It was a big year for EMS, and for EMS1.
EMS providers made big strides for patient care and promoting the profession in 2017. Community paramedic Lisa Cassidy with the St. Charles County Ambulance District launched the #StopHeroin campaign for opioid abuse prevention and treatment.
Charles Avery, an EMS program director at Bainbridge State College, made it possible for a young woman with Down Syndrome to live her EMS dreams.
Our special coverage series: Diffusing community paramedicine, provided tips for overcoming barriers to community paramedicine and success stories from ongoing programs.
The future of EMS is in applying widely used consumer technology like touch screens, high-definition video, collision avoidance, live video capture and streaming and cloud-based, secure data storage to improve patient assessment, care and documentation.
The Paramedic Chief digital edition, Guide to emerging technologies, featured articles on the challenges of and lessons learned from several important innovations in EMS.
Our EMS World coverage included features on what EMS providers need to know to protect themselves from fentanyl exposure, patient management in the technical rescue environment; pediatric population-specific disaster management; and the 2017 NAEMT MIH-CP survey.
At the annual Folio Show, the largest awards program for the media publishing industry, recognizing the best in editorial and design, EMS1 brought home the Best Standalone Digital Magazine (B-to-B) award for the Paramedic Chief Digital Edition – How new designs promise to improve patient and provider safety. EMS1 Editorial Advisor and columnist Art Hsieh received the California EMS Authority EMS Educator of the Year Award. Editor-in-Chief Greg Friese won a 2017 Neal Award for Best Profile, for his feature, “Stabbed on duty: A medic’s lessons learned on the long road back.”
We also welcomed a number of new columnists and contributors, including Robert Dickson, MD, medical director, MCHD-EMS; Tim Nowak, founder and CEO of Emergency Medical Solutions, LLC; Bradley Dean, training battalion chief, Rowan County Emergency Services, Salisbury, NC; and Skip Kirkwood, chair of EMS-FTEP Program of the National EMS Management Association.
Kerri Hatt, senior editor; and Shelbie Watts, editorial assistant, joined the EMS1 team this year.
We reached out to our EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board for their biggest moments of 2017, and how they’ll ring in the New Year. Here’s what they had to share and make sure to add your own 2017 accomplishments and goals for 2018 in the comments.
What was your biggest professional moment in 2017?
Kris Kaull: As I enter my 25th year in EMS, this year has been a time of self-reflection. How are we — as a profession — growing? Are we mentoring the next level of leaders? Are we solidifying our position in the healthcare community? What’s next?
2017 was also a turning point for Pulsara. In three short years, we’ve become an established company that is in 19 states plus Australia. We’re narrowing the communication gap between prehospital providers and the critical care teams.
Art Hsieh: Receiving the California EMS Authority EMS Educator of the Year Award – very humbling.
David Givot: While there were many that come close, the biggest moment of the year was, after a contentious trial, securing a full and complete judge’s acquittal/dismissal of a case against a California paramedic who was wrongfully accused of misconduct – the truth prevailed and a career was saved.
Chris Cebollero: Securing funding from Anthem for navigation and treat, no transport.
Greg Friese: Presenting the EMS Trend Report at Pinnacle EMS with Catherine Counts.
What was your biggest personal moment in 2017?
Kris Kaull: Personally, I’ve continued to practice medicine as a flight paramedic in Montana; covering rural communities and Yellowstone National Park. Tangibly caring for my patients and my communities is one of my greatest joys. Speaking of joy, I also married my best friend, Sara. We enjoyed a small, intimate wedding in Puerto Vallarta. Oh ... and I spent a bit of time on the lecture circuit alongside of Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson.
David Givot: It was a bad one. It was the death of my father on June 14, just 10 weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer (probably why I have not written much this year). After my mom died, when I was six, he was all I had. Although he had lived nearly 91 good years in very good health, it was a very difficult blow for all of us. It was my biggest moment because – other than the obvious – it was the moment I actually knew I would be OK and that his lessons had been learned; it was my turn to teach.
Chris Cebollero: My new book, Ultimate Success, becoming a number one best seller.
Greg Friese: Immense and ongoing pride in my children’s accomplishments in school, music, art, summer camp and athletics.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Kris Kaull: Give the voiceless a voice. Pay it forward. Empower the next leaders of EMS.
Art Hsieh: Go to bed each night feeling that I did something good.
David Givot: It’s the same every year: to continue to try and be better, to do better; to leave my tiny corner of the world better than I found it – it’s neither as easy nor altruistic as it sounds.
Chris Cebollero: To eat more pie without gaining weight.
Greg Friese: Support and facilitate the Praetorian Digital editorial team’s success; run a marathon; and stop doing something I regularly do now (not sure what) to do something more important and impactful with that time.
About the board
Kris Kaull: Kris, a serial entrepreneur with over 24 years of experience in public safety – both as both a clinician and business professional – carries a unique perspective and vision to the industry and is regarded as a leading expert in online media and public safety. Kris started paramedic.com and co-founded EMS1.com before transitioning to his current role as chief marketing officer at Pulsara, a mobile healthcare tech start-up.
Art Hsieh: EMS1 Editorial Advisor Art Hsieh, MA, NREMT-P, currently teaches at the Public Safety Training Center, Santa Rosa Junior College in the Emergency Care Program. Since 1982, Art has worked as a line medic and chief officer in the private, third service and fire-based EMS. He has directed both primary and EMS continuing education programs. Art is a textbook author, has presented at conferences nationwide, and continues to provide patient care at an EMS service in Northern California.
David Givot: David Givot, Esq., graduated from the UCLA Center for Prehospital Care in 1989 and spent most of the next decade working as a paramedic responding to 911 in Glendale, Calif., with the fire department. By the end of 1998, he was traveling around the country working with distressed EMS agencies teaching improved field provider performance through better communication and leadership practices. David then moved into the position of director of operations for the largest ambulance provider in Maryland. Now, back in Los Angeles, he has earned his law degree and is a practicing defense attorney still looking to the future of EMS. In addition to defending EMS providers, both on the job and off, he has created TheLegalGuardian.com as a vital step toward improving the state of EMS through information and education designed to protect EMS professionals - and agencies - nationwide.
Chris Cebollero: Chris is a nationally recognized emergency medical services leader, author and advocate. He is a member of the John Maxwell Team and available for speaking, coaching and mentoring. Currently, Chris is the senior partner for Cebollero & Associates, a medical consulting firm, assisting organizations in meeting the challenges of tomorrow.