Saturday, May 24, 2025
Thursday, May 23, 2024
EMS Celebration - History of EMS Week
President Gerald Ford established the first National Emergency Medical Services Week in 1974, and since then it has been celebrated on the third week of May every year.
The goal of EMS Week was to raise awareness and pay tribute to the crucial work EMS professional do, often times risking their own safety and well-being in the pursuit to provide care to others.
As it has evolved, we now celebrate it with various events that honor the achievements of EMS professionals, highlight the importance of EMS in healthcare, and advocate for the challenges and issues faced by the EMS community.
For the full article follow the link below:
https://emsweek.org/2024/03/21/history-of-ems-week/
Further Reading:
Woodyard, D.R. (2023) EMS in the United States: Fragmented Past, Future of Opportunity. Colorado: Donnie Woodyard
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
EMS Week - What is EMS today?
For the first time we brought care to you – but only in an emergency. It was an enormous step up from a stretcher in a hearse supplied by a funeral home (because they had the vehicles).
From the extremes of defibrillating a cardiac patient in a marathon to assisting a senior citizen with her or his prescriptions for cancer treatment or congestive heart failure: is EMS an emergency service, a health care service or a preventive medical service?
The answer to that depends on who you ask, as EMS still has several delivery models and philosophical approaches.
Are we a community service in the continuum of healthcare or just the angels of 3:00 AM? We are balancing the original-and-since-improved, yet cobbled-together, EMS system as an essential service with the changing needs of healthcare for our citizenry.
Further Reading:
Woodyard, D. R. (2023) EMS in the United States: Fragmented Past, Future of Opportunity. Colorado: Donnie Woodyard
Sunday, May 19, 2024
EMS Celebration - EMS Week 50th Anniversary
Further Reading:
Woodyard, D.R. (2023) EMS in the United States: Fragmented Past, Future of Opportunity. Colorado: Donnie Woodyard




