Page 7 - NAEMT

NAEMT | 7
implement a national public safety commu-
nications network.”
EMS ON THE HILL DAY
On March 5 and 6, 2013, in Washington,
D.C., the National Association of Emergency
Medical Technicians will be holding their an-
nual EMS on the Hill Day event – inviting
EMS practitioners nationwide to gather at
Capitol Hill to discuss industry issues with
their congressional leaders. “The projected
number of people expected to attend that
event grows increasingly larger each year,”
says Lane. “People in our profession recog-
nize that we need to be visible. The people in
Congress, as representatives of the House and
Senate, work for us. The only way they’re go-
ing to really understand what we need is to sit
down and talk about it with them,” she adds.
Going forward, retaining and increas-
ing their membership remains a top priority
for NAEMT. By the end of 2014, the plan
for the association is to recruit and retain well
over 10,000 full-time EMS members, an ini-
tiative that Lane says, “will raise the bar on
education for paramedics and EMTs.”
Another key focus for NAEMT will
be Community Paramedicine – an organized
system of services based on local need that is
provided by EMTs and paramedics, which is
integrated into local or regional health care.
“Hospitals and medical systems are looking at
innovative ways to improve patient care and
efficiency in the health care system by utiliz-
ing paramedics to reach out into the commu-
nity to provide primary medical care beyond
the hospital,” Lane says.