This Week in EMS: A Recap for September 1 - 7, 2007

The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) moved forward this week on implementing major organizational changes recently voted into place by its membership.

Final interviews were being held for a new executive director position. Officials had narrowed the field to three finalists from more than 60 applications from across the country, said NAEMT president Jerry Johnston.

Johnston said NAEMT members have seen the need for an executive director for some time. "We have an all volunteer board, and we're stretched thin," he said.

The newly chosen executive director will be sharing his or her vision for the organization with members at the NAEMT Annual Meeting set for Oct. 9-13 in Orlando, Florida.

The addition of an executive director is just one of the changes ahead for NAEMT. Read the full article by EMSResponder.com senior writer Susan Nicol Kyle, NAEMT Embarks on Reorganization.

Picture boards are becoming more and more common with emergency caregivers as a means to communicate with non-English speaking patients.

The large, double-sided panels let patients point to icons illustrating their problem - such as pain, a burn, breathing trouble or a fall - as well as the affected body part. They also can point to their native language in a list so an appropriate interpreter can be located.

Use of the panels is spreading under a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services program aimed at helping hospitals to meet their patients' communication needs, according to a national Associated Press report. At least nine state hospital associations have signed on: New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and Washington.

"They ought to be in every ambulance, in every hospital, in every clinic," said Dr. Fred M. Jacobs, head of New Jersey's health department. "Communication barriers lead to adverse impacts on (care) quality, misunderstandings and even medical errors."

For additional details visit Picture Boards Speak in Health Crisis.

In an attempt to maintain better control at future disaster scenes, the federal government is launching an ambitious ID program for rescue workers. The goal is to better coordinate qualified rescue personnel, while keeping regular people from swarming the scene.

A prototype of the new first responder identification card is already being issued to fire and police personnel in the Washington, D.C., area.

FEMA proposed the idea after the World Trade Center and Hurricane Katrina emergencies, when countless Americans rushed to help but became an additional burden.

"Wow, how in the world do we say this without love and respect in our hearts?" said deputy assistant U.S. Fire Administrator Charlie Dickinson.

"Everybody wants to come to the fight, so to speak, and no one wants to step back and say 'No, I can't do this.' The final coup de grace was the World Trade Center. Hundreds came that were never asked," Dickinson said. "Good intentions, good hearts, and it was extremely difficult for the fire department and the other departments to deal with them."

This will certainly be both an emotional and a logistical issue unique to each disaster. While the crush of volunteers may have been a burden to some previously, others say they provided key assistance, such as getting equipment and water into devastated areas when the government was unable.

Read the full article, Feds to Restrict Volunteers at Disasters.

This week also saw some updates to the report that D.C. officials are investigating prostitution claims against city EMTs.

A second allegation was brought to light that department employees may have been asked to exchange sex for lucrative overtime assignments.