Rutgers Center for State Health Policy invites you to attend, “Bridging the Gap between EMS and Health Services Research: A Conference for Researchers and Practitioners.”

Date: Thursday, July 23, 2009
Time: 8:00am-4:30pm
Location: The Heldrich Hotel, 10 Livingston Ave., New Brunswick NJ 08902

The major goal of the conference is to advance an EMS research agenda that connects EMS with broader efforts to improve healthcare delivery. The conference also seeks to generate strategies that will encourage the use of EMS-focused health services research by policymakers and practitioners.

For a detailed meeting announcement, and to register yourself or a designee from your organization, please click Read More...

Canadian Emergency News recently ran a series of articles on Community Paramedicine. There are several Community Paramedic programs underway in the US, including a curriculum pilot in rural Minnesota, and the use of experienced paramedics doing treat and release or referral in Raleigh, NC. Download the articles by clicking Read More.

The Federal Trade Commission has responded to NEMSMA regarding the FTC ruling that EMS agencies abide by what are known as Red Flag Rules, which require creditors to institute written identity theft policies and procedures. Click the link below to read the FTC response.

A joint meeting of the IAFC EMS Section Executive Board and those members of the NEMSMA board present was held at EMS Today  on March 27, 2009. Representing NEMSMA were President Gary Wingrove, President-Elect Skip Kirkwood and Directors Forrest “Woody” Wood, Aarron Reinert, Lanny Bernard and Ray Barishansky.  Representing the IAFC EMS Section were Chairman Gary Ludwig, International Director John Sinclair, Vice Chair David Becker, and Director-at-Large Norris Croom.  Also in attendance was Keith Griffiths, president of the RedFlash Group and chairman of the James O. Page Charitable Foundation.
 
The groups had a wide-ranging discussion about their respective roles in the EMS community and areas in which inter-organizational cooperation might be achieved.  The principal area of agreement was that of leadership development and particularly long-term leadership development for the future of EMS.  To that end, the groups tentatively agreed to the following:

1.    Joint and cooperative support and promotion of the Center for Public Safety Excellence Chief Medical Officer credentialing program.

2.    Joint and cooperative support of the James O. Page Charitable Foundation and in particular the JOP Project for Leadership Development, a collaborative effort with leading associations in EMS and fire that will offer a structured mentoring program to encourage and support the development of emerging leaders.

3.    Joint and cooperative promotion of the Homeland Security Master’s Degree Program offered by the Center for Homeland Defense and Security of the Naval Postgraduate School (http://www.chds.us/?masters/overview).

The IAFC-EMS section board agreed to reconsider its position on the NEMSMA Leadership Agenda after discussion of how the CMO and FESHE higher education competencies fit in to the overall agenda scheme.

Present at the joing NEMSMA-IAFC EMS Section meeting were (L to R): Dave Becker, Skip Kirkwood, John Sinclair, Gary Ludwig, Norris Croom, Gary WIngrove, Woody Wood, Lanny Bernard and Aarron Reinert. Ray Barishansky is missing from the photo.

* On January 29, NEMSMA President-Elect Skip Kirkwood and Director Forrest “Woody” Wood traveled to Washington, DC, to present NEMSMA’S EMS Leadership Agenda to the National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC). They were joined by Board members Larry Roberts and Aarron Reinert and NEMSMA President Gary Wingrove. Reinert and Wingrove are NEMSAC members. The purpose of the presentation was to familiarize NEMSAC with the leadership agenda, to foster discussion of the issues surrounding EMS leadership development, and to get the subject of leadership before NEMSAC and its subcommittees. 

“I think we were successful in our mission,” said Kirkwood.  “The council heard us and asked thoughtful, relevant questions, and then referred the topic to its Education and Workforce Committee.”  The NEMSMA EMS Leadership Agenda calls for a process like that used in developing the EMS Education Agenda for the Future that seeks national consensus on management competencies, followed up by educational objectives, curriculum development and credentialing.

* On February 19, NEMSMA President Gary Wingrove sent a letter to the National Registry requesting that the its leadership consider expanding the use of distance education methods to fulfill National Registry re-registration requirements. “Distance education is on the rise in America, both in accredited academic institutions and as a continuing education modality,” Wingrove wrote. “Particularly as the economy becomes more difficult and budgets tighten, EMS executives are struggling to maintain operational integrity while providing the necessary continuing education to clinical personnel. The greatest cost of quality CE delivery is the personnel hours for attendance at programs. If that cost can be reduced while achieving the same educational objectives, we will not have to divert funds from service delivery to meet CE requirements.”

* On February 21, NEMSMA President-Elect Skip Kirkwood participated in a conference call with leaders of the International Association of Fire Chiefs EMS Section in an effort to find commonalities and work together on mutual concerns. “We first mutually agreed that balkanization of EMS was a bad thing, and that generally cooperation was better than adversity,” Kirkwood said. “They were open to working together and cooperating on issues of mutual interest.” Areas of mutual interest discussed on the call included:  
     -  ambulance standards
     -  helicopter EMS safety
     -  transport reimbursement
     -  leadership development

The NEMSMA Board is proud of this association and is working hard to represent its members’ interests and earn their loyalty. Members are encouraged to bring their concerns to the Board by calling or emailing the office, and a Board member will be alerted to your feedback.

In addition, members are encouraged to participate on NEMSMA’s very active listserv on Google Groups, where you can find advice and help from other members of the NEMSMA community. If you are not currently receiving messages from the Google Group and want to be added, please send in your email address. We respect your privacy, so we don’t add members to the listserv unless you request that we do so.