Nominations for the 2020 AMBY Awards close May 15! The AMBYs recognize excellence in the ambulance profession and the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that epitomize AAA members. Winners will are awarded during the AAA Awards Reception at our Annual Conference & Tradeshow, In addition, all entries will be shared with the AAA membership on the website, in the association’s mobile event app and as an online publication.
The American Ambulance Association is proud to announce the recipients of the 2018 AMBY Awards. The AMBYs highlight excellence in EMS and the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that epitomize AAA members. The mission of the awards is to showcase creativity and innovation in the ambulance industry by fostering a culture of collaboration, cooperation and a passion for excellence in patient care. This year’s awards will be presented at the Annual Conference & Trade Show Awards Reception on September 7, 2018. Please join us in congratulating our 2018 winners!
Medic Ambulance Service, Inc. | Vallejo, CA
NorthStar EMS, Inc. | Tuscaloosa, AL
Hall Ambulance Service, Inc. | Bakersfield, CA
Priority Ambulance | Knoxville, TN
Mercy Ambulance Service, Inc. | Savannah, GA
MEDIC EMS Agency | Charlotte, NC
Hall Ambulance Service, Inc. | Bakersfield, CA
Sunstar Paramedics | Largo, FL
Priority Ambulance | Knoxville, TN
Once again, join us in celebrating the 2018 winners! Learn more about the AMBYs.
Nominations for the 2017 AMBY Awards is now open! The AMBYs recognize excellence in the ambulance profession and the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit that epitomize AAA members. Honor excellence in EMS by nominating a project within a service or company for consideration.
Read the 2016 case studies to find out why we’re passionate about honoring your commitment to excellence.
By entering the AMBYs you show your commitment to excellence in the ambulance industry and your willingness to share your superior accomplishments with your peers. Winners will are awarded during the AAA Awards Reception at our Annual Conference & Trade Show in Las Vegas, In addition, all entries will be shared with the AAA membership on the website, in the association’s mobile event app and as an online publication.
AMBY Award winners are given the American Ambulance Association’s AMBY Award Winner logo to proudly display on their website, social media sites, and other marketing collateral to let key stakeholders know the Association recognizes your contribution to the industry as outstanding. In addition, winners will receive a press release template to send to your local press. All winners will be published in a press release sent out by the association and in a case study and winner’s gallery e-publications.
The AMBY Awards are judged by your colleagues on the AAA Professional Standards Committee. With years of collective experience the panel of committee member judges understand the challenges, opportunities and desired outcomes inherent in the EMS profession. As leaders who value creativity and innovation they can appreciate the complex demands of the industry and will provide thoughtful and useful feedback in the scoring of all entries.
Award-winning work helps to nurture the EMS industry’s deeply rooted culture of collaboration, cooperation and a passion for excellence in patient care. The AMBY Award Winners’ Gallery will provide an inspiring collection of winning strategies and best practices to be emulated by other AAA members.
AMBY Award entries are open to AAA ambulance service members and our affiliate members. All entries must include a Statement of Entry. Statements of Entry and all supporting documentation are submitted through our online form with requirements listed below. Entry materials will be retained and shared with AAA members as best practices and entrants agree that all materials may be used by the AAA for AMBY marketing purposes.
Entries will be judged by the Professional Standards Committee. Entries and will be judged against their own objectives not against each other, in 4 equally weighted areas: Goals, Planning & Implementation, Project Results and Impact. Any judge having business relations with an entrant must recuse themselves from scoring that entry. Both the high and low scores will be thrown out and remaining scores will be averaged. Work completed within the last 18 months will be eligible for entry. All Entrants will be notified of the results prior to the AAA Annual Conference & Trade Show.
AAA Members: $100 per entry
Non-Members: $500 per entry
Affiliate Members: $500 per entry
Affiliate Non-Members: $1,000 per entry
Enter
Winning Affiliate entries that include work or projects involving a client that is an AAA member will receive duplicate AMBY’s and both the vendor and the client will be acknowledged as winners.
Each year, the American Ambulance Association honors best practices, ingenuity, and innovation from EMS providers across the country with our AMBY Awards.
EmergyCare | Erie, PA
In order to combat the nationwide EMS recruitment and retention crisis, EmergyCare has developed its very own EMS Academy. Recent changes to regulations have increased the amount of hours required for EMT and paramedic training, making it more expensive thus, causing more candidates to balk at completing training. EmergyCare realized that in order to continue to grow and thrive as an organization, that it had to get out in front of the hiring crisis.
Until recently, EmergyCare and other educational institutions held EMT and Paramedic training courses on a regular basis, keeping the pool of potential clinical employees at a reasonable level. In 2010 Pennsylvania’s Department of Health Bureau of EMS decided to no longer provide testing for Paramedics due to the high cost of keeping updated tests. Instead, the Bureau decided to make National Registry testing the only viable option. In order to provide this level of testing, all paramedic programs had to be licensed and approved by the NREMT, something that required programs to be affiliated with a college or university. These requirements elongated the paramedic program due to college level prerequisite courses, and substantially increased costs, discouraging applicants.
EmergyCare’s new EMS Academy pays employees and new hires a salary while they are training so they can support their families, while providing them with an education that turn into a professional career. Before implementing their new EMS Academy, EmergyCare surveyed staff to gauge interest in such a program and the results were overwhelmingly positive.
Prior to implementing their EMS Academy, EmergyCare’s employee turnover was already extremely low – 10% compared to the industry average of 30%. That being said, EmergyCare realized that the shortage of EMTs and paramedics were a serious threat to the service’s long term financial health. EmergyCare experiences about a 2% growth in call volume annually, and in order to keep up with this growth, realized that it needed to take action to address the EMT and Paramedic shortage.
EmergyCare’s goal was to have was to have 70% of new students certified to work as replacement staff for the current EmergyCare EMTs so that they can attend paramedic training. The Academy program would also expect to have 70% of the initial students certified to work at EmergyCare as full-time paramedics. In addition to hiring and training new employees, EmergyCare’s EMS Academy is allowing current employees to seek additional education. The previous year’s Academy Paramedics help offset EmergyCare’s current shortage of paramedics, enhancing employee morale by balancing current workloads, allowing operational staff to go off duty on time, and decreasing overtime due to having additional paramedics to assist with coverage for vacations, injuries, illness, and additional turnover.
EmergyCare has seen an immediate return on investment from its EMS Academy. Since implementation, the EMS Academy has already seen the following improvements:
Addressing the EMT and Paramedic shortage within the EMS industry has allowed EmergyCare to continue to grow and improve employee morale and retention. The EMS Academy will continue to focus on meeting current staffing needs for EmergyCare as well as provide and market the only alternative Paramedic training program for Northwest Pennsylvania.
Congratulations to the entire EmergyCare Team for your EMS Academy’s selection as the 2016 AMBY Winner for Best Employee Program.
Awards will be presented at the AAA Annual Conference and Tradeshow Awards Reception on Monday, November 2, 2015. Please join us in congratulating the winners.
Ron Thackery, American Medical Response
The J. Walter Schaefer Award is given to someone who has positively advanced the industry as a whole. Ron exemplifies this through his tireless efforts to improve the safety of employees and patients, including work on compliance, OSHA, vehicle safety, proper use of personal protective equipment, and ambulance standards.
Jerry Zapolnik, Formerly of Huron Valley Ambulance
The Robert L. Forbuss Lifetime Achievement Award is named in honor of the first Executive Director of the American Ambulance Association. It recognizes a volunteer leader who has made tremendous long-term impact on the association. Over the course of Jerry’s volunteer tenure with the AAA, he has chaired numerous committees including Education and Data. Most recently, he sat on the AAA Board of Directors as a Region III representative.
Russell Honeycutt, Central EMS
This award is given by the President to an individual volunteer leader who has shown commitment to the advancement of the AAA above and beyond the call of duty. Russell’s work on membership recruitment and outreach in 2015 perfectly exemplifies a volunteer leader championing the great work of the association to both current and prospective members.
J.D. Fuiten, Metro West Ambulance
This is only the second time that the association has given a distinguished service award. J.D. has given innumerable volunteer hours to the AAA. His financial support of AAA programs and events has no equal, and his outreach to his Members of Congress has helped the AAA gain temporary Medicare relief for the industry.
National Rural Health Association
The National Rural Health Association is receiving the Partner of the Year Award for its ongoing support of both temporary and permanent Medicare Relief for ambulance services, including Senate 377 and House 745.
AMBY AwardsWinner | MedStar Mobile Healthcare – MIH Book and Education
Winner | Sunstar/Paramedics Plus – Stay Alert-Stay Alive
Winner | Muskogee County EMS – COACHES Team
Honorable Mention | AMR – LODD Program
Winner | AMR – Tuberculosis Program
Honorable Mention | Metro West – Just Culture Program
Winner | LifeNet Inc. – Hannah’s Light
Honorable Mention | ProEMS – Overdose Sentinel Program