Ambulance

FOCUS on NAEMT President Chuck Kearns
“I place great
value on NAEMT
partnering with EMS
Professionals and
Agencies from around
the world.”
NAEMT President Chuck Kearns answers questions from Ambulance Today’s Joe Smith on
what America’s leading ambulance organisation is currently doing to ensure they maintain
positive links with other ambulance providers globally.
JS: As President of the USA’s
largest and most important body
representing EMS workers, how
much value do you place on working
in partnership with other EMS
communities from around the world?
CK: I place great value in NAEMT
partnering with EMS Professionals and
Agencies around the world. Our training
network is now established in 60 countries.
We continue to reach out to EMS
professionals in other countries to expand
our continuing medical education programs.
JS: Can you tell us more about
NAEMT membership globally? I
understand that your organisation
has active members spread across
the globe; what kind of support
services do you provide for your
overseas members?
CK: We have 12,615 international
members in 56 countries outside of the US.
Here are some of the benefits that are
included with NAEMT international
membership:
• $125 discount on registration to attend
EMS World Expo
• Free online CE credits and discounts on
several online CE services
• A voucher for up to $15 on any NAEMT
course
• Major discounts off rental cars from Avis,
Budget and Hertz
• Free on-line subscription to Ambulance
Today magazine, free subscription
to EMS World magazine and discounts
on subscriptions to many other EMS
publications.
• Discounts on EMS products and services
• Up to 80% discount on Office Depot
Office Max products
• 20% discount at Wyndham Hotels
JS: Much of NAEMT’s membership
support focuses on education
programmes. Are these influenced
to any degree by your strong working
links with ambulance providers in
Europe and other world regions?
CK: The growth of these programmes
in other countries is due in large part to
strong working relationships with ambulance
providers and educators in these other
countries. We receive requests to form new
overseas partnerships almost monthly.
JS: Other than providing support
to overseas members are there
any other activities that NAEMT
is involved in which are specifically
aimed at developing innovation
and/or best practice with other
ambulance deliverers around the
globe?
CK: NAEMT holds an annual World
Trauma Symposium in partnership with
EMS World. 300-400 attendees participate
in this event each year. It is the leading
trauma event for the prehospital medical
care profession. We are the global leader
in continuing education for prehospital
practitioners, with courses offered in 60
countries.
JS: Arguably one of the greatest
challenges for NAEMT is influencing
relevant healthcare legislation in
a country where laws are set to a
great degree on a state-by-state
basis. This must make the task
of influencing federal legislation
particularly difficult. It’s clear that
much of NAEMT’s success in the area
of influencing relevant prehospital
legislation comes from helping to
educate elected officials on the
anticipating impact of pending
federal legislation on emergency
and mobile healthcare through your
annual ‘EMS On the Hill Day’ – is this
a model for positively influencing
prehospital healthcare legislation
that you would recommend to the
soon-to-be launched European
EMS Leaders’ Network in terms of
their potential ability to positively
influence EC-wide prehospital
legislation?
CK: Absolutely! In my experience elected
officials rarely have EMS background -
probably because our modern industry
is still pretty young. They must be
educated about our concerns and asked
for their help to pass beneficial laws and
82 Spring 2016 | Ambulancetoday