Emergency.Blog

34th Annual National EMS Week

ACEP Announces 34th Annual National EMS Week (This week)

May 20-26, 2007

Washington, DC-The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) today announced that the 34th annual Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week will be celebrated throughout the nation May 20-26, 2007. The event brings together local communities and medical personnel to publicize safety and honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services on the medical "front line."

National EMS Week will feature hundreds of grassroots activities coast-to-coast that will be planned around this year's theme, "Extraordinary People, Extraordinary Service," which exemplifies the excellent services provided every day, under any circumstances by the 750,000 EMS providers who serve their communities.

"As this year's theme emphasizes, EMS providers are dedicated to saving lives, even putting their own lives on hold as they respond to medical emergencies," said Dr. Brian Keaton, president of ACEP. "They do this every day without special recognition, which is why we are recognizing EMS providers this year as extraordinary."

The weeklong series of events will include national and local activities to honor EMS providers (paramedics, emergency medical technicians, first responders, fire fighters, and police), and to raise public awareness about health and safety issues, including how to prevent injuries and what to do in a medical emergency.

Each year, ACEP develops and distributes EMS Week organizational kits to help communities plan and promote activities for the week. Kits are distributed to hospital emergency departments, state EMS offices, fire departments, EMS services, and the 53 ACEP chapters. The kits are made available free to the public thanks to this year's EMS Week 2007 corporate sponsors, including USA Mobility, Zoll, OnStar, JEMS, EMS Magazine and NBC Universal.

The EMS Week kit also contains the EMS Week Planning Guide, which reports on national and community events held during EMS Week 2006 and highlights activities planned for 2007. The kit also contains numerous fact sheets addressing important injury prevention and health topics.

Special Observances

" May 23-Annual Emergency Medical Services for Children Day. This day focuses on drawing national attention to the essential need for specialized emergency care for children to ensure that every child in the nation receives the highest quality emergency care possible-from primary prevention to acute care and rehabilitation.

" May 25-26-National EMS Memorial Service and Annual National Moment of Silence. The National EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke, Va., organizes this national event to honor and remember the nation's EMS providers who have made the ultimate sacrifice and given their lives in the line of duty. All EMS and communications agencies participating observe 60 seconds of radio silence on this day at 8 p.m. (ET).

EMS Week 2007 is sponsored by ACEP along with EMS Week partners who provide information for the kits and distribute them to their members. ACEP's 2007 organizational partners for EMS Week include: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Emergency Medical Services for Children, the National Association of EMTs and The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

For more information or to obtain an EMS Week kit, please call 800-798-1822, touch 6, or visit ACEP's EMS Week Web site at www.acep.org/emsweek (e-mail: emsweek@acep.org). EMS Week kits can also be obtained from your local state EMS office or any EMS Week partner organization.

-- Source: http://www.acep.org/webportal/Advocacy/ems/week/pressrelease.htm