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EMS 2.0 – Momentum Building

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Over the last few days since I’ve been putting some posts up on EMS 2.0 there’s been quite a buzz circulating around the blogosphere. From this vantage point, it seems like we’re building some momentum to the movement and that is really exciting for a medic like me whose spent the better part of his career dreaming about how to change this thing we call the Emergency Medical Services.

I call EMS 2.0 the maturation of EMS out of the adolescent trade phase and into a grown-up profession. I look at it as the way to reinvent EMS from the ground-up, coming to you as an EMS provider who has been in the trenches, started a blog, and then all of a sudden thought that maybe, just maybe, he could get everyone collaborating to find real solutions to our issues and change EMS into what we all know it can be.

I didn’t coin the phrase, Happy Medic did. I don’t own the movement, we all do. I am proud to be a part of it though. I think that by collaborating on true, constructive ideas we can really get some things done.

And that’s why I write about it, because if we bring our ideas to the table in a constructive manner, we might be able to work out the kinks, really explore the complexities of the issues we face, and make some concrete progress.

EMS today faces a lot of issues. These issues are as complex as they are numerous and they add up to be a daunting task to overcome. I’ve had many conversations over the years with EMS people I respect who tell me that none of my ideas can be accomplished.

I say that if these issues were easy, we’d have fixed them by now. I say that no journey worth taking or goal worth obtaining is ever easy and that just because our goals are elusive they are no less valuable to our mission.

Since this new web site is pulling in a lot of new traffic me, I’d like to refer you all to some of my older posts. I’d also like to join with Happy Medic and say that EMS 2.0 is an open source development. Please participate. EMS has been controlled for too long by interests outside of the profession. We are not subservient to any other discipline, be it healthcare or public safety. Our mission is best served when we work towards our own goals.

No, that wasn’t a thinly veiled attack on any EMS delivery model. I believe in “EMS based EMS” and I will call out any service that I see not delivering their EMS with the patient fully in mind. If you’re a hospital based service that thinks keeping your paramedics working in the ER is more important than placing them adequately on the street, I disagree. If you are a fire-based service that emphasizes FIREFIGHTER/ambulance Jockeys over Paramedic/Firefighters I disagree as well. I can keep going, but the idea is set.

So, to all of my new readers, first off, Thank You for coming here. I hope that I can be useful and entertaining for you. Hopefully I can learn from you as you post in the comments section. You all are awesome. I’d like to facilitate the conversation, and help everyone to run with their collaborative ideas. I believe that the EMS Blogosphere, and our community here on www.fireemsblogs.com is the most energizing force for EMS that I’ve seen in my career. I’m honored to be a part of it.

I’d run this longer, but I’ve been posting a ton of long comments today on my usual buddy blogger’s sites and on the sites whom I’m sure are going to become my new buddy blogger’s sites. Here they are:

http://happymedic.com/2009/10/21/ems-as-a-profession/

http://firecritic.com/2009/10/ems-as-a-profession/?success

http://999medic.com/2009/10/19/my-thoughts-on-ems-2-0/

http://firegeezer.com/2009/10/16/the-next-paramedic-shortage/comment-page-1/#comment-4191

http://medic22.com/2009/10/yep-it-was-an-mi/comment-page-1/#comment-726

http://roguemedic.blogspot.com/2009/10/ems-needs-to-be-separate-medical.html

Here are some posts that I’ve made on the topic over a while:

Any Random Person

EMS 2.0, Bernoulli, Fluid Dynamics, and Changing the World

Why does being a Paramedic seem so worthless sometimes?

Or just click here, to go to a search page on the volume that I’ve written on EMS 2.0

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Posted by on October 21, 2009 • Filed under: Emergency Medical Services, EMS, ems 2.0, EMS Topics
  • tclemans

    “I’ve had many conversations over the years with EMS people I respect who tell me that none of my ideas can be accomplished.”

    I don't know if any of your ideas can be implemented, but I do know none of them won't be if we don't work very hard to get them implemented.

    Here's some books I highly recommend Put Your Dream to the Test by John C. Maxwell and Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki.

    The movement needs a core set of beliefs such as “the patient not the organization not the patient's insurance company not the government but the patient comes first”. Who should control EMS in a particular area or in general, who should provide care EMT-B or a EMT-P… should not be answered in the core beliefs. It will take a lot of hard work to make the smartest decision about those questions, see Smart Choices for an eight step process for the making the smartest decision.

    Thanks so much for playing such a major role in getting a movement started.

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  • http://rethinkingems.com/ Timothy Clemans

    “I’ve had many conversations over the years with EMS people I respect who tell me that none of my ideas can be accomplished.”

    I don't know if any of your ideas can be implemented, but I do know none of them won't be if we don't work very hard to get them implemented.

    Here's some books I highly recommend Put Your Dream to the Test by John C. Maxwell and Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki.

    The movement needs a core set of beliefs such as “the patient not the organization not the patient's insurance company not the government but the patient comes first”. Who should control EMS in a particular area or in general, who should provide care EMT-B or a EMT-P… should not be answered in the core beliefs. It will take a lot of hard work to make the smartest decision about those questions, see Smart Choices for an eight step process for the making the smartest decision.

    Thanks so much for playing such a major role in getting a movement started.

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