EMS AT THE CROSSROADS: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR UNITY?

EMS AT THE CROSSROADS: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR UNITY?

Since its inception in the early 1970s, EMS never has been able to develop the focus for leadership at the national level needed to garner the funding and support it clearly deserves. At times, an individual surfaces who has a vision for the future, novel ideas for changing EMS, but little support to garner the interest of congressional leaders. In the current fiscal environment, one of the first victims of the Medicaid/Medicare axe was reimbursement for primary emergency medical services. Why has EMS never attained status on the national level, and how does this impact the fire service?

Since EMS is in its infancy, it continues to go through the growing pains one would see in any group or organization. Few people, though, have emerged from this organization on a national level that have shown the leadership and vision to attract the attention of Congress. Congress has never paid much attention to EMS. Few bills with an EMS focus are introduced; fewer bills are passed; and of those that pass through Congress, only a small number actually get funding.