New York State Professional Fire Fighters Association Joins SOAR Coalition

ALBANY, N.Y., Aug. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York State Professional Fire Fighters Association (NYSPFFA) announced that the organization has joined the Save Our Air Medical Resources (SOAR) coalition. SOAR is a national campaign dedicated to preserving access to emergency air medical services for Americans across the country.

In the event of critical illness, severe injury or trauma, emergency air medical services are a critical transport and treatment resource for patients, particularly in rural communities with limited access to hospitals, emergency rooms, or trauma centers.

Currently, 30% of the U.S. population relies on air medical transport for access to Level I or Level II trauma centers. Communities across Upstate New York are at risk of losing access to critical air medical service in large part because Medicare and Medicaid reimburse for each transport at a rate that is far below the actual cost to the given transport provider.

"In our efforts to preserve access to emergency air services, having the support of our first responders such as firefighters is critically important," said Carter Johnson, spokesperson for the SOAR campaign. "In securing the support of such an influential statewide group in the Professional Firefighters Association, we are building significant foundation of support to maintain air medical services across New York State and rural communities throughout the nation."

"On behalf of NYSPFFA's 18,000 members, we are pleased to join the SOAR Coalition," said Sam Fresina, NYSPFFA president. "There are a significant number of New Yorkers who live in rural areas of this state, and it is our obligation to provide them with the best first-response services as possible. SOAR does a great job raising awareness of medical flight services in New York and across the nation and we look forward to working with them."

The New York State Professional Fire Fighters Association represents 18,000 men and women working full-time as members of municipal fire departments across the state. NYSPFFA advocates on behalf of members who serve in 106 local unions, 41 counties and in the boroughs of New York City.

For more information please visit www.soarcampaign.com.

Contact:
Carter Johnson SOAR
202-888-2189
Earl Wells, e3communications
716-854-8182

SOURCE SOAR Coalition

Related Links

http://www.soarcampaign.com