Coming up: EMS Week & EMSC Day

National EMS Week is our annual chance to thank the incredible prehospital practitioners who serve on the front lines of health care every day. On Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) Day, which falls on the Wednesday of EMS Week (May 18 this year), we draw special attention to prehospital practitioners’ commitment to caring for acutely ill and injured children. 

In honor of EMSC Day, and in recognition of both the rising incidence of behavioral health emergencies in children and the need to recognize and mitigate secondary trauma in the EMS professional, the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center is hosting a free, 1-hour webinar, “COPE -ing with the Challenges of Behavioral and Mental Health Emergencies” on May 18 at 1:00 pm ET. This webinar, led by Drs. Nicolaus Glomb, Kenshata Watkins, and Mary Fallat, will explore both prehospital behavioral health emergency management and introduce the Compassionate Options for Pediatric EMS (COPE) program that provides debriefing tools for EMS after responding to challenging pediatric calls. Registration is free and open to all. CE for EMS professionals through Prodigy EMS is available and will meet requirements in either Psychiatric/Mental Health Emergencies or Pediatric Care.

There are many ways to get involved during EMS Week and EMSC Day.  The top five ways to recognize EMS practitioners and the important role they play in providing emergency care to children include: organizing an EMSC Day proclamation, sharing information about EMS Week/EMSC Day on your social media channels, delivering thank-you cards to your local EMS agency, and sharing injury prevention activity sheets.  These and other resources can be downloaded by visiting the EIIC’s EMSC Day promotional materials webpage.

To learn more about EMS week, visit the EIIC EMS Week webpage.