Current and Past Issues of EMS Insider

August 2008 Volume 35 Issue 8

Billing for the Deceased

Mannie Garza
2008 Aug 1

Some agencies collect even if the patient dies, while others feel asking for billing information on scene puts their providers in a tough spot.

July 2008 Volume 35 Issue 7

AMR Leverages Size but Stays Local

Mannie Garza
2008 Jul 1

AMR recently formed three national councils to guide clinical policy and equipment decisions.

June 2008 Volume 35 Issue 6

Restoring Exposure-Reporting Rules

Mannie Garza
2008 Jun 1

Until a 2006 reauthorization, The Ryan White Act required hospitals to test and report a patient's disease status following provider exposure to blood or body fluids. Now, EMS and fire representatives, along with EMS lobbying organization Advocates for EMS, are working together address their concerns with Congress and get the provisions reinstated.

May 2008 Volume 35 Issue 5

Ambulance Traffic Control Program

2008 May 1

A Houston program looks to experienced paramedics to assist with taking patients to the best destination hospital for their current needs.

April 2008 Volume 35 Issue 4

High School EMTs

2008 Apr 1

A collaborative effort has increased the number of Louisiana high school students taking a one-year course to become certified EMT-Bs.

March 2008 Volume 35 Issue 3

Proposal Slashes Cash for EMS

2008 Mar 1

President Bush's proposed 2009 budget proposes cutting Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, eliminating most of the federal EMS programs and making deep cuts in first responder grants.

February 2008 Volume 35 Issue 2

'Gatekeeper' Saves Time

Mannie Garza, Editor, EMS Insider
2008 Feb 1

Turnaround times for Baltimore City's units dropped with a routing "gatekeeper."

January 2008 Volume 35 Issue 1

Foundation Provides Millions to Improve Response Times

Mannie Garza, Editor, EMS Insider
2008 Jan 22

The Duke Endowment (TDE) has contributed $1.6 million to help North Carolina counties improve their EMS system response times.

NREMT Sets Deadline

Mannie Garza, Editor, EMS Insider
2008 Jan 1

NREMT will certify only graduates of accredited paramedic education programs after 2012.

December 2007 Volume 34 Issue 12

Sexual Harassment in EMS

W. Ann Maggiore, NREMT-P, JD
2007 Dec 1

It's not only female EMS and fire department employees who sue for sexual harassment.

November 2007 Volume 34 Issue 11

Community Paramedicine Proponents Meet

Mannie Garza
2007 Nov 1

Leaders of the community paramedicine program movement convened in late September in Queensland, Australia to share strategies, successes and solutions to common challenges.

Studying Sleep Deprivation

Marion Angell Garza, News Editor
2007 Nov 1

A study recently released by the IAFC and USFA discusses sleep and shiftwork.

October 2007 Volume 34 Issue 10

Grow Your Own EMS Leaders

David M. Williams, MS

Every year, JEMS, in partnership with Fitch & Associates, surveys hundreds of EMS organizations across the United States in search of trends in salary and workplace practices. This year, we asked how organizations develop and manage their personnel talent.

September 2007 Volume 34 Issue 9

Systems & Operations Focus at Executive Forum

2007 Sept 1

The second Pinnacle conference drew 400 leaders to learn and network about systems and operations.

24-Hour Shifts May Endanger Patients and Employees

EMS Insider
2007 Aug 28

Austin/Travis County (Texas) EMS changed its work schedules after considering the eye-opening results of a study on its employees’ sleep/wake patterns while on duty.

August 2007 Volume 34 Issue 8

CMS Proposes One Rule & Withdraws Another

Mannie Garza
2007 Aug 15

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a rule in the July 12 Federal Register that would require ambulance staff to sign a statement during transport if a Medicare beneficiary is mentally or physically unable to sign a claim form and has no representative available to do so.

Bariatric Patients Pose Weighty Challenges

Raphael M. Barishansky, MPH, et al
2007 Aug 2

Increasing numbers of emergency calls involving obese patients will affect your service's personnel, equipment, vehicles and finances. Agencies must have at least the minimum of solutions in place.

FICEMS Gets Down to Work

Mannie Garza
2007 Aug 2

The Federal Interagency Committee on EMS held its second meeting June 26, drawing high-level government officials into a two-hour meeting where they assigned projects to several federal workgroups.

July 2007 Volume 34 Issue 7

Government Solicits National Ambulance Provider For Disaster Response

Mannie Garza
2007 Jul 8

The federal General Services Administration issued a request for proposals May 24, on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seeking a national contractor (or contractors) to provide ambulance, air ambulance and paratransit services after a nationally declared disaster in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal regions of the United States. (FEMA intends to issue RFPs for the rest of the United States later.)

June 2007 Volume 34 Issue 6

Lobby Congress Now

2007 Jun 1

Congress is currently crafting its 13 appropriations bills for fiscal year 2008, and House leaders hope to get its versions of those bills passed before the July 4th recess. So the time is right for the EMS community to contact its members of Congress and convince them to move on the primary initiatives identified by national EMS organizations.