Association Update: March 2022

NHTSA Names New Director for Office of EMS

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced Gamunu Wijetunge, NRP, as the new director of its Office of EMS.

Wijetunge, who has worked within the office for more than 20 years, is also a volunteer paramedic, fire captain, and president of a volunteer rescue squad in Maryland. He assumes the director role following the retirement of Jon Krohmer, MD, FACEP, FAEMS.

“For many years Gam has been a leader within NHTSA’s Office of EMS, an advocate for clinicians, and a trusted colleague for both federal partners and fire/EMS organizations,” said Krohmer. “His commitment to collaboration within the EMS community may be best illustrated through his stewardship of EMS Agenda 2050, which sets a clear path for the continued improvement of people-centered EMS systems for the next 30 years.”

Wijetunge has a bachelor’s degree in Emergency Health Services from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a Master of Public Management from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has been recognized repeatedly for outstanding performance and federal service, including most recently with the HHS/ASPR COVID-19 Pandemic Civilian Service Medal in 2021.

—NHTSA Office of EMS

Fund Benefits Colo. Providers Affected by Fire 

The Emergency Medical Services Association of Colorado (EMSAC) has created the EMS Professionals Emergency Relief Fund to assist EMS professionals affected by December’s historic wildfire between Boulder and metropolitan Denver.

The fund is intended to make quick payments to any EMS professional who works 
in the EMS system to help with immediate costs. Find details of the fund and other efforts by the state’s EMS association at https://emsac.memberclicks.net/index.php. 

EMSAC is also creating a program whereby an EMS agency or facility can “adopt” an EMS professional and their family to assist with their needs in recovering from the historic fire. The fire burned an estimated 1,000 homes over 6,200 acres in and around the towns of Superior and Louisville. 

—NAEMT

NAEMSP Publishes Airway Management Compendium

For over two decades the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) has published position statements providing best practices for key aspects of EMS care. In the realm of airway management such statements have addressed topics like confirmation of endotracheal tube placement, rapid sequence intubation, supraglottic airway insertion, noninvasive ventilation, and data elements for airway quality management. The NAEMSP has now assembled 15 of those statements into an airway management compendium published in the January Prehospital Emergency Care. 

The compendium includes papers summarizing the recommended practices for all facets of prehospital airway management, including training, quality management, techniques, disease-specific considerations, and parallel clinical management. It also incorporates papers addressing considerations specific to children.

Access the compendium and learn more through the PEC podcast series at https://naemsp.org/home/news/coming-soon-naemsp-pec-airway-compendium/. 

—National Association of EMS Physicians

Medical First: Drone Helps Save OHCA Victim

In the Swedish city of Trollhättan December 9, a 71-year-old man was shoveling snow in his driveway when he suffered a cardiac arrest. Thanks to an immediate emergency call, the quick actions of a passing physician, and the swift delivery of an AED by drone, lifesaving defibrillation measures were initiated before the arrival of an ambulance, and his life was saved.

The time from the alarm until the AED was safely delivered at the doorstep of the incident address was just over three minutes. After initial treatment on site, the patient was rushed to the hospital and is today fully recovered.

“I was on my way to work at the local hospital when I looked out the car window and saw a man collapsed in his driveway,” says the physician, Mustafa Ali. “I immediately understood something was wrong and rushed to help. The man had no pulse, so I started doing CPR while asking another bystander to call 1-1-2 [the Swedish emergency number]. Just minutes later I saw something flying above my head. It was a drone with a defibrillator!”

The drone delivery system in Region Västra Götaland is developed and operated by Everdrone. The solution has been developed and is continuously improved in close collaboration with the Center for Resuscitation Science at Karolinska Institutet, SOS Alarm, and Region Västra Götaland. 

—Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation