EMS World Expo 2015 Begins With Awards, Keynote Address

Looking back to the past is important, because historical precedent is always relevant.

Looking forward, however, is equally important, says Brent Myers, MD, MPH, FACEP.

Following some opening presentations and an emotional tribute to Dr. Norman McSwain, who died in July, Myers looked ahead to the future of EMS in his keynote address to officially begin EMS World Expo 2015 in Las Vegas on Thursday, September 16.

Myers is an internationally recognized expert in EMS and mobile integrated healthcare. He is recognized as in expert in evidence-based performance measures, system design, cardiac arrest resuscitation and population health management.

Myers served as medical director of Wake County EMS System in Raleigh, NC, for 12 years, and is now the president-elect of the National Association of EMS Physicians. Currently, he serves as the chief medical officer and executive vice president of medical operations for Evolution Health and the associate chief medical officer of American Medical Response. Evolution Health is a community paramedic service, making house calls in an effort to keep repeat patients and mentally ill patients out of emergency rooms.

Myers’ look ahead to the future of EMS focused on mobile integrated healthcare and community paramedicine, and how those institutions will affect decision making for paramedics in the future.

In the very near future, Myers says that it’s important that paramedics be more trusted with decision making, and that an emphasis on risk/benefit analysis become a focal point of these decisions.

Myers also stressed that paramedics get better at communicating risk with patients in these situations. Communicating these risks and giving patients more information can affect the way patients make decisions about their care, Myers says.

Looking to the next few years, Myers says 60-80% of Medicare payment will not be fee for service, but instead will focus on if the patient received adequate care. This is where community paramedicine programs could step in to improve patient care while helping ease congestion in hospitals.

As an example, Myers presented the bundled payment initiative, in which hospitals provided a voluntary program to overtake patient care in an effort to stop patients from returning to hospitals. The program was so successful that after six months, it became mandatory.

Myers provided another example of healthcare in Havana, where one general practitioner is provided per 1,000 people. They provide community-paramedicine-type care for these patients, and only 10% of their EMS calls begin outside of medical facilities. In comparison, only 10-15% of EMS calls in the United States begin in medical facilities, Myers says.

Myers also says telemedicine can help ease this transition into the future.

The transition is beginning to be more than a theory, Myers says. States like Minnesota are beginning to allow EMS to make more decisions and practice community paramedicine more freely. More states will likely follow suit, and the future of EMS will come sooner than we think, Myers says.

Also during the ceremony, the winners of the 2015 National EMS Awards of Excellence were recognized. The winners, commended for the outstanding achievements in the field of EMS, include:

2015 NAEMT/Nasco Paramedic of the Year, sponsored by Nasco: Brandy Rice, Paramedic, Arkansas City, KS

2015 NAEMT/Braun Industries EMT of the Year, sponsored by Braun Industries: Glen Anderson, EMT, Bridgewater, MA

2015 NAEMT/Jones & Bartlett Learning EMS Educator of the Year, sponsored by Jones & Bartlett Learning: Matthew Wolkenbreit, Paramedic, Colrain, MA

2015 NAEMT/North American Rescue Military Medic of the Year, sponsored by North American Rescue: John Crowley, U.S. Navy Fleet Marine Force Corpsman, Hilliard, OH

2015 Volunteer EMS Service of the Year, sponsored by ZOLL: Calvert Advanced Life Support, Prince Frederick, MD

2015 Dick Ferneau Paid EMS Service of the Year, sponsored by Ferno: Richmond Ambulance Authority, Richmond, VA