This Week in EMS: A Recap for Sept. 23-29, 2006

It has been a busy week for those in the EMS community who had the opportunity to attend EMS Expo 2006 in Las Vegas. As many attendees have noted, it would have taken several weeks to thoroughly see everything.

The most newsworthy event of the week was the keynote presentation by FEMA Director R. David Paulison, in which he pledged his support for EMS and called it "the most utilized and least recognized" component of disaster response. He asked attendees for renewed trust in FEMA and informed the crowd on how the agency has been reborn.

More about Paulison's address is available online, along with video of his exclusive interview with Lon Slepicka for Firehouse.com and EMSResponder.com.

It appears that Paulison is already gaining the confidence of the emergency services -- especially that of NAEMT President Ken Bouvier of New Orleans. Bouvier also presented a keynote address, in which he offered his full support to FEMA and then recounted what the past year has brought since Katrina for EMS providers in his hometown.

EMS Expo was held this week in conjunction with the NAEMT Annual Meeting, and one of the most notable aspects of that meeting was the bittersweet passing of the torch from Ken Bouvier to incoming NAEMT President Jerry Johnston.

EMSResponder.com sat down with both presidents during this week's events. During the interview, Bouvier said he gave Johnston a gift: a baseball, to symbolize teamwork. Both presidents made it clear that their shared vision is to continue building relationships between the various EMS and related organizations to build a stronger, better recognized and better funded EMS community.

To read more about EMS Expo 2006 visit our event blog.

The most popular news on the site this week was that of a group of female FDNY EMS captains who have filed a lawsuit claiming that sex discrimination has prevented them from further advancement. The NYC mayor has publicly rebutted their complaint.

In other top stories, a ruling was questioned this week in Florida regarding the ordered rehiring of a paramedic who was fired for choosing not to answer a 911 call

Among other events this week, EMSResponder.com received a letter from the U.S. Marshal Service asking for assistance in locating an abducted child who is likely to have had contact with EMS or other medical personnel.

According to the letter, this 10-year-old girl was diagnosed with a neurological illness that caused her to experience "reoccurring complicated migraine episodes with accompanying weakness in both legs." Additional information about the case is available online.