Community Partnerships

   I'm not really good at making up new names for numbers, but if I had to, I think "kuhdillion" is the number I'd use to describe how many times I've seen organizations claim to "partner with their community" or be "community partners" in an effort to follow their mission statement. In fact, the biggest number of claims to be "community partners" I've seen seem to exist only within those mission statements.

   It seems everyone wants to be a "community partner" these days, and that's a good thing...if it is actively pursued and actually accomplished. Otherwise, it's just another claim on some company's mission statement that exists solely to help refashion the words "utilize synergy" to actual words that mean something.

   What does "partnering with our community" really mean? First, it takes a noun and twists it into a verb, which is something I dislike from a purely grammatical sense (ever heard of "dialoging" with someone?), but beyond that, it means the organization claiming to be a "community partner" needs the community's support in order to better fulfill its mission as much as the community needs the mission to be fulfilled. A bus company "partners with its community" to provide mass transportation service, but needs the community to help by allowing them to run their routes, standing in designated spots for pick-up and delivery, and paying the fares. A police department provides law enforcement and crime deterrence, but needs citizens to act as witnesses, report crimes and follow up with the prosecution. Similarly, a fire department responds to fire and rescue incidents to mitigate hazards and effect rescue, but needs citizens to report fires, practice fire safety and stay out of the way of firefighting operations.

   But how does an EMS and ambulance service "partner with the community"? And what would be the advantages for an ambulance agency to do so?

   The answer to the second question is pretty easy and represents great advantage to the EMS services that truly choose to pursue a community partnership. Here are several examples:

   • More appropriate use of the 9-1-1 system

   • More citizens calling for true emergencies and knowing what other resources to use when 9-1-1 isn't needed

   • Better marking of addresses on residences and businesses

   • Increased bystander CPR and first aid

   • Better pay, reimbursement and funding

   • Improved health of the community as a whole

   • Increased crew safety.

   If your ambulance service wants to partner with the community, how would you go about it? Well, you could do what some organizations do and just include the phrase "We will partner with our community to..." at the beginning of your mission statement, but that doesn't accomplish much other than giving some administrative types a warm feeling. To really get to the nuts and bolts of doing this takes a plan. It takes buy-in (yet another buzzword) from street-level providers, and it takes a lot of administrative support and giving crews leeway to make decisions.

   First, you need a plan and objectives. What do you need from your community to better serve your service's mission? What community organizations should you engage with to establish your partnership? What can you offer the community that you currently do not?

   That last question is important because, even though we may perceive the inherent value in our services, the community may not when they're asked to increase their contributions to us. Don't expect to get something for nothing. You need to offer the community something in return for their increased support. A good example of this is touting the vast increase in saves for cardiac arrest patients with bystander CPR. Sure, your community members probably know that, but you're their local provider. You need to show them the real benefits of learning CPR and providing it if necessary. You also need to look at the true benefits of the partnership. It costs money to train lots of people in CPR. Can those costs be covered by another community partner? Can another community organization step in to train citizens in CPR with your support? Would someone donate money to your service to cover the additional costs you will incur?