2024 Ambulance Ride-Along Toolkit

Educating your members of Congress about ambulance industry issues makes them much more likely to support your efforts. An easy and effective way to educate them is to invite them to participate in a local Ambulance Ride-Along!

The House and Senate will be adjourning for summer recess at the end of July and members of Congress will return home to their districts and states. This is the perfect opportunity for you to educate your members of Congress about issues facing our industry, in particular the extension of our Medicare add-on payments, the VA Final Rule,  and the EMS workforce shortage, which are important to your operation. For additional information on these issues, visit the AAA Advocacy Page, which includes one pagers about all of our initiatives.

The most effective way to deliver these key messages is to host your member of Congress or their staff on a tour of your operation and an ambulance ride-along. The AAA has made the process of arranging a ride-long or scheduling a meeting easy for you with our 2024 Congressional Ride-Along Toolkit. 

Are you willing to host a Member of Congress at your service but unsure of how to set it up? Email  Meghan Winesett at mwinesett@ambulance.org!

Everything you need to arrange the ride-along or schedule a meeting is included in the Toolkit.  Act now and invite your elected officials to join you on an Ambulance Ride-Along!

EMS Harm Reduction and SUD Treatment Webinar

Hosted by NHTSA’s Office of EMS on March 22 at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT

According to the National Harm Reduction Coalition, “harm reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use.” This can include improving access to naloxone (Narcan) to prevent death from opioid overdose, providing sterile syringes to reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C, and fentanyl testing programs, among other types of help. 

EMS clinicians are often on the frontline of addiction and the unintended consequences of both legal and illicit drug use and substance use disorder (SUD). In addition, drug use greatly impacts the larger context of our nation’s roads and highways through impaired driving and the resulting risks to the impaired driver, other drivers, passengers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. A 2022 NHTSA study of seven trauma centers around the U.S. found that nearly 56% of people injured or killed on roadways tested positive for one or more drugs, including alcohol. The most prevalent drug category was cannabis, and opioids made up 8.5% of cases at the trauma centers.

In this EMS Focus webinar, panelists will discuss:

• Harm reduction and SUD treatment in the context of EMS care
• Recent research 
• How innovation and intervention can drive overdose prevention in your community and reduction of other health risks, including traffic crashes that may be a result of impaired driving

REGISTER HERE

Panelists Include:

• Kate Elkins, Emergency Medical Services/911 Specialist, NHTSA’s Office of EMS (moderator)
• Gerard Carroll, M.D., EMS Medical Director, Cooper University Health Care; Division Head of EMS/Disaster Medicine; and Program Director, EMS Fellowship Program
• John Ehrhart, Paramedic; EMS Manager, San Diego Health Connect; Co-Founder, California Paramedic Foundation; and Founder, Mission Critical Protocols
• Simon Taxel, Paramedic Crew Chief and Public Safety Diver, Pittsburgh Bureau of EMS; Bloomberg Fellow, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

About EMS Focus

EMS Focus provides a venue to discuss crucial initiatives, issues and challenges for EMS stakeholders and leaders nationwide. Be sure to visit ems.gov for information about upcoming webinars and to view past recordings.

We are committed to providing equal access to this webinar for all participants. Persons with disabilities in need of an accommodation should contact nhtsa.ems@dot.gov to request an accommodation no later than Friday, March 19, 2024.

WEBINAR

Leveraging DOT Grant Funds for EMS Crash Response Improvement

Hosted by NHTSA’s Office of EMS on January 16 at 1pm ET / 10am PT

Learn how EMS Agencies are taking advantage of Department of Transportation (DOT) grant funding opportunities to improve EMS system response to roadside crashes.

NHTSA’s Office of EMS will host a discussion with Fire Chief Bruce Evans with the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District and Paul Teicher, Transportation Policy Analyst at U.S. DOT to share information and best practices to help EMS agencies nationwide prepare to apply for the upcoming Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant program.

REGISTER NOW

Discover New Resources Available on EMS.gov

View the latest EMS By the Numbers - October 2023

EMS By the Numbers is provided by NHTSA in an effort to help State EMS Officials track particular EMS activations. It originated during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide current information regarding temporal variations in the type and characteristics of EMS activations In addition to Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) and COVID-19 data, it also includes trends in EMS response to Cardiac Arrest, Scene Death, Injury, Vehicle Crashes, and Opioid-Related Activations.

Access the most recent version of this document that was released in October 2023.

View EMS By the Numbers

New EMS and Fire Grant Funding Opportunities Available from USFA

USFA has released the Funding Alternatives for Emergency Medical and Fire Services, which outlines various grants and innovative funding alternatives available for EMS and fire protection services. EMS agencies are encouraged to review this document and explore the grant opportunities available for your state.

Review Grant Funding Opportunities 

NIOSH Advisory on PPE Recommendations for Responding to Chemical Suicide Incidents

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has partnered with the leading experts from the Pennsylvania Association of Hazardous Materials Technicians to release a new Safety and Health Advisory. The Personal Protective Equipment Recommendations for Response to Chemical Suicide Incidents advisory aims to provide responders with critical guidelines on the recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) when attending to chemical suicide scenarios. This advisory can be used as a guideline to provide personal protective equipment recommendations for first responders to minimize the likelihood of exposures, injuries and fatalities during chemical suicide incidents. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Read the Advisory Here

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