Within EMS, very little data exists about many aspects of the profession. In an effort to address this shortfall, NAEMT, in collaboration with the Center for Leadership, Innovation and Research in EMS, has developed an anonymous system for EMS practitioners to report near-miss, line of duty death, and patient safety incidents by answering a series of questions in an online format.

The purpose of the system is to collect and aggregate data that will then be analyzed and used in the development of EMS policies and procedures, and for use in training, educating and preventing similar events from occurring in the future. No individual responses are shared or transmitted to other parties. This reporting system is called the EMS Voluntary Event Notification Tool (E.V.E.N.T.) and is available at www.emseventreport.org.

The aggregated data collected will be provided to state EMS offices and the appropriate federal agencies with jurisdiction over EMS on a quarterly and annual basis. Timely aggregated reports submitted through a variety of venues will make E.V.E.N.T. a living mechanism for change. It is envisioned that one of the primary end users of this data will be those responsible for the development of EMS policies at the state and federal levels.

States urged to support system
Support of this online reporting tool by EMS organizations across our nation will be key to its success. State EMS offices, local and state EMS organizations, and EMS agencies are encouraged to become site partners for E.V.E.N.T. The National Association of State EMS Officials, as well as many other national and state EMS organizations, have already signed on as site partners.

Upon request, NAEMT and the Center for Leadership, Innovation and Research in EMS are able to provide representatives to speak about the system at local and national EMS meetings or conferences. Please contact NAEMT at info@naemt.org with any questions about the system.

August 1, 2012

The Board of Directors of the National EMS Management Association has decided to address the growing issue of violence against paramedics (to include all credentialed EMS personnel) with a multi-part initiative. If you follow the EMS list-servers, social media, and news re-broadcasters, you know that violence against our own is becoming more visible, if not actually more frequent.

Our initiative will engage NEMSMA members in developing a greater knowledge of the issue of violence against paramedics, increasing field and management awareness of the issues, proper training for paramedics, and survival of violent encounters (physical, mental, legal, and in the media).

This is an important issue which requires some individuals who are interested in working with it. We are seeking NEMSMA members to work on the committee that will be responsible for the initiative, preparing educational content, brainstorming related issues, serving as advocates and champions for the cause. Interest in the subject, and concern for the well-being of paramedics, is a pre-requisite. Subject matter expertise is not required - Kip Tietsort, founder of the Defensive Tactics for EMS/Escaping Violent Encounters for Fire and EMS programs (and one of the nation's top subject matter experts on this topic) has agreed to serve as a resource for this initiative.

Andy Caruso, Director of Operations for MONOC (NJ) Emergency Medical Services, is the chair of this initiative. NEMSMA's efforts in this arena, as well as our other efforts, are dependent on the willingness of our talented and able members to engage in focused committee work to make things happen. If you are interested in working on this issue, please get in touch with Andy either by e-mail (andy.caruso@monoc.org) or by telephone (732) 919-3045 ext 1154.