EMS News Archive

Note: The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians represents and serves Emergency Medical Services personnel through advocacy, educational programs, and research. The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NAEMT in September 2006 to establish a framework of future cooperation between the two groups on issues of mutual interest and to foster a partnership to allow for direct action on common ground solutions on fire, EMS, and homeland security matters.

Last year, NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg attended the annual meeting of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) and made a presentation to our Board of Directors about the NVFC. After that presentation, NAEMT President Jerry Johnston named NAEMT member Wes Ogilvie as our liaison to your organization.

Wes and I would like to tell NVFC members a little about NAEMT and what we have in common with the NVFC. Our mission is to represent and serve Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel through advocacy, educational programs and research.

Like the NVFC, NAEMT maintains a presence in Washington by participating in Advocates for EMS. Our representatives also speak directly to decision-makers on behalf of EMS-related issues in the halls of Congress, in federal agencies, and at the local and state level. NAEMT represents EMS personnel from all types of EMS agencies, including the volunteer fire service.

Like the NVFC, NAEMT promotes and provides training to emergency responders. We currently operate three training programs: PreHospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS), Advanced Medical Life Support (AMLS), and Emergency Pediatric Care (EPC). NAEMT provides input to other EMS educational programs through its many liaison appointments.

Like the NVFC, NAEMT provides mission-critical information to our membership of more than 26,800 members from all 50 U.S. states and 59 countries across the globe. We offer individual and squad memberships. NAEMT�s Board of Governors, like the NVFC, is made up of one representative from each of the 28 affiliated state EMS associations that are part of the NAEMT family. The Board, which also includes appointed representatives from each of our seven divisions, and representatives from the National Registry of EMTs, the American College of Surgeons, and the National Native American EMS Association, oversees the work of the board of directors and makes all major decisions for the association.

NAEMT�s most recently adopted policy platform identifies 10 areas of concern for the organization. Topping the list are EMS workforce issues. We believe volunteer EMS personnel should receive insurance that will cover them in the event of injury, illness, or disability that is a result of providing EMS services.

NAEMT believes all EMS personnel are entitled to work in an environment where safety and health are top operational priorities. Personal fitness is essential to providing patient care in all settings, environments, seasons, and times of the day or night.

NAEMT believes there is a need for the consolidation of a single, high-level U.S. federal EMS entity. In a recent article, NAEMT President Jerry Johnston states that EMS is a multi-displinary industry, so we need a multi-disciplinary representative in Washington.  FICEMS (Federal Interagency Committee on EMS) and the NEMSAC (National EMS Advisory Council) are currently our best option. NAEMT has taken a position in support of these entities.

Finally, NAEMT believes that organizations, associations, and the government should work together to create balanced and equitable funding for EMS (that includes a cost-based methodology) in all geographic locations to ensure reasonable access to emergency medical services. 

Cost-based funding would allow EMS to provide for �readiness to respond� to emergency calls, not just the cost related with a specific call. This is similar to the concept of budgeting for fire department �readiness to respond.�

We urge you to visit our web site at www.naemt.org to learn more.