Page 159 - BWM Dec 2012

December 2012 | Business World Magazine | 159
EMS ON THE HILL DAY
On March 5 and 6, 2013, in Washington,
D.C., the National Association of Emergen-
cy Medical Technicians will be holding their
annual EMS on the Hill Day event – invit-
ing EMS practitioners nationwide to gather
at Capitol Hill to discuss industry issues
with their congressional leaders. The pro-
jected number of people expected to attend
that event is getting increasing h each year,
Lane says. “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 going 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, as
well as “raise the bar on education for para-
medics and EMTs,” Lane says.
Another key focus for NAEMTwill 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
utilizing paramedics to reach out into the
community to provide primary medical care
beyond the hospital,” Lane says.