Ritu Sahni, MD, MPH
“Next year’s
NAEMSP Annual Meeting will be attended by physicians who are Board Certified in
EMS Medicine.”
After years
of hard work by the leaders in our field, we are on the brink of having our
first examination and certification. As
the new NAEMSP® Board of Directors held its first meeting following a very
successful conference, the above thought dawned upon us – and the excitement
was palpable. We have had our first Fellowships
apply for ACGME accreditation and we are off and running. Who knew we would be so excited to be taking
a test?
As your
subspecialty society, NAEMSP® is committed to providing leadership and support
for our members and the growth of the specialty. In January, we announced the creation of the
NAEMSP®/PhysioControl Fellowship in EMS Medicine and we continue to offer the
NAEMSP®/ZOLL EMS Resuscitation Research Fellowship – ensuring that we grow
leaders in both the operational side as well as EMS research. We are working with our ACEP partners to
provide three board preparation courses this fall as well as continued support
of our Fellowships with the creation of the NAEMSP® Council of EMS Fellowship
Directors.
It is also
important that we continue to make our presence felt in Washington, DC. We remain a committed partner to Advocates
for EMS and look forward to working with our colleagues at the National
Association of EMTs as they take over the management of the EMS Field
Bill. Advocates is your voice in DC,
so please do not hesitate to let us know about legislative issues that will
affect EMS nationwide. If you are able,
please attend EMS on the Hill Day in Washington, DC on March 5th and
6th. A strong MD presence
assures that our representatives understand that EMS is part of the healthcare
system.
As we talk
about healthcare and healthcare reform, I am excited to announce a new committee
that will hopefully lead NAEMSP® into the forefront on reform discussions. Doug Kupas and Jim Dunford have agreed to
Co-Chair the NAEMSP® Community Paramedicine Committee. It is my hope that their work will propel
the Community Paramedicine movement forward and, ultimately, lead to better
patient outcomes.
As I begin
my two-year term as President of NAEMSP®, I can honestly say that there could
not be a more exciting time to be involved.
I do have to take a moment to thank Michael Millin and Ted Delbridge for
their service on the NAEMSP® Board and welcome Jon Rittenberger and Derek
Cooney to the Board. I also need to
thank some previous mentors who have been most influential in my EMS life – so
thanks Ted Delbridge, Ron Pirrallo, Bob O’Connor and Rick Hunt.
Finally, I
leave this newsletter with one goal, it is my hope that NAEMSP® is seen as the
lead authority in the field of EMS
Ritu