A review of "EMS Agenda for the Future" and "EMS Agenda for the Future - Implementation Guide" for the National Collegiate EMS Foundation

EMS Agenda for the Future
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
August 1996

Full text
Catalog summary
Traffic Safety Materials Catalog

EMS Agenda for the Future - Implementation Guide
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
May 1999

Full text
Catalog summary
Traffic Safety Materials Catalog

"EMS Agenda for the Future" and its companion publication, "EMS Agenda for the Future - Implementation Guide" shows a vision for the role of EMS in the future, and the means by which the goals of that vision can be attained. Because of the nature of campus life, campus-based EMS is already several steps along toward this vision. While EMS may not evolve exactly as portrayed in this publication, the ideas presented have merit, especially for campus life given the closeness of community life on college and university campuses.

Most community EMS systems are driven by the need to generate revenue, and the current conditions that have been set by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), other government agencies, and commercial insurance companies have forced EMS providers to organize their services around a patient transport system model. Campus-based EMS in not necessarily constrained by the need to generate operating revenue from transporting patients and thus is free to move beyond the current vision (or lack thereof) for EMS, as derived from HCFA regulation and the insurance industry's reimbursement policies, to an EMS delivery system model that is more holistic and oriented to overall patient care needs rather than being focused on transportation.

How do these publications apply to campus-based EMS? The vision of "Agenda" is for EMS to evolve into community-based health management that is integrated with the overall health care system. Besides the traditional role of acute injury and illness care, EMS will have an ongoing role contributing to the treatment of chronic conditions and participating in community health monitoring. College and university campuses are microcosms in which exists a complete infrastructure of services supporting campus life. Campus-based EMS can be the entity which links student health services, campus safety, and student life in a fully integrated and holistic system of health and safety. Campus-based EMS also provides critical links off campus to local EMS providers and other public safety agencies, community hospitals, support agencies such as the Red Cross and Heart Association, and other regional and state organizations.

"EMS Agenda for the Future" proposes the continued development of 14 EMS attributes:
1. Integration of Health Services
2. EMS Research
3. Legislation and Regulation
4. System Finance
5. Human resources
6. Medical Direction
7. Education Systems
8. Public Education
9. Prevention
10. Public Access
11. Communication Systems
12. Clinical Care
13. Information Systems
14. Evaluation

"EMS Agenda for the Future - Implementation Guide" identifies 10 priority objectives for EMS to begin addressing. The Implementation Guide advocates change through three broad objectives:
1. Developing partnerships with a broad array of other organizations at the local, state, and national levels creating a synergy that can begin to affect change.
2. Creating tools and resources to facilitate action.
3. Building infrastructure including educational programs, communications systems, and human resources that are prepared to further realize the potential of EMS.

These two publications offer ideas of a vision of a future EMS model that has attributes either already exhibited, or the potential to attain, by campus-based EMS. Campus EMS organizations are already, or have the potential to be, integrated components of student health services on campus. They are based at research institutions where the potential exists to participate in actual scientific based research rather than the experiential based information of questionable validity prevalent in EMS system assessment. Campus EMS has the opportunity to utilize human resources with an education level unlike that of any typical EMS organization, and the opportunity to make a lasting positive imprint on these EMS personnel at the beginning of their careers before they go out and take on leadership roles in society. Campus EMS has unprecedented access to educational systems, teaching hospitals, and resources not generally available to other community EMS providers.

How can campus EMS organizations use these publications? The "Agenda" publications offer a little bit for everyone. Whether you are looking at starting up a new campus EMS organization or you have an existing group, "Agenda" offers some insight on how you can more clearly define your mission and structure or expand your organization to better meet the needs of the campus community that you serve. Regardless of whether you are a campus EMS operational organization, an EMS educational organization, a student EMS interest group, or a combination of any of the three, "Agenda" provides a perspective on where you are now, where you want to be, and how to get there. The implementation guide offers ideas on objectives to meet your goals and the short, intermediate, and long term planning elements needed to achieve them. When reading "Agenda," do not get hung up on the specific examples given as they are just examples. Consider how the concepts presented could apply to you and your campus EMS organization, and then consider the opportunities to affect positive and meaningful change. Finally, consider the opportunities that your campus EMS organization has to impact your student personnel. Today's collegiate EMS providers are tomorrow's EMS leaders. The "Agenda" publications offer ideas on EMS partnerships with higher education and research in order to affect change. Campus EMS groups have an unprecedented proximity to these opportunities. Look for the opportunities that your campus EMS organization and personnel have to participate in these partnerships and endeavors.

Campus-based EMS offers opportunities to reach out in the campus community as the front line provider of student health services; to be a link between health services, campus safety agencies, and external community resources; and to provide meaningful service, leadership, and career developing educational opportunities for the students involved in providing campus EMS operations and programs. "EMS Agenda for the Future" offers many ideas for campus EMS organizations that want to think outside of the box and realize a greater potential as both part of an integrated system of services within the campus life microcosm, and as a leading component of the national (and international) movement away from transport based EMS to a more holistic EMS model.

One additional note: While the "Agenda" publications were not necessarily developed with campus-based EMS in mind, it is interesting that several of the Steering Committee and Conference Participants (including the principal investigator for this project) are products of campus EMS, having started out their careers as campus EMS providers.

©2000
Mark Milliron, M.S., M.P.A., EMT
The Pennsylvania State University
University Health Services
Office of Emergency Medical Services