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2023 AAA Legislative Awards

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

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

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

 

Read the full article

NAEMSP | Board Nominations Open

 

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

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

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

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

Binder Lift responds to emergency care provider shortage by becoming PHASE; expands resources to help providers have longer and healthier careers. 

Bigfork, Montana, May 17 – Binder Lift, a supplier of patient handling equipment and training for emergency care providers, recently became PHASE (Patient Handling and Safety Experts) in response to the ongoing workforce shortage in the emergency care industry. “Patient handling causes far more injuries to emergency care providers than any other job function,” said PHASE CEO Rick Binder. “Though we can’t help agencies find new personnel, we can help them retain employees by providing them with the equipment and training necessary to avoid injuries where they happen most.”

Recognizing a problem they could help solve, the company expanded its resources to protect emergency care providers from the most common cause of injury. It added new solutions to its product line and helped produce an accredited training program on patient handling safety that will be available without cost. “Suddenly, we weren’t only helping providers avoid lifting injuries by supplying a single product; we were helping customers safely move patients from the bathtub in the patient’s home all the way to the hospital bed,” Binder said. “Becoming PHASE was a natural progression.”

The company’s first product, Binder Lift, was born in 2012 out of a friendly argument between Binder’s mother and father. Julie Binder, an EMT-I at the time, told Dan Binder there was nothing available to help her and her partner safely lift a large patient from the floor to a standing position. Dan didn’t believe her. “After a long web search to prove her wrong, he found nothing,” Binder said. “So he got to work making his own solution.”

The result was the company’s flagship product. Since then, more than 3,000 emergency care departments have invested in the Binder Lift to keep their personnel safe when lifting patients. The device has also won multiple industry awards, including EMS Innovation of the Year.

Binder believes adding new products and resources to its offerings is the best way the company could serve the emergency care providers it works to protect. “These are remarkable people,” he said. “They work tough hours for modest pay in order to help others. They shouldn’t have to worry about being injured simply by doing their job.”

Continuing its commitment to their health and safety, PHASE is offering free product trials to first responders through its new website, www.phaseintl.com.

The new website also includes a comprehensive resource center where users can watch instructional videos, get product information, and read case studies. The site will also feature free access to an accredited training program created in partnership with other industry stakeholders in the coming months.

“We’ve grown a lot over the last decade since first bringing the Binder Lift to market,” Binder said. “But we’re still the same family-owned and operated business that values our relationships with our customers and industry partners.”

About PHASE (Patient Handling and Safety Experts)

We’re on a mission to empower emergency care providers to have longer and healthier careers by providing the equipment and training necessary to safely move patients of any size with ease. All our products and services are science-backed solutions that help emergency care providers avoid injuries where they happen most. PHASE is a family-owned business that brings our family values to the workplace. When you do business with us, you’re more than a customer. You’re family. So, let’s connect. We look forward to helping you.  To learn more, visit www.phaseintl.com

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