A Farewell to JEMS
Last month subscribers to the emergency medical services field’s other long-running print publication, the Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS), received notice that the June issue would be its last in print. With the move, EMS World Magazine is now the only print journal serving the EMS field.
The idea to launch JEMS came from one of the founding fathers of EMS, Jim Page, who was also a key early contributor to EMS World (then called Emergency Medical Services Magazine). In the early 1970s Page was among the first of America’s new breed of emergency responders. He was asked to be a technical consultant for the groundbreaking TV program Emergency!, where he was so vital to the program’s inception that the producer wanted to name one of the lead characters after him. Jim strongly protested, so they settled on a name that sounded similar: John Gage.
During the 1970s Page wrote for EMS World and served on its editorial advisory board. He went on to found JEMS in 1979 with Keith Griffiths as editor but included Emergency Medical Services on his new publication’s debut cover.
In 1995, Jim recruited A.J. Heightman to eventually take over the role of editor-in-chief from Griffiths, who would go on to found the RedFlash Group, a national consulting firm for the EMS, public safety, and healthcare fields. Heightman helped lead the journal for more than two decades and through four ownership changes—from Times Mirror to Elsevier to PennWell and, this year, Clarion Events, which made the decision to shutter the print publication.
We salute JEMS Magazine for its nearly four decades of service to the emergency medical services industry. When print publications were the only sources of EMS information, it was important to have multiple journals—leaders, frontline providers, educators, vendors, and others associated with our field all benefit from a broad-based education that includes multiple voices and a range of perspectives and approaches to the complicated issues we face. Now many online resources help meet that need.
Yet print remains important to many, and EMS World Magazine isn’t going anywhere. Buoyed by new ownership and an infusion of personnel and resources, we will continue our monthly print edition. Additionally, we’ve recently launched our news app, are redesigning EMSWorld.com, continue to innovate and grow the industry’s biggest event, EMS World Expo, and are expanding a number of exciting initiatives, including our partnership with the Prehospital Care Research Forum and our Spanish-language edition, EMS World Revista.
Print media, contrary to popular perception, isn’t dead. There were roughly 2,000 more magazine titles published in the U.S. in 2016 than there were in 2002, and that number is holding steady. Many consumers still prefer their content that way. Whether you like to learn via laptop, smartphone, or old-fashioned paper in your hands, EMS World will continue to meet your educational and professional needs.
