Hundreds of Pre-hospital Emergency Medical Professionals Speak With Congress at EMS On The Hill Day

CLINTON, Miss., March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) will host hundreds of EMS professionals, including practitioners, managers, educators, and physicians on March 26, for EMS On The Hill Day in Washington, D.C.

Delegates from nearly all states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, will meet with their members of Congress to discuss the essential and cost-effective role of EMS in our nation's changing healthcare system. The focus will be to obtain support for legislation that addresses key challenges in delivering quality patient care, and to inform Congress of the benefit and cost-saving opportunities within EMS to improve patient outcomes and lower healthcare costs through Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) and Community Paramedicine (CP) programs.

Now in its fifth year, EMS On The Hill Day addresses the need for EMS professionals to meet, face-to-face, with their federal legislators to discuss issues that impact the ability of EMS to respond to daily 911 calls, and serve as an essential public function of our nation's disaster preparedness and response network. The Hill Day event is part of a broader strategy to advocate to all levels of government for the support needed to improve patient care. "EMS advocacy is not just for those in leadership positions... it's for everyone in EMS who cares about the future of our profession," said NAEMT President Don Lundy. "If EMS wants an improved environment for delivering quality care to our patients, then everyone in EMS has to advocate."

Supported by many national- and state-level EMS organizations, EMS On The Hill Day includes scheduled congressional appointments, pre-Hill visit briefing sessions for registered participants, as well as time for peer interaction and debriefing discussions. A special Mobile Integrated Healthcare Summit will be held on March 25 at 11:30 a.m. to provide participants with a deeper understanding of MIH and CP programs from the payer perspective.

Beyond March 26, EMS professionals are encouraged to share their professional insight with elected officials at the local, state and federal levels, and to take advantage of the advocacy tools and resources at www.naemt.org.

About NAEMT

Formed in 1975 and today more than 40,000 members strong, NAEMT is the only national association dedicated to representing the professional interests of all emergency medical services (EMS) practitioners, including Paramedics, advanced emergency medical technicians, emergency medical technicians, emergency medical responders and other professionals working in pre-hospital emergency medicine. NAEMT members work in all sectors of EMS, including government service agencies, fire departments, hospital-based ambulance services, private companies, industrial and special operations settings, and in the military.

SOURCE National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT)