Editors` Expressions: This Blog Post Doesn`t Mention You-Know-What

"Editors' Expressions" is a new weekly feature in which the EMS World editorial staff ruminates on current news, noteworthy events and everyday happenings with relevance to healthcare and EMS delivery. Feel free to react in the comment box below or e-mail editor@emsworld.com.

Because “Editors’ Expressions” isn’t designed to bring you the latest news or offer too much in the way of clinical or operational instruction, I am using this platform to briefly share some updates and opinions that really don’t fit anywhere else, and that might provide a much-needed break from the major news story that’s grabbing all the other headlines. Enjoy and please leave feedback in the comments below.

• EMS World’s staff members who are not clinically trained—from marketing to IT to meeting planning and graphic design—will receive instruction in CPR and first aid in the near future. These efforts are central to EMS World’s mission to train bystanders in lifesaving interventions and to reinforce the importance of the chain of survival. Stay tuned for updates and photos!
• While enjoying a Phillies spring game in Clearwater, Fla. following EMS Today (just before the remaining Spring Training season was cancelled) I saw a man suddenly go unresponsive two rows ahead of me. (See photo). As soon as the people around him began shouting out “medical!” to the usher, a spectator nearby announced she was a physician and began assessing the man. I was impressed and overcome by not only the seamless interaction between Sunstar Paramedics, ushers, and the Clearwater Police Department in connecting the man to a 12-lead and extracting him from a very challenging position with a stair chair, but also by the calm, respectful and courteous demeanor with which Sunstar Paramedics interviewed the man’s distraught daughter, gathered necessary information and did their best to reassure her that everything possible was being done for her father. Just one more daily act of compassion and patient-centered care from first responders that won’t make any headlines.
• In my last blog installment I promised an article on the Fallen First Responders Association, a Pennsylvania nonprofit that provides financial assistance to families if a member of the association loses their life in the act of their daily duties. In the interest of closing the loop for faithful readers of this blog (hi, Mom!) check out the article here.
• It’s difficult to think about in this moment, but EMS Week is full-steam ahead and is now less than 2 months away. EMS Week is our time to celebrate what we do and why we do it. National EMS Week dates back to 1974, when President Ford authorized a special commemoration celebrating the essential work EMS providers perform in our nation’s communities every day. NAEMT partners with the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) to lead EMS Week activities. Each year, EMS World takes the opportunity to showcase providers, agencies and educational institutions doing the pioneering, the innovative, the creative and the remarkable. Categories include EMS instruction, pediatrics, safety, save-a-life and EMS recognition. Have a story to share with us? Please contact editor@emsworld.com and you could be showcased either in print or in special e-mail spotlights going out each day of EMS Week. We can’t be everywhere so we need to hear from you!

Thank you for reading. Stay safe and healthy.

Jonathan Bassett, MA, NREMT, is editorial director at EMS World. Reach him at jon@emsworld.com