What Are You Doing for EMS Week?

     This year marks the 35th Annual National EMS Week, which will be held May 18–24. Created by the American College of Emergency Physicians, this year's theme is "EMS: Your Life Is Our Mission." So what are you or your agency doing to celebrate this event?

     According to FDNY EMS Chief John Peruggia, "FDNY has taken a serious approach to ensuring that EMS Week is a successful opportunity for us to recognize the outstanding work of our EMS professionals."

     Each year, the EMS section of FDNY develops a specific EMS Week slogan, which is utilized for a public service announcement campaign. Members of the agency create graphics supporting the slogan and images of EMS personnel in action. These are printed as posters and displayed throughout the city. Additionally, the EMS section conducts the annual EMS Second Chance Survivor Bruncheon. Cardiac arrest victims are reunited with the EMS personnel who delivered their care. Throughout the five boroughs of New York, EMT/paramedic competitions are held with prizes going to winning teams. Each EMS station also conducts open houses, hosts CPR demonstrations and provides barbecues for all the watches.

     On the other side of the United States, Honolulu EMS celebrates EMS Week Hawaiian style. At the Honolulu Hale—the home of the mayor and city council—the mayor presents a proclamation declaring EMS Week. Selected patients are reunited with the EMS crews credited with saving them, and if the service has any new vehicles, they receive a Hawaiian blessing to cleanse the vehicle and make them ready for the lifesaving missions they are about to embark on.

     In Mecklenburg County (NC) EMS schedules patient and EMS crew reunions. The service also provides members with a small gift, according to EMS Director Richard Dean, typically a new gear bag or windbreaker with the service's logo on it. Lastly, on two separate days, so all the crews are able to attend, the headquarters staff provides a cookout for all their members, with the director and administrative staff doing the cooking and serving.

     Charleston County (SC) EMS sponsors a poster coloring contest—What EMS Means To Me—for elementary school children. The Charleston County EMS crews collect the posters from their area schools and vote on the top three overall posters from each school. In turn, the winners from each service area are brought to EMS HQ, where a vote is held and the top three posters selected. The three winners are awarded a ride to school in a Charleston County EMS ambulance. Columbia is the state capital, and an EMS parade is held through downtown, finishing up at a local park where a ceremony honors EMS members who lost their lives over the preceding year while attempting to assist others.

     ACEP's website, www.acep.org/emsweek, is filled with suggestions for celebrating EMS Week, including sample PSAs and press releases that can be issued to local media. The site has an EMS Week planning kit with downloadable logos for your service's website and much more. ACEP has created pins with this year's theme that your service can purchase for your members. Positive Promotions (www.positivepromotions.com) has an entire line of EMS Week items, including pins on a nice thank-you card. Each year, my service purchases pins to issue to the members of our service, as well as the members of the Ouray Board of County Commissioners, elected officials and department heads.

     These are just some ideas for celebrating EMS Week. For more, visit www.emsresponder.com/EMSWeek.

     Norm Rooker is chief of Ouray County EMS, CO. He can be contacted at nrooker@911cowboy.com.

THE EMS WEEK STORY
     In 1973, The EMS Act was created and passed both the House and Senate by popular majority and was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. At a time of fiscal conservatism and efforts to reduce the national debt, the EMS Act was one of the very few new initiatives to pass.