As the chair of the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (NEM-SAC), I am pleased to report the significant steps taken to improve the provision of EMS nationwide and the adoption of recommendations for ongoing progress in the future.
NEMSAC was created in 2007 to provide National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommendations regarding EMS. The council is made up of 25 EMS and consumer representatives. Since its creation, it has made significant progress helping guide federal support for EMS, as well as fostering national conversations on topics important to all emergency medical care.
In 2012, Congress authorized NEMSAC as a permanent statutory advisory committee. This Congressional change included several other changes, such as the annual election of a chair. I was elected to continue as the chair and Kyle Gorman, administrator of a fire-based EMS system in Oregon, was elected to serve as our first-ever vice-chair. A position was also added to the council that is reserved for someone who solely represents the viewpoints of EMS practitioners. Manuel Chavez, an EMS supervisor for the Houston Fire Department, was appointed to fill this role.
Finally, the new law allows NEMSAC the opportunity to provide recommendations directly to the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS). Previously NEMSAC offered its recommendations to FICEMS through the Department of Transportation (DOT). Under the new law, NEMSAC is able to provide recommendations directly to DOT and FICEMS.
Since 2008, NEMSAC has adopted 50 recommendations for the federal government. Of those, 17 have been directed to FICEMS. The council has had many successes, such as increasing the conversation about safety in EMS and helping to guide the implementation of the Model Uniform Core Criteria for MCI Triage. The NEMSAC Summary Report for 2010—2012 contains more detailed information about NEMSAC and its recommendations and can be found at: www.ems.gov/NEMSAC.htm.
2013 accomplishments
In 2013, the council passed three sets of recommendations. The first advisory concerned the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) and how the federal government can help to achieve the full potential of the data the EMS industry is collecting. The advisory recommended that:
“¢ FICEMS should take a leading role in helping to overcome many of the obstacles that local and state providers face in using their EMS data in a meaningful way and in linking their data with other healthcare databases, such as Health Information Exchanges.
“¢ NEMSIS should be the standard for collection and transmittal of all EMS data.
The second advisory on Leadership Assessment and Development in EMS included recommendations on:
“¢ The powerful role leadership plays in the reliability and sustainability of EMS throughout the country;
“¢ How DOT and FICEMS should host a summit on leadership to collect and disseminate best practices in this field; and
“¢ The current and future challenges facing EMS and how to prepare leaders for that future.
The council also adopted recommendations to advance the EMS Education Agenda for the Future. Briefly, the council recommended that:
“¢ Small additions be made to the agenda document to bring the education vision in line with the changing role of EMS.
“¢ NEMSAC complete those changes, in consultation with the larger EMS community, and offer them to DOT and FICEMS for their adoption.
“¢ A full-scale revision of the Education Agenda is premature and that council must understand the impact of the changing healthcare and public safety landscape before re-addressing how our practitioners should be educated.
What’s to come
During 2013 and into 2014, NEMSAC will be addressing several issues, though they may not all result in formal recommendations. These include:
“¢ EMS and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act;
“¢ Looking more closely at a possible revision to the EMS Agenda for the Future;
“¢ Increasing safety and safety culture throughout the profession; and
“¢ A review of our own internal processes and how to better solicit and receive public input.
It is also important to know how the public can participate in the work of the council. Each council meeting has dedicated time for the public to address the council. In addition, the public may submit comments to the council before or after its meetings. EMS.gov contains detailed information about the council, its work, completed advisories and work in progress.
The council would be unable to do its work without an incredible group of people behind the scenes. These individuals, including the staff members of NHTSA’s Office of EMS and specifically Director Drew Dawson and staff member Noah Smith, work hard for EMS every day and have been extraordinarily helpful in supporting the council.
For more information, go to EMS.gov or contact me directly.
Aarron Reinert has become nationally known as a leader, master teacher and expert in management, leadership, system design and applied best practices in rural and small-town EMS systems. He has been involved in EMS for more than 24 years and is currently the executive director of an emergency medical service in central Minnesota. Using such tools as the Balanced Scorecard, Reinert helps organizations recognize the necessary balance between finance, customer service, employee satisfaction and community awareness. His recognized understanding of current emergency services issues led to him serving on numerous national boards and projects and to an appointment as chairperson of the National EMS Advisory Council by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation.
