EMS Week Articles
- Details
- Written by: Ian Feldman
- Category: EMS Week Articles
- Published:
- Hits: 0 1592
A Montage of “Healthful” Information
Everyone loves a health fair, and high school and college student councils, bands, sororities, and fraternities are always looking for community service projects. It’s a perfect suggestion for EMS Week. Other targets might be local businesses and civic or social organizations. The great thing about an Emergency Medical Services Health Fair is that the sponsoring organization actually puts it together. Your job is to gather the EMS personnel to be on hand to explain emergency medicine and answer questions.
How to Put on the Program
- Target the organizations you want to approach about an Emergency Medical Services Health Fair. Schedule the event on a day that is most convenient for the sponsoring organization’s members; for example, between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. for schools, and 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. for businesses and organizations. Determine the amount of help you’ll require from your EMS team and what promotional tools you’ll need. Line up the EMS personnel for the event as soon as the target school, business, or organization agrees and sets a date.
- Agree on a centrally located site such as a gymnasium, ballroom, the student union, cafeteria, or a large conference room or auditorium. Make sure the location is large enough for participants to walk around.
- Anticipate the attendance and plan your needs accordingly. Then look at the content. Ideally, it should provide a range of information on emergency medical problems. Exhibits, displays, and information booths providing free health testing works well. Include topics like how to deal with a victim of drug or alcohol abuse, first aid treatment, CPR, childproofing your home, and general emergency department procedures.
- Coordinate with the organization’s public or community relations department to print literature or provide samples and giveaways to health fair visitors. Invite other medical groups to participate and donate informational material.
- Ask the sponsoring organization’s leaders how the fair will be set up, who will represent them there, and agree on a time schedule for the fair. This will give you a basis on which to develop your own program implementation.
- Meet with the sponsoring organization at least one week before the fair to coordinate plans. Prepare a checklist of items and equipment you’ll need and the programs or demonstrations you will present, along with timetables. Be sure to get the names and telephone numbers of all the workers, and confirm that they know their responsibilities.
- Arrive at the health fair at least two hours in advance to make sure all booths are set up and to answer questions for fair workers. Hang signs in various locations to inform participants of parking and the location of the event. Throughout the day, be available to answer questions and gather feedback from visitors, and take black and white photographs during the fair for follow-up publicity.
Sample Media Memo
[NCEMSF Logo and Your Logo]
Media Memo
WHAT: An Emergency Medical Services Health Fair, sponsored by [organization]. The fair will offer participants free screening for (list screening you will have). Emergency medical personnel will provide attendees with information on emergency medical procedures, injury prevention, and more.
WHEN: [day, date, and hours]
WHERE: [location]
WHO: [Sponsoring organization] and emergency physicians, nurses, paramedics, and other emergency medical personnel from [list organizations] will present the exhibits and do the health screening.
WHY: The Health Fair is part of NCEMSF EMS Week . The seven-day observance, sponsored by the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation, is designed to make the public aware of the entire range of emergency medical care.
NOTE TO PHOTO ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: There will be some excellent photo opportunities available. Participants of all ages will be present and emergency medical personnel will be in uniform during the demonstrations.
For additional information, call:
[Name]
[Title]
[Organization Name]
[Address]
[Telephone]
[Email Address]
Sample 30-Second Radio Spot
30-Second Announcement
ARE YOU AT RISK FOR A MEDICAL EMERGENCY? FIND OUT AT THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES HEALTH FAIR [DAY, DATE] FROM [HOURS] AT [LOCATION]. EMERGENCY PERSONNEL WILL BE ON HAND TO CHECK [LIST SCREENINGS] FOR FREE AND OFFER TIPS ON INJURY PREVENTION, CHILDPROOFING YOUR HOME, AND MORE. THE FAIR IS SPONSORED BY [ORGANIZATION] AND THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PROFESSIONALS OF [YOUR INSTITUTION], WHO’LL BE ON HAND TO DISCUSS EMERGENCY PROCEDURES, INJURY PREVENTION AND MORE! FOR INFORMATION, CALL [NAME AND NUMBER].
- Details
- Written by: Ian Feldman
- Category: EMS Week Articles
- Published:
- Hits: 0 1344
- Choose a Theme
Determine your reason for hosting an open house. A theme makes it easier to promote your open house. EMS Week is a perfect opportunity to invite the community and administration into your stations for demonstrations, information, or to see equipment. - Find a Partner
To stretch your budget partner with local business. Many times local business will provide giveaways, food, or promotional materials. - Invite Local VIPs
Invite your local community leaders and school administration. If making presentations, give them the opportunity to say something during introductions. Be sure to take photos to send to the local media. - Promote Your Event
Advertising to attract people to your open house is beneficial. Considering advertising using college radio stations, newspaper, or campus email. Use a press release, pass out flyers, make announcements at community meetings, or hang a banner outside of your station. Promotion works even if you do not have a good turnout because every time you get your name in front of the public, you spread the word about who you are. - Make It Fun
Consider activities that engage your visitors. Provide the opportunity for them to see something they otherwise might not come in contact with, for example, a medical helicopter or rescue tools. - Provide A Value-add
Offer something to encourage students to visit. Blood pressure checks, health screenings, or classes are a good way to provide something in return for attending your open house. - Feed Your Guests
Always serve food or drinks. Anything from simple snacks to hotdogs and hamburgers would do. - Everyone Loves A Freebie
Make sure everyone walks away with a reminder of who you are. - Make Sure You Show Up
Unless you’re on an emergency call make sure you attend. Make arrangements to have standby coverage available so you can attend your event. Organizational leaders should be encouraged to attend every open house. - Follow Up With An After-Action Report
Everyone is familiar with the analytic process that occurs after a major incident. Do the same after your open house to determine what worked, what did not, and to identify ways that you can improve the process next time
- Details
- Written by: Ian Feldman
- Category: EMS Week Articles
- Published:
- Hits: 0 2635
Sparking interest among your members and community…
The following are several possible starting points for any National Collegiate EMS Week campaign. Feel free to utilize some, none, or all of these items, modifying them to meet your school’s particular needs. Also be sure to refer to the “Other Organizations” and “EMS Week Presentation Tips” pages for help in educating and involving your community.
- Open House - Invite students, media, or campus administrators to tour your facilities and look at your equipment. Specifically invite neighboring/mutual aid EMS organizations in the area, in an effort to build better relations and increase their awareness of your group.
- Blood Drive - Coordinate with your local American Red Cross chapter to sponsor a blood drive during National Collegiate EMS Week. Have NCEMSF and general EMS information available for people to read, as well as some representatives of your organization present to answer questions.
- Distribute Flyers -Offer take-home booklets and pamphlets or post flyers containing health and safety tips: include information included in this packet, and fact sheets such as seasonal safety (summer and winter safety, or special occasions like Halloween and 4th of July). Be careful that you adhere to your school’s policies on posting flyers; you do not want to cause unnecessary problems in your National Collegiate EMS Week planning.
- Demonstrations - Have someone pretend to be choking in the middle of the cafeteria, and then demonstrate the Heimlich maneuver to those watching. Also, include other local EMS organizations in planning and executing largescale demonstrations, such as automobile, lightening, boating, or drowning accidents, and show how the EMS system would help.
- Media Participation - Find out if your campus newspaper and/or television would be interested in writing a story about your organization. Perhaps they might want to ride along for a shift, or photograph a re-enactment of a particular call. Send the enclosed public service announcements (PSA’s) to campus and community radio stations for them to air during National Collegiate EMS Week. Try and give the media as much advance notice as possible, so they are better prepared.
- Organizational Training -Schedule a joint training class with another local EMS, fire/rescue, or police service. Your initiative and participation will demonstrate the level of professionalism present in collegiate EMS today.
- Run/Walk-a-thon - Host a 5K or 10K event to interest people of all ages. You might even consider making this a fundraising event for charitable, health-related organizations. Health Fair / Mass Seasonal Flu Vaccination - Hold a ‘health fair’ where you give free BP screenings, distribute public safety literature, and information about your organization. Coordinate with your health service, educate your community on the importance of vaccination and offer the seasonal flu vaccination during your fair. Check with local merchants to see if they would be willing to donate prizes or services for a raffle to be held during the fair.
- Presentations - Offer to visit elementary schools to present a quick segment on safety, how and when to activate EMS, and what to do after EMS has been activated. Type up your local emergency number on mailing labels and distribute them to each of the children, so they can place them by their phones. Also, offer presentations to your college or university faculty, staff, and student body.
- Photo Displays - For those who can’t make the hosted events, set up photos of your emergency department, ambulance, and other EMS functions for display in your library, residence halls, classroom buildings, or dining halls.
- CPR / First Aid Training - Sponsor free (or very inexpensive) CPR / First Aid training. See NCEMSF CPR Day Packet! Volunteer to register your faculty, staff, and other at-risk people in your service area, gleaning medical histories, current medications, etc. The community loves it, and you’ll have the information on file.
- Dorm Safety Program - Have EMS personnel give a lecture on dorm safety, including medical tips, information on dealing with emergencies, and general safety ideas. This is also a good opportunity to emphasize your relationship with the students as well as pushing for membership.
- Details
- Written by: Ian Feldman
- Category: EMS Week Articles
- Published:
- Hits: 0 1591
- NCEMSF represents over 250 active EMS organizations in 43 US states, 5 Canadian provinces, and Jamaica.
- NCEMSF's annual conferences routinely draw over 1000 attendees from more than 100 schools. The number of individual attendees along with the number of schools represented at the conferences have both been steadily increasing.
- Those 250+ organizations are comprised of over 8400 collegiate EMTs.
- NCEMSF’s uses a self reporting process to allow member schools to report their call volumes and other vital statistics. In academic year 2018-2019 (the most recent year for which data is available):
- 178 of the 247 schools provided their run statistics to NCEMSF.
- These 178 schools handled a total of 94,364 campus EMS responses.
- There were more than 2850 AEDs in use on college campuses!
- Details
- Written by: Ian Feldman
- Category: EMS Week Articles
- Published:
- Hits: 0 1814
What is NCEMSF?
The National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF), a non-profit professional organization, promotes the development of campus based emergency response groups. These groups are trained to respond in an emergency. Today there are over 250 schools throughout North America that provide campus based Emergency Medical Services. They respond within minutes and provide care tailored specifically to campus emergencies. These groups range from first response-type units to full-fledged advanced life support (ALS) transporting units.
In addition to providing medical care, campus based EMS groups provide a unique experience for students Many of campus based EMS groups are student staffed and organized. This allows students to develop leadership, communication, and decision-making skills while positively impacting other people’s lives. The life skills learned from participation in such activities have proven to be influential towards future careers.
NCEMSF achieves its mission by providing a forum for communication among campus/ community based emergency services groups. NCEMSF promotes an environment where ideas can be exchanged and problems can be solved.
How and when was NCEMSF formed?
In 1993, in response to a need for information exchange among campus EMS groups, the National Collegiate EMS Foundation was established. Before 1993, although many campus EMS groups existed, there was no forum where they could openly communicate with each other. Founded by Jon Diorio of Georgetown University (Washington, DC), NCEMSF quickly grew and was able to hold its first conference in April 1994. The conference attracted more than 130 people from over 30 schools. Every year since 1994, NCEMSF has held an annual conference to promote discussion of campus EMS issues.
What is National Collegiate EMS Week?
An annual event since 2000, National Collegiate EMS Week is a week-long celebration of both campus based EMS services, as well as a celebration of EMS in general. To that end, various NCEMSF member organizations are sponsoring public education efforts, fun activities, open houses, and other efforts to increase public awareness of collegiate EMS.
The second week in November was chosen because most schools are not in session during National EMS Week (the third week of May) sponsored by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP). NCEMSF thanks ACEP for its active participation and support during the preparation of National Collegiate EMS Week.
How can I learn more about NCEMSF and become more involved?
Continue to explore our website to find out the latest NCEMSF activities, news, and other information. Consider creating a website account to receive our email broadcasts. Become a dues paying member. Attend the our annual conference, held each year at the end of February in various cities.