By Maveric Vu
EMS1 Staff
National EMS Week is the perfect time for departments to focus on celebrating their EMS personnel and reaching out to the local community. While these goals should ideally be upheld throughout the year, planning EMS Week events allows agencies to set a strong foundation for the future.
According to several EMS organizers, tackling the huge task of planning EMS Week events starts with a fundamental strategy: partnering up with local hospitals, agencies and community groups.
Starting from the ground up
“Any services that are close to urgent care or clinics or ERs – go to them and definitely ask them to participate and donate,” said Raquel Garza, EMS secretary for Pearland EMS in Texas. “They are usually very open to helping out.”
This year, Pearland EMS revamped and reenergized its approach to EMS Week events, offering extended hours for outreach events, such as free blood pressure checks and CPR classes, Garza said. Pearland EMS has 50 employees and serves a city of about 40,000 people.
Whether your department is small, medium or large – private, public or volunteer – the American College of Emergency Physicians offers helpful tips on making EMS Week “the best ever.”
Some suggestions and ideas include:
- Create an EMS mascot for public events (Ever seen a Traumasaurus?)
- Invite the public to an EMS open house event
- Focus on making EMS fun for kids, such as creating a coloring placemat with EMS facts
- Appeal to local reporters in order to get newspaper and television coverage to bolster awareness and attendance (Footage from FOX News, Milwaukee )
- Establish an EMS Honor Guard to properly honor deceased members of the department
Garza said she is already looking at potential ideas for next year’s EMS Week, including two suggestions from the ACEP: hosting a “Teddy Bear Clinic” and organizing an outdoor bike rodeo.
For departments looking to plan their inaugural EMS Week schedule, starting small can help establish a foundation to build off of, Garza said. When planning Pearland’s first EMS Week celebration, she contacted her local poison control authority who provided free materials and instructional training on how to conduct educational demonstrations.
She also went online and to the ACEP Web site to locate free resources, flyers and activity books to use.
“If you’re not good at putting on events and don’t have a lot of funding, this is a really good way to get started,” she said.
Big city, ‘small town’ feel
Orange County Health Care Agency (OCHCA), which oversees medical services operations for over 3 million Calif. residents, organizes one of the largest EMS Week celebrations in the nation. According to public information officer Deanne Thompson, Orange County EMS dedicates the entire month of May to hosting EMS-related events.
“Because we’re a big county that feels small, there is a lot of collaboration and cooperation,” Thompson said. “We’re very supportive of each other when in comes to awareness and education.”
The OCHCA acts as the lead agency that organizes and compiles smaller events and projects from the 20 ambulance companies and 13 fire agencies that operate within the county, Thompson said.
Thus, EMS Week events range from individual department “Safety Days,” to the massive Red Cross-sponsored “Super CPR Day,” which doled out 2,200 CPR certifications at one event, Thompson said.
“From our perspective, EMS Week is about the education of the general public on how best to protect themselves and their families to prevent them from being injured,” Thompson said. “We’ve gone a long way toward self-sufficiency.”
While the OCHCA focuses on outreach, it also holds a countywide EMS appreciation event for all EMS personnel and their families. This year, the county is hosting an EMS carnival festival; in past years, they’ve had tailgate parties at baseball games, Thompson said.
Bringing it all together
While not on the same massive scale, Durham County N.C. EMS Director Mike Smith shows his appreciation for his crew by cooking them dinner every Monday after a continuing education session.
“I feed the guys to tell them that we really appreciate and value them,” Smith said.
Local medical facilities and companies have also joined in, providing food and booth space for EMS Week, he said.
EMS Week is also a time to garner attention on crucial issues impacting the prehospital care field. On Monday, Durham County and Duke University Medical Center held a press conference announcing the success of an “Acute MI Hotline.”
According to Smith, the pilot program allows paramedics to send 12-lead EKGs to the ER in order to expedite transport to the correct facility.
“[The press release] fits right into the theme of EMS Week,” Smith said. “Most of the time, the community doesn’t even know what’s going on in EMS.”
For free online resources, as well as ideas for planning next year’s EMS Week, visit the ACEP Web site at: http://www.acep.org/practres.aspx?id=30212.