Ben Blankenship

Thanks, yes thanks to every one of you.  Thanks for allowing me to be your president for another year.  We had some great successes and we left some things to be accomplished in the near future.  I am most pleased with the legislation creating our trauma system.  I do believe that this one major step in our future will make the most significant difference in our ability to care for our patients that has occurred in quite some time in the history of emergency medical services in our state.

We also obtained licensure for our profession, no small feat.  Lots of work into the effort for this accomplishment and a tremendous amount of time and effort were committed just assembling the bill, in the end it was over 16 pages and the areas of other state law that we impacted were unbelievable.  While some still question the importance of obtaining licensure for our profession the majority of us know that we have made another step in elevating our profession.

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According to project chairman, Johnny Reep, the mission of the Arkansas Fallen Firefighters Memorial is to honor the men and women of Arkansas who have died in the line of duty while serving the citizens of Arkansas.

The memorial will be built on the west side of the State Capitol in Little Rock. The site is reserved, the design is approved, however, no construction on capitol grounds can begin until full funding is achieved. The cost is $1.1 million dollars. As of June 6, 2009 they are short $280,000. The four statues are paid for at a cost of $307,170.

The statue will be moved to Hot Springs on June 20 where it will remain until early August. The memorial plaza will have a wall of honor, a 110-seat educational amphitheater for fire prevention, and the fountain base for the statues is in the corner. Continued

A special Thank You to the Vermont Ambulance Association and Vermont Emergency Management for creating this list.

Pandemic Flu/Swine Flu Situation Reports/Info:
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Ben Blankenship

The 2009 Legislature is now meeting, and issues that may soon be before them will impact our profession.

One of the issues, of course, is the Statewide Trauma System.  This issue was heavily supported in the last session but died without passage primarily due to the lack of an acceptable funding mechanism.  This session various funding mechanisms are being presented and this will probably be our best opportunity to get this critical system funded and at least started in our state.  We are working closely with the Arkansas Ambulance Association to get legislation passed for the system.  Continued

Ben Blankenship

What does it take to be a professional in our business?

The fact that a person may be paid to complete a task does not equate to professionalism.  Volunteers function at a professional level daily.  The term “Professional” has to many people equated career or paid.  To me, “Professional” has always meant someone who holds themselves accountable for their level of skill and actions.  Volunteers provide the vast majority of emergency medical services in our country.  In most of the rural and less populated areas in our country, emergency medical services would not exist without the dedication and commitment of volunteers.  Thanks to every one of you who give of yourselves and of your time away from family to take care of your neighbors, you do make a difference.
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Ben Blankenship

I’ve had the privilege to be involved in EMS for more than thirty years, and it just keeps getting better. You all are what makes it better.

You, the seasoned veterans who have pretty well seen everything you can imagine. You, the new EMT, with the deer in the headlights look, not knowing what will happen on the next run but praying your training will kick in when needed and you, the experienced rock solid field provider who at times wonders what in the world am I doing in this field. Why don’t I go somewhere and make some real money instead of fighting to make it from paycheck to paycheck. Continued