitimate organization is acceptable, some of the most common charities in communities include: food banks, homeless shelters, orphanages, families displaced by fires, and Toys for Tots.

Agency Open House

Last, but certainly not least, an excellent way to bring the community to you is by holding an EMS open house. This is an opportunity to get not only the public, but also local government officials, businesses and the media to come to you. Open houses can be a one-time event or something held every year during EMS Week. One of the great things about an open house is you can customize it any way you want. It can span an entire day or last just a few hours. It can be done with a large budget or with limited funds. Events commonly held at open houses include ambulance and building tours, equipment demonstrations, mock call demonstrations, short instructional classes, blood pressure screenings, and health and safety education. To maximize your turnout include several activities for children, such as a teddy bear clinic, child passenger safety information, a bike safety rodeo, or a mascot if you have one. If your agency has a helicopter or specialty vehicle like a rescue boat, be sure to make it part of the open house; adults and children are often curious about the more “exciting” apparatus utilized in EMS. Finally, no open house would be complete without giveaways, games, raffles and food.

On the day of your open house, be sure to have enough staff on hand to answer questions and help with activities. Ensure everyone in your organization is wearing the same uniform so they’re easily recognizable. And make sure to have your building and vehicles clean, organized and in good working order.

Regardless of the type or scope of the activities you choose, always make the most of your time and money by aggressively advertising at least a month in advance. Ways to get the word out include: free radio, newspaper or cable TV coverage as a community service provider; flyers in local shops, libraries, schools, community centers and senior centers; community websites, EMS blogs and social media sites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Be sure to extend personal invitations to local politicians, municipal officials and the media. The time it takes to engage your community at a few events each year can pay off many times over in the long run.

Scott A. Matin, MBA, NREMT-P, is the vice president of clinical & business services for MONOC Mobile Health Services in Wall Township, New Jersey. His responsibilities include oversight of MONOC’s clinical, education, Q/I, research, public relations, marketing, government affairs and business development services. In addition to his present position at MONOC, Scott is adjunct faculty for the School of Administrative Science at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and an on-site team leader for the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS). Scott has been involved in emergency medical services for more than 25 years and is an established manager, educator and nationally registered paramedic. Scott is also the author of numerous articles and research studies, a member of several editorial review boards and a frequent presenter at professional conferences throughout the country.