NAEMT Radio

Ep 5 NAEMT Radio Lights and Sirens with Dr Doug Kupas

In this edition of NAEMT Radio we talk to reducing Lights and Sirens (L&S) with NAEMT’s Medical Director Douglas F. Kupas, MD, EMT-P, FAEMS, FACEP. In early 2022, 14 international EMS, patient safety, quality and fire associations released a joint position statement encouraging EMS systems to reduce the incidence of L&S vehicle operations. This represents a significant alignment by these associations on the risks and benefits of L&S EMS vehicle operations.
Most EMS clinicians who have responded to more than a few EMS calls learn that from a clinical need perspective, there are times when a L&S response may be warranted and many times when it is not. L&S response increases the chance of an EMS vehicle crash by 50% and almost triples the chance of crash during patient transport [1]. But how should agencies undertake the effort to change 50 years of culture, both within emergency service agencies and in their communities, to reduce L&S vehicle operations?
For EMS, the purpose of using L&S is to improve patient outcomes by decreasing the time to care at the scene or to arrival at a hospital for additional care, but only a small percentage of medical emergencies have better outcomes from L&S use. Over a dozen studies show that the average time saved with L&S response or transport ranges from 42 seconds to 3.8 minutes. Alternatively, L&S response increases the chance of an EMS vehicle crash by 50% and almost triples the chance of crash during patient transport. Emergency vehicle crashes cause delays to care and injuries to patients, EMS practitioners, and the public. These crashes also increase emergency vehicle resource use through the need for additional vehicle responses, have long-lasting effects on the reputation of an emergency organization, and increases stress and anxiety among emergency services personnel.
NAEMT Radio is hosted by NAEMT Member and Lighthouse Leadership Mentor - Rob Lawrence.
Resources:
Joint Statement On Red Light and Siren Operations: https://www.scribd.com/document/558891459/Joint-Statement-on-Red-Light-and-Siren-Operations-With-Logos#from_embed
About
Dr. Kupas is medical director for Geisinger EMS and director of Mobile Integrated Healthcare for Geisinger Health System, his professional home for the past 30 years. He is an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) physician, Professor of Emergency Medicine, Resuscitologist and the EMS Medical Director for the State of Pennsylvania for the past 20 years. A board-certified emergency physician subspecializing in EMS, Dr. Kupas is an avid researcher and passionate advocate for EMS practitioner and patient safety. His clinical interests include CPR, hypothermia, end-of-life care, EMS patient and practitioner safety and EMS airway management.
Dr. Kupas’s EMS career began 40 years ago when he joined Lower Kiski Ambulance Services in Leechburg, PA, on his 16th birthday as a volunteer. He later became a paramedic and a physician. He earned his medical degree from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and completed his residency in emergency medicine at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA. Dr. Kupas serves as the associate chief academic officer for simulation and student affairs at Geisinger, assistant dean for medical student affairs at the Temple University School of Medicine at the Geisinger Clinical Campus, and an associate at Geisinger’s Department of Emergency Medicine. He is a member of many local, state and national organizations and has numerous honors, awards and publications to his credit, including development of an anonymous patient safety event reporting system that became the EVENT reporting system.
LINKS
Join the NAEMT
https://www.naemt.org/join/join

Ep 4 NAEMT Radio – Lighthouse Leadership Project

In this edition of NAEMT Radio discuss the EMS Lighthouse Leadership Program with David Edgar, Director, Region III and Rommie Duckworth, Director, Region I. Both Dave and Rom are involved with the program and are actively mentoring the first cohort (Class of 2022). NAEMT Radio is hosted by NAEMT Member and Lighthouse Leadership Mentor - Rob Lawrence.
About the Program
James O. Page, the founding father of modern EMS in the United States, had a vision to create a mentorship program for EMS practitioners to guide and support them in achieving their leadership goals.  He called it the “EMS Lighthouse Leadership Program.”  Although Jim passed away before he could implement the program, other leaders in EMS inspired by Jim’s vision have developed the framework for this new EMS mentorship program.
Each Lighthouse Leadership participant (mentee) will be matched with an EMS leader (mentor) who possesses the specific knowledge and experience to help the mentee map out a personal career plan, develop a strategy to achieve career goals, and provide support throughout an 18-month mentorship.  Mentees will participate in an orientation program followed by regularly scheduled virtual meetings with their mentor.  The program will culminate in the mentee participating in a graduation event to be held in conjunction with EMS World Expo.
This committee shall implement a program to identify, develop and mentor the next generation of EMS leaders. Responsibilities shall include:
Developing and refining the program structure
Recruiting, selecting, preparing and monitoring mentors
Recruiting, selecting, and preparing mentees to participate in the program
Providing leadership development workshops for mentees
Tracking the progress of all mentees
Evaluating the mentorships on an annual basis.
Committee Chair: David Edgar and Members: Juan Cardona, Chris Cebollero, Rom Duckworth, Baxter Larmon, Jon Politis, Macara Trusty, Shannon Watson and Steve Wirth.
Resources:
https://www.naemt.org/initiatives/lighthouse-leadership-program
About Rommie Duckworth, Director, Region I (2023-2024)
Rommie L. Duckworth, MPA, LP, EFO, is a captain, shift commander, and EMS coordinator for the Ridgefield Fire Department in Connecticut. He is also founder and director of the New England Center for Rescue and Emergency Medicine. Duckworth is a dedicated emergency responder, author, and educator with more than 30 years of experience working in career and volunteer fire departments, hospital healthcare systems, and private emergency medical services.
Duckworth has contributed to the NAEMT AMLS and PHTLS textbooks. He is a 2021 recipient of the NAEMT Presidential Leadership Award for his work on the Lighthouse Leadership Committee, for which he also serves as a mentor. Duckworth is also the recipient of the American Red Cross Hero Award, Sepsis Alliance Hero Award, the EMS10 Innovators Award, and the Western Connecticut Health Network Lifetime Achievement Award.
He is the NAEMT representative to the American College of Surgeons Rural Trauma Advisory Committee, the CT-EMS for Children representative for the Ridgefield Fire Department, and an instructor for EMS, fire, rescue, law enforcement, and dispatch education programs.
He’s the author of "Duckworth on Education," as well as chapters in more than a dozen EMS, fire, rescue, and medical textbooks and over 100 published articles in fire and EMS magazines. He holds positions on other national and international advocacy and advisory boards, where he continues to work for the advancement of emergency services professions.
About David Edgar, Director, Region III (2022-2023)
David Edgar, MHA, CCP, is the assistant chief of EMS for the City of West Des Moines, Iowa. Edgar started his career as a volunteer with the department in 1986 and is starting his 36th year in EMS. He obtained his Master of Healthcare Administration in 1999.
Edgar is a member of the Iowa Department of Public Health’s Highly Infectious Disease Committee, the FEMA Region 7 EMS workgroup, Iowa EMS for Children Committee, the regional implementation committee for Pulsara, Metro STEMI and Stroke Committee, and is the EMS representative for the Des Moines Metro Emergency Departments Committee. In addition, he also serves as Chair of the NAEMT Lighthouse Leadership Committee and represents NAEMT on the CAAS Board of Directors. Edgar was recognized as the Iowa Career Paramedic of the Year in 2000. He was the recipient of a 201 3 JEMS EMS 10 Innovators in EMS Award, AAA Star of Life Award, and an NAEMT Presidential Leadership Award.

Ep 3 NAEMT Radio - The 2022 National Report on Engagement and Satisfaction in EMS Worker Engagement Survey

In this edition of NAEMT Radio we discuss the 2022 National Report on Engagement and Satisfaction in EMS Worker Engagement Survey with Rob Luckritz, EMS Chief of the Austin-Travis County EMS System and Matt Zavadsky, Chief Transformation Officer for MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Fort Worth, TX.
The Discussion covers the survey findings including - The Impact of Employee Satisfaction and Engagement, Pay in EMS, Job Satisfaction in EMS, How Well Do Employers Support and Engage EMS Practitioners? Reasons for Leaving EMS, Solutions: What EMS Practitioners Want from Their Employers.
Before we close, Matt discusses the recent extreme weather event in Fort Worth and the decision to switch off Red Lights and Sirens in the service area.  This will be a subject of a future podcast featuring Dr Doug Kupas. NAEMT Radio is hosted by NAEMT Member and Lighthouse Leadership Mentor - Rob Lawrence.
Resources:
NAEMT 2022 National Report on Engagement and Satisfaction in EMS: https://www.naemt.org/naemt-2022-national-report-ems-engagement
EMS1 Article - The EMS workforce: Critical condition! https://www.ems1.com/ems-advocacy/articles/the-ems-workforce-critical-condition-uQLsAE6niAsqzjvA/
AAA/ Newton 360 2021 Ambulance Industry Employee Turnover Study:  https://ambulance.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2021-AAA-EMS-Turnover-Study.pdf
About Rob Luckritz
Robert Luckritz, JD, NRP, is EMS Chief of the Austin-Travis County EMS System, serving Austin, TX and Travis County, TX, where he leads the largest municipal third-service EMS agency in the nation with an authorized staff of 665 sworn personnel and nearly 100 civilians across 46 stations and 1,100 square miles, responding to approximately 150,000 requests for service annually and a budget exceeding $100M.
Robert received his bachelor's degree in EMS Management from Springfield College, a Juris Doctor degree from Western New England University, and is currently working towards a master's degree in public administration at Northeastern University. In 2015, he received the JEMS Magazine EMS10 Innovators in EMS Award, and was the recipient of a 2016 NAEMT Presidential Leadership Award. He previously served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Urban Hospitals and the New Jersey Association of Paramedics.
About Matt Zavadsky
Matt is the Chief Transformation Officer for MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Fort Worth, TX.  He has helped guide the implementation and financial sustainability of numerous innovative programs with healthcare partners that have transformed MedStar fully as a Mobile Integrated Healthcare provider. Most recently, he has led the negotiations with multiple third-party payers to change the basic economic model for EMS to better align patient, provider and payer focus on patient centered care as opposed to simply payment for ambulance transport.
Matt serves as an EMS SME for multiple consulting firms working with city and county leaders to evaluate and redesign EMS systems with a focus on high performance and high value for the community.
Matt also chairs NAEMT's EMS Economics Committee. He has recently worked with CMS/CMMI to help facilitate recent new payment models such as Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport (ET3) model and Medicare waivers for Treatment in Place during the pandemic. He has a master’s degree in healthcare administration, with a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Data Management.

Ep 2 NAEMT Radio Advocacy

In this episode of NAEMT Radio, NAEMT President Elect, Chris Way and Region II Director, Juan Cardona join Rob Lawrence to discuss Advocacy.  The guests identify why advocacy is important to the future of EMS at the local, state and federal levels. 
In the second half of the podcast, the discussion turns to the upcoming EMS on the Hill (EMSOTH) Day event, taking place on Thursday, March 30, 2023 (briefing: evening on March 29) at  the Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA and up on Capitol Hill. Chris and Juan tell us about preparing to attend EMSOTH, what to expect, who will you meet, how long will it last, how to deliver 'The Ask' and how to follow up with your elected officials. 
Preliminary Schedule:
March 29: 5:30pm – 8:30pm – Pre-Hill Briefing and Networking Reception
March 30: 8:00am – 5pm – EMS On The Hill Day Congressional Hill Visits
March 30: 5:30pm – 7:30pm – Post Hill Reception
Resources / Links:
EMS On The Hill Day: https://naemt.org/events/ems-on-the-hill-day
EMSOTH Welcome Guide: https://naemt.org/docs/default-source/events/emshd-2023/emshd-welcome-guide-2023-02-08-2023-v4-final.pdf?sfvrsn=f848f493_2
GRASSROOTS ADVOCACY GUIDE http://www.naemt.org/docs/default-source/advocacy-documents/how-to-advocate/naemt_2016grassrootsadvocacyguide_final.pdf?status=Temp&sfvrsn=0.925529093585135
Mid Show Break
During the Mid Show break, Macara Trusty talks about the Mental Health Resilience Officer (MHRO) course presented with support from FirstNet®, Built with AT&T, has developed a course to assist EMS agencies in building and supporting the mental health resilience of their personnel. For more information visit https://naemt.org/education/mhro

Ep1 NAEMT Radio Introduction

Welcome to Episode 1 of NAEMT Radio - the official podcast of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians!
We begin with a warm welcome from NAEMT President, Susan Bailey who introduces herself and provides an overview of upcoming NAEMT events which include:  
EMS ON THE HILL www.naemt.org/events/ems-on-the-hill-day
Advocacy is core to NAEMT’s mission. EMS on the Hill is on March 29 and 30. We encourage everyone to attend in person, if possible. If attending in person is not possible, consider going to your Senator’s and Congressional Representative’s local office to advocate for EMS.
NAEMT Key Legislative Priorities are:
Reauthorization of SIREN. Senate bill 26 authored by Senators Durbin and Collins
We are working to introduce legislation to make the CMS COVID-19 waivers for ambulance services permanent which expire on May 31.
Treatment in place
Transport to alternative destination
Telemedicine facilitation
Community paramedicine support for hospital home health programs
EMS Counts Act – needs to be reintroduced because the bill did not pass in the last congressional session
LIGHTHOUSE LEADERSHIP MENTEE DEADLINE
The Lighthouse Leadership program identifies, develops and mentors the next generation of EMS leaders. We have received over 50 mentee applications and will shortly be announcing the selectees. 
LISTENING SESSIONS
NAEMT will be hosting listening sessions at the end of this month:
Region 1 – 2/21/2023 at 11am CT
Region 2 – 2/23/2023 at 11 am CT
Region 3 – 2/23/2023 at 3pm CT
Region 4 – 2/21/2023 at 3pm CT
Invitations to the members in each region will be sent out shortly.
APP
NAEMT will be developing an APP that will allow access to courses, membership benefits, membership renewal, etc. We are currently in the development stages.
 
NAEMT Radio is hosted by NAEMT member and Light House Leadership Mentor Rob Lawrence, Director at ProEMS / Prodigy EMS.
To learn more visit www.naemt.org