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VA Final Rule Delayed One Year

Written by Meghan Winesett on . Posted in Government Affairs, News.

Hot off the press! The Department of Veteran’s Affairs has announced a one year delay of the VA Final Rule. This delay pushes implementation of the final rule to February of 2025.

We want to thank all of our AAA members, partner organizations, and legislative champions for their collaborative efforts and commitment to securing this critical delay.

Please see the following press release from the Office of Senator Tester. 

Following Tester Efforts, VA Takes Action to Avoid Potential Reduction in Air and Ground Transportation Services

VA delays rule that could have resulted in severe reductions in access to emergency ground and air transportation services in Montana

(Big Sandy, Mont.) – Following sustained efforts from U.S. Senator Jon Tester to protect rural veterans’ access to lifesaving emergency medical transportation services, the Department of Veterans Affairs is delaying a rule to change reimbursement rates for special mode transportation, including air and ground ambulances. This delay will give VA more time to work with stakeholders and Congress to implement the rule in a way that would ensure access and availability of emergency transportation to veterans and civilians, especially in rural America.

“The availability of emergency air and ground transportation services in Montana and rural America can be the difference between life and death,” said Tester, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “VA’s hasty implementation of its rate change for these services could have been the final straw for providers in rural America, and I’m glad to see VA answering my call and taking steps to fix this reimbursement issue. VA still has a lot more work to do, and I’ll continue pushing my VA Emergency Transportation Access Act to ensure VA gets this rule right for veterans and anyone who calls rural America home.”

VA’s rule was set to go into effect in February 2024, despite significant opposition from Tester, transportation providers, and Veteran Service Organizations. Now, VA is committing to delaying the rule’s effective date until February 2025, which would give the Department more time to work with providers to ensure the rule will not negatively impact their services and ability to serve veterans, especially those in rural and hard-to-reach areas. The previous implementation timeline of rate reductions could have resulted in emergency transportation providers severely reducing services, closing bases, or even billing veterans for the remainder of their costs in order to shoulder the financial impacts of this change. 

Tester has led the bipartisan charge to push back on the Biden Administration’s proposed rule change and protect Montana veterans’ access to emergency medical transportation services since day one. In September 2022, he wrote to VA Secretary Denis McDonough to express his concerns with VA’s rule, and in February of this year, he called on the Secretary again to delay this rule. This September, he introduced the bipartisan VA Emergency Transportation Access Act to bar VA from reducing rates of pay and reimbursement for special mode transportation providers, including ground and air ambulances, unless the Department meets certain requirements that ensure rate changes will not reduce veterans’ access to this essential service.

The Senator also recently secured a bipartisan amendment to prohibit VA from implementing this rule in fiscal year 2024 to a key Senate bill that passed earlier this month.

Tester’s efforts have been applauded by emergency medical service leaders in Montana and across the nation. Earlier this month, the Senator was awarded Legislator of the Year by the American Ambulance Association for his work to push back on VA’s rule.

Gluesenkamp Perez and Finstad Introduce EMS Workforce Shortage Bill

Written by Tristan North on . Posted in Government Affairs, Legislative, News, Recruitment & Retention, Workforce Shortage.

Yesterday, November 15, Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) and Congressman Brad Finstad (R-MN) introduced the Preserve Access to Rapid Ambulance Emergency Medical Treatment (PARA-EMT) Act (H.R. 6433). H.R. 6433 is the first broad, stand-alone piece of legislation specifically designed to focus solely on helping address the EMS workforce shortage.

“We greatly appreciate the leadership of Congresswoman Gluesenkamp Perez and Congressman Finstad on introducing this momentous legislation to assist with the hiring and retention of paramedics and EMTs,” stated AAA President Randy Strozyk. “We look forward to working with them on passage of the bill.”

H.R. 6433 would establish a pilot grant program under the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the recruitment and training of paramedics and EMTs. The grant program would be authorized from 2024 through 2028 with $50 million a year in funding.

The legislation would also provide states with funding to help facilitate and expedite the transition of medics coming out of military service with the requirements of becoming a civilian paramedic or EMT. The program would be authorized from 2024 through 2028 with $20 million a year in grant funding for states.

Lastly, H.R. 6433 would direct the Secretary of Labor to conduct a study on the EMS workforce shortage and issue a report to Congress. The report would include an analysis on potentially adding paramedics and EMTs to the list of health care occupations which benefit from an easier hiring process of professionals outside the U.S.

The American Ambulance Association, National Rural Health Association and Washington Ambulance Association have endorsed H.R. 6433. In the coming days, the AAA will be launching a Call to Action to encourage and assist our members in contacting their U.S. Representatives in support of cosponsoring H.R. 6433.

Thank you to all of the AAA members and volunteer leaders who worked tirelessly to push for the introduction of this important EMS legislation!

2023 AAA Legislative Awards

Written by Meghan Winesett on . Posted in Awards, Legislative, Legislative Awards, News, Press, Stars of Life.

The American Ambulance Association is proud to announce the winners of the 2023 AAA Legislative Awards. Each Member of Congress is being recognized for their strong advocacy for emergency medical services and their ongoing dedication to ambulance services across the United States.

2023 AAA Legislators of the Year

Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D (LA)
Senator Jon Tester (MT)

2023 AAA Legislative Recognition Award Recipients

Senators

  • Senator Cortez Masto (NV)
  • Senator Collins (ME)
  • Senator Stabenow (MI)
  • Senator Schumer (NY)
  • Senator Lujan (NM)
  • Senator Kaine (VA)
  • Senator Murkowski (AK)
  • Senator Tuberville (AL)
  • Senator Murray (WA)
  • Senator Moran (KS)
  • Senator Boozman (AR)

Representatives

  • Congressman Blumenauer (OR-3)
  • Congresswoman Kelly (IL-2)
  • Congresswoman Sewell (AL-7)
  • Congressman Wenstrup (OH-2)
  • Congressman Carter (GA-1)
  • Congressman Tonko (NY-20)
  • Congressman Davis (IL-7)
  • Congresswoman Perez (WA-3)
  • Congressman Finstad (MN-1)
  • Congressman Pence (IN-6)
  • Congressman Kim (NJ-3)
  • Congresswoman Clark (MA-5)
  • Congressman Zinke (MT-1)
  • Congressman Guest (MS-3)
  • Congresswoman Hoyle (OR-4)
  • Congressman Bost (IL-12)
  • Congressman Alford (MO-4)

 

NAEMSP | Rest in Peace E. Brooke Lerner, PhD, FAEMS

Written by AAA Staff on . Posted in News.

NAEMSP is deeply saddened by the news that E. Brooke Lerner, PhD, FAEMS has passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Over the past two decades, Brooke has dedicated her career to the advancement of prehospital care, from spending time in the field as a paramedic to serving on the NAEMSP Board of Directors and joining her alma mater, the University of Buffalo, as a tenured professor and vice chair for research in the Department of Emergency Medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

 

Said NAEMSP President José G Cabañas MD, MPH, FAEMS: “We pay tribute to the extraordinary legacy ‎of Dr. Brooke Lerner. Her service to our profession and NAEMSP was marked by honor and distinction, ‎including the mentorship of countless clinicians devoted to building effective prehospital systems of ‎care. Brooke’s transformative work played a pivotal role in advancing trauma and pediatric emergency ‎care, leaving behind a body of work that was instrumental in enhancing prehospital care standards. ‎May her enduring legacy serve as an inspiration to all of us, reminding us of the profound impact one ‎person’s selfless dedication can have in elevating the practice of EMS medicine.”‎

 

Throughout her career, Brooke focused on research in a subspecialty with a relatively small literature ‎base, authoring over 135 peer-reviewed publications and completing many federally funded grants to ‎conduct EMS research. Much of her research addressed acute injury care and field/disaster triage, and ‎she led the current national guideline for mass casualty triage.‎

 

Brooke also dedicated much of her time to pediatric emergency care, especially through the federally ‎funded Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN), where she led the ‎organization’s only prehospital node and served on its Executive Committee.‎

 

Following her diagnosis, Brooke worked with NAEMSP and the GMR Foundation to establish the E. ‎Brooke Lerner Research Fund with the goal of supporting early career EMS researchers. “I’ve spent my ‎career on improving prehospital care, and I wanted to leave something behind to keep that legacy ‎moving forward,” Brooke said, speaking of the fund shortly after its creation.‎

 

In 2013, Brooke received NAEMSP’s Keith Neely Award, and ten years later, she was recognized with ‎the Ronald D. Stewart Award for her illustrious career in EMS. It would be impossible to recount all the ‎invaluable contributions to emergency medical services made by Brooke Lerner, and more impossible ‎still to describe the impact she made on each person she met. NAEMSP will remember Brooke with the ‎utmost admiration and is profoundly grateful for everything she has done to advance EMS.‎

Clarion Ledger | Ambulance ‘response times’ miss the big picture: health outcomes

Written by AAA Staff on . Posted in News, Press.

Congratulations to the board of the Mississippi Ambulance Alliance on the publication of their insightful op-ed in the Clarion Ledger.

“Response Times” are the loudest complaint, both locally and around the country — regardless of whether a private or public ambulance is responding. Everyone is, understandably, mad the ambulance isn’t right here, right now. And in many if not most instances, the ambulance providers agree — they want to be on scene sooner.

But that system is showing its fragility everywhere.

Read the Full Op-Ed

PBS NewsHour | The No Surprises Act left out ground ambulances. Here’s what’s happening now

Written by Amanda Riordan on . Posted in Advocacy Priorities, Balance Billing, News, Press, Private Insurance.

 

Read the full article

NAEMSP | Board Nominations Open

Written by AAA Staff on . Posted in News, Press.

 

Dear NAEMSP members,

 

The subspecialty of EMS continues to evolve every day. As a member of NAEMSP, I hope you feel a part of this continued evolution. Our members — you! — work each and every day to advance EMS and improve the lives of our colleagues, patients, and communities.

 

As you may be aware, applications are currently open for the 2024-2026 slate of NAEMSP’s Board of Directors. Four positions are available: three Physician Members-at-Large positions, and one Professional Member-at-Large position. I am writing to encourage you all to consider applying for these open positions and helping us guide the future of NAEMSP and EMS as a whole.

 

The application deadline is September 1 — just a few days away. The link below will take you straight to the application page.

 

I hope to see your application soon!

 

Warmly,

JerrieLynn Kind

Executive Director, NAEMSP
Apply for NAEMSP’s Board of Directors

National EMS Museum News

Written by Kristy Van Hoven on . Posted in News.

Celebrating Ambulances this week @ NEMSM

This week on Social we’re celebrating Ambulances

We’re wanting to know what you think the most innovative change in ambulance design or care has been over the last 300 years. Contribute to the conversation on Facebook or Instagram this week.

If you haven’t yet, check out our virtual exhibition on ambulances over time @ emsmuseum.org/virtual_museum/
Our August 16th program with Brian LaCroix is going to be rescheduled for the fall. Please keep an eye to our social pages and emails for further updates. We apologize for the last-minute notice and hope you can join us for the program later this year!

More JEMS are in the Archives!

Check out the Research Archives and Digital Library for more JEMS editions now digitized and available for request.

Browse the Archives »

New Vintage Ambulance Mugs have joined old favorites in the NEMSM Shop.

Pick out your favorite or 2 and be ready for your next cup of Java or Tea!

Shop now »
And a quick membership update: 
As of October 1, 2023 our $20 individual membership will become the Virtual NEMSM Membership!

New and renewing members at this level will get a digital membership card and a virtual subscription to the EMS Historian; along with all the same news and events invites.

If you’d like to receive a physical card and print copy of EMS Historian consider upgrading to the Family Membership before October 1 and save $10 on your new membership using the code Family10 at checkout.
A big thank you to all our members and supporters for a great summer at NEMSM – we have been focused on some new material for the virtual museum and the EMS Historian is nearing completing and ready for our designer.  Thank you for making it so easy for us to share more EMS stories than ever before!

Support EMS Professionals Impacted by the Maui Fires

Written by AAA Staff on . Posted in News, Press.

Our hearts are broken for Maui residents and businesses impacted by this month’s unprecedented wildfires.

Sadly, many EMS colleagues in the area have suffered total losses of their homes due to the flames.

Global Medical Response and other organizations are working round-the-clock to find alternate shelters and otherwise support these families.

If you would like to contribute to the GMR Employee Foundation to support our Global Medical Response colleagues, the donation will be matched 100% through September 10.
Donate Now to the GMR Employee Foundation

Donate to the Hawaiian Red Cross
Make a one-time or recurring donation to the broader relief effort through the Red Cross.

2024 Vanguard Nominations Open Through January 1

Written by Amanda Riordan on . Posted in AAA HQ, Annual Conference & Tradeshow, News, Press.

Nominations Are Due January 1, 2024!

Recognize woman leaders with at least 35 years of service in EMS! Nominations are open for the second annual American Ambulance Association Vanguard Awards! The Vanguards honor those who blazed the trail for fellow women EMS professionals.

The Vanguards are presented in collaboration with our colleagues from Women in Emergency Services (WiES), a newly-founded organization dedicated to supporting and advancing women’s careers in the emergency services industry through empowerment, networking, mentorship, and education.

2023 American Ambulance Association Vanguard Awards

Selection Process & Criteria

To submit a 2024 Vanguard nomination, please complete the form below before January 1, 2024.

Honorees will be selected based ONLY on the information provided in their nomination form. Nominees should have contributed to their organization, state ambulance association, AAA, other professional associations, and/or the EMS profession in an extraordinary way beyond faithful completion of job duties. Please be sure to include detail about the nominee’s impact to date.

Please note that nominees must be women with 35+ years of service in the EMS industry. No specific job role or title is required for consideration.

Recognition

Honorees will be recognized at the American Ambulance Association President’s Reception award ceremony, and will be recognized on the AAA and WiEMS websites and social media platforms. Winners will also receive complimentary registration to the AAA Annual Conference & Trade Show.

2024 AAA Annual Conference & Trade Show
Gaylord Opryland
April 22–24, 2024
Nashville, TN

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