Dwayne Aalseth

Well spring has arrived, and so did our Spring Fling event, which was attended well and actually broke previous attendance records. It was a great time with excellent education, food and vendors. I thank all that attended and all that worked hard on making the 2012 Spring Fling a success. One group I feel we must mention is Evergreen Packaging out of Pine Bluff, 20 First Responders from their emergency response team attended an AEMTA event for the first time.

With that being said, it is off to our next major event, the Parade of Lights and the first ever Arkansas EMS Hall of Fame. Both events will be held on May 23, 2012 starting off at the East Side of War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. We are asking for ambulances, fire or rescue apparatus, law enforcement units, and even POV’s. If it has lights and sirens and responds to medical emergencies, we want it. Line up will start at 08:00 and around 09:15 the parade will start going through Little Rock to the State Capital. At the State Capitol we will be met by the Honorable Governor Mike Beebe, and a short program commemorating Arkansas EMS and National EMS Week. We will then travel to the Section of EMS at the Freeway Medical Building for refreshments, door prizes, and the inaugural Arkansas EMS Hall of Fame. With this historical event, this is one day no EMS provider should miss, so we hope to see you there.

Evergreen Packaging had 20 first responders at Spring Fling!

Also with spring comes severe weather season, and we here in Arkansas have gotten lucky so far. Please take this time to review your service area’s disaster response plan. If your area doesn’t have one, volunteer to make one. After a tornado or major flood is not the time to try and find out your resources and ability to respond to such catastrophic events. If you don’t know how to assemble a disaster response plan, contact your regional board member for assistance.

With the recent tragic events in Jacksonville please remember safety first! Be conscious of your surroundings, use your safety equipment, and report all safety issues to your supervisors. Please keep our brothers and sisters of the Jacksonville Fire and EMS in your prayers.

Until next time stay safe… Dwayne.

Dwayne Aalseth

Happy New Year! Hope your Holiday was bright, and Santa brought you what you wanted. The AEMTA will be hitting the ground running for you, our members. We have a few legislative issues we are working on, Spring Fling in March, new memberships, and bylaw proposal changes among other things.

Spring Fling is headed our way quickly. It will be held at Arkansas State University in Monticello. Penny Russell is working on some great speakers and entertainment. The full agenda with speakers, vendors, and sponsors is available on the Spring Fling website. Our contract hotel will be the Holiday Inn Express, fully remodeled and a hot breakfast should make a great stay. They will be providing a room for a meet and greet social Friday night. This will be a BYOB event with no open marked containers allowed by law. Cups will be provided by EASI ambulance and you may store your drinks in a cooler. So make your plans now, and come join the fun.

You may have heard that the AEMTA voted to give a one year membership to all Licensed EMS Providers (EMSP) in the state. And some may have some questions as to why we did this? This was an idea that Keith came up with, and when we talked about it in early March of last year I thought it was a great idea. As I travel the state I run into EMSP’s that have never heard of the AEMTA. Others think the AEMTA is just a great big party place. This is a great chance to reach every provider in the state and let them know what the AEMTA is doing for them. Now the hard work begins for the board and my self, retaining our new members and getting them involved. Communication is going to be the key to success! I have challenged each board member to submit an article to the Lifeline quarterly. Coupled with a board meeting every odd numbered month, this will give you, our membership, access to your board. I will also be giving you monthly updates to keep you informed, so check your Lifeline regularly.

The board will be looking at updating the current bylaws, so if you see something that you think needs to be changed, contact a regional representative or society president and give them your ideas. Any proposed changes will be published in the Lifeline for your review prior to going before the membership for vote. This will be your voice into how your association works and operates for the next several years, so please watch this closely.

With that being said I hope old man winter has not played havoc in your area. Be careful and slow down on the ice and snow. Our next board meeting will be at Spring Fling, and I hope to see you there.

Dwayne Aalseth
AEMTA President

Dwayne Aalseth

As this year ends, so does our current administration. Come January 1, your newly elected officers will take over. As President of the new administration I would like to thank Keith Edmonds and his past board for their two years of hard work and dedication. We face many new challenges in the next two years, but cannot forget the current ones we face. We as an association will continue to support Keith in the feats that he was unable to accomplish during his term.

We have several new and exciting things planned this year, and as members I hope you take advantage of them and get more involved. I encourage you to attend the board meetings to give us your feedback and ideas. The bi-monthly Board meetings will be held the 2nd Tuesday of each odd month (January 10th, May 8th, July 10th, September 11th and November 13th) at the Freeway Medical Building Section of EMS in Little Rock Arkansas at 9 am. Our two annual meetings will be at Spring Fling, March 10, and Conference, August 3, with times to be announced.

We will be bringing Spring Fling to Southeast Arkansas for the first time ever. It will be held at The University of Arkansas Monticello on March 9 and 10. We will have a host of excellent in and out of State speakers. The Holiday Inn Express has blocked off the whole hotel for the AEMTA, with free hot breakfast for guests of the hotel. There will also be a meet and greet social room and vendor area. So book your rooms now, at 870-460-0100.

With the economy affecting everyone, we are looking at ways to cut cost to our members, vendors, and sponsors. If any vendor or sponsor pays for conference by March 1, they will be complemented a booth at Spring Fling. The conference planning committee is working hard on getting conference registration below $100, and cheaper room rates for attendees.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season and a great New Year. Look for more surprises throughout the year as your AEMTA works for you. Until next month, be safe and don’t eat too much.

President-Elect
Dwayne Aalseth

Keith Edmonds, AEMTA President

As I enter into the final few days of my term as your President of this great Association of professionals, I have taken the time to reflect on some changes that have occurred over the past 2 years as well as some of the directions in which we are heading.

I have never been so proud of our profession as I am today. We have come along way since I entered this business in 1980 and it is because of you, the Arkansas EMS Professional, that these changes have happened. We as a profession, have stood strong over the years asking for changes that we encounter daily that affects the patients we care for. We have drastically improved the profession in the eyes of others across the state and are now recognized as the licensed professional we have all wanted.

It is because of the membership of this Association that has dreamed of seeing changes and speaking up to the Board of Directors that these changes have occurred and will continue to occur for years to come. We have gone from the complacent and compliant professional to a voice that has been heard and recognized and is ready to respond at a moments notice with very little questions asked. We are a strong family that is bound together with one common goal: Patient Care!! For this, I applaud each of you!

Other changes that have occurred, and yes I am dating myself, are the tools of our trade that we use in our modern day EMS. No more Thomas Half Ring, Short Board and many other little things that some of the older Professionals might remember and to those that have never heard of these, I challenge you to learn about them and try to implement their usage at some point while sitting around the base. Find some “old school” partner to assist you in the application. I am sure you will both enjoy.

New changes that we have seen in the past couple of years include the introduction of money to our Profession. Never before in the history of Arkansas EMS have we been given money to assist us with our education, equipment and personnel as we currently have coming in from the newly formed Trauma System. It has been a dream come true for many of our older professionals that have fought many battles asking for assistance for our injured patients. We have accomplished this goal and are making vast improvements throughout our state in delivering higher quality of care to our trauma patients than ever before. This will continue because we all still have the passion to assure that EMS moves forward in paving the way for our Trauma System and the needs of our patients in the field.

Another change that we have been able to see through is some of the changes that directly affect patient care. If you had told me back in 1985 that one day we would be paralyzing a patient so we could control their airway and better care for them, I would have laughed in your face. From the days of intracardiac sticks to the thrombolitics we are now using, major changes have affected the lives of so many patients that we have transported. The move from the EOA/EGTA to the modern day multi-lumen airways that we use is remarkable. We also have the ability to drill into a patient to deliver the needed fluids and medications in order to ensure that they are receiving what is needed to sustain their life!! Many people have worked on these advances and so many more and I thank them, especially Dr. Timothy Calicott for his vision of patient care in Arkansas and his ability to research our objectives and make it happen. We, as a profession, are very fortunate to have him working with us and for us and advancing Arkansas EMS. His dedication affects our patients on every call we make. Bless your heart Dr. Calicott and I thank you!!

Another change to look forward to in the upcoming years is a new certification of our Emergency Medical Responders; those who assist EMS professionals on a daily basis, usually of their own free will, time and money to ensure that their neighbors are well taken care of prior to the arrival of EMS transport. Our committee, along with the Arkansas Department of Health, Section of EMS, has worked diligently over the past 2 years in making these important changes and adapting to the needs of the communities throughout Arkansas.
One other change that is currently being worked on as we speak is a quality retirement system for our profession. This system that will be solid throughout the entirety of our careers and based through a state program that will allow the opportunity for our professionals to look forward to an end of their career and still have the opportunity to support their families.

There are many people that I would like to thank for being a part of my family and assisting me in many ways over the past 2 years. There is no way I could ever thank the AEMTA Board of Directors for all of their work and challenges that I have placed on them. They have stepped up to the plate and delivered everything that has been asked of them and more. Each one of these Board members are dedicated to the success of our profession and have supported each member as we have grown and moved forward. They have set the bar high and will always be there to assist anyone in this Association when the need arises. The outgoing Board of Directors members are: Rod Barrett, Penney Russell, Meghen McMahen, Dwayne Aalseth, Donald Reed and Brenda Stewart. I thank you and respect each of these people from the bottom of my heart.

There are several others who have helped me in more ways than I can ever remember. Laura Guthrie has been a great help to me in doing whatever I have asked her to do to help our Association. She delivered 4 great conferences and I applaud her dedication to ensure that our educational needs have been met with the conferences and also with the Trauma education that she has worked so hard on. Sedley Tomlinson has been there at a moments notice to assist the Board and myself with anything that we have asked of him. Brenda Stewart has been a solid rock for me as well working so hard to improve the website for the AEMTA and to ensure that the LifeLine online has had interesting articles for everyone to read. Greg Brown has been a blessing in disguise for our Association as he has shown nothing more than respect and guidance for our movements that we have made in order to improve our profession to what the membership has asked for. The entire Section of EMS staff has been great to work with and drop everything they may have had going on in order to ensure that the AEMTA could have a Board meeting and interrupt their busy days while we wonder the hallways of their offices. Denise Carson, Immediate Past President of the Arkansas Ambulance Association for her ability to stand in there and fight for what is right and to ensure that the EMS Professional is not forgotten in many ways and for her patience with me as I question so many things. She has worked so hard with our Board of Directors to ensure that EMS is not forgotten and that we make the strides to bring the owners/operators together with the EMS field providers.

Others that have helped me in becoming who I am today that I wish I could thank personally are Earl Triplett, Jon McMahan, David Taylor and Janie Kennedy. Each of these has had a special place in my heart for the things they have done for me and our profession. I miss each of them dearly and thank their families for sharing them with me. I appreciate what they have shown me in the years that I knew them and what they taught me about patient care and the ability to smile as I have worked in some of the worse situations an EMS professional could ever imagine. There are very few days that pass that I don’t encounter a situation and wonder what Earl would have done and if he would have said, “Good job, Junior.” If I see an ambulance or fire truck broke down, I wonder if Jon would be able to auction it off. I see the changes that we are going through in EMS and wonder how proud David would be of our profession and say “Great job, Buddy”. Each time I see the compassion of one of my partners as we work so diligently to improve the situation of our patient, I wonder if Janie is smiling on us and wanting to say, “Try doing it like this.” Rest in peace my friends, rest in peace.

I hope that I have provided the leadership that you, the membership, have desired. I am sure that I have fallen short on some of our dreams but also excelled above and beyond on some of our other wishes. I am humbled to have had the opportunity to serve as your President and have been blessed beyond belief at the opportunity to work with so many great Professionals in our state. I have tried to ensure that everyone in the Profession understands how important it is to maintain our family of EMS. EMS has been my passion for many years now and I hope that I have been able to instill some of my passion for our Profession in each of you and that you can walk into the scenes that we respond to with your head held high and your pride stronger because you are part of a respected Profession across Arkansas. It is respected because you are not afraid to make a difference in what you do and improve in your patient care. There is not one member of this Association that should ever be afraid to ask for change when it comes to taking care of our patients. We should never have to sit back and want to be able to do more. We have the ability to pick up the phone or walk into our Medical Director’s office, our Manager’s office or the Section of EMS and ask for help. These people are there for us and our patients and we need to ensure that we use them for the support they offer us. You should never be able to not speak your mind when it comes to the best there is to offer for your patient, your partner and yourself in the profession that we all love so dearly.

Even though I am leaving the position of President, I am not going anywhere. I will offer all the support possible to the incoming Board of Directors and will also have the ability to sit on the Board as the Immediate Past President and have the opportunity to become a voting member once again. I will continue working for the members of this Association and pursue the dreams and goals that I set out to begin with that are still incomplete with the approval of the new President, Mr. Dwayne Aalseth. However, I intend to find more time for Lesley and enjoy watching Evyn and Allie as they enjoy their childhood. I might even find more time to locate some turkeys across Arkansas and spend a little more time with my other passion away from the cot along with my cattle and the farm.

Until we meet again, be safe and keep the passion of EMS excelling!! Thank you all for what you have done for me and for allowing me the opportunity to come into your extended family.

God Bless each of you in what you do daily and keep up the good work!!

Keith Edmonds, AEMTA President

Summer has arrived!!  It seems that Arkansas now only faces two seasons, winter and summer and nowhere can we locate spring and fall.  With the beginning of our summer months comes that time that we all are anxiously awaiting, CONFERENCE 2011!!

I am excited about the offerings that will be available this year at our annual South Central Regional EMS Conference held at the Hot Springs Convention Center on August 3 thru 7.  Many new lectures and lecturers will be waiting your arrival this year in order to better achieve the goals of the AEMTA, which is to provide you, the member with the educational opportunities that you have asked for in previous years.  I understand that there will actually be a leadership tract this year at conference to assist and provide information to the leaders of Arkansas EMS while building strength in those we look to for guidance.

I certainly hope to see you there and shake your hand or hug your neck.  I honestly appreciate each and every member for your support over the past year and a half while I have enjoyed seeing and meeting new faces along the way.

We, the members of the AEMTA, will be tasked in the next month to elect our new Board of Directors for the years of 2012 and 2013.  I personally know each and every person running for office this year and can assure everyone that regardless of the outcome of the elections, we will remain a strong Association and we will continue the move forward in EMS across Arkansas.

This is an important decision that you as a member will be involved in.  It is so important that you fill out the election ballot when you receive it and mail it back to the designated address on the envelope.  These candidates on the ballots will be representing you as a member of the Association and your voice is why these people are running for their positions.  They want to be there for all the members and desire to do the right thing for the membership in general.  So, take a few minutes of time when the ballot arrives from the AEMTA and select the appropriate candidate that will best provide you with the direction you want your Association to go.

Speaking from experience, these candidates are nervously waiting on the final outcome of the election to see what lies ahead for them for the next two years in EMS.  They want to meet and greet as many faces as possible to let you know what they can do for you, the membership of the Association and give you some ideas about the direction they want to go with our membership.

There are several things that will be approaching our newly elected Board of Directors over the next two years such as: new certifications, trauma education, retirement and health insurance, plus the changes that we are seeing with the newly formed Arkansas Trauma System.  Not only the things I have mentioned, they will also have their own agenda on items that need to be moved forward with in order to build a strong EMS system that our patients so deserve and that we strive to improve on daily.

In closing, I know that you work side by side with a partner, whether they be an EMT, Advanced EMT or a Paramedic that has made a difference in some one’s life or maybe a difference in your life.  It is a great honor to nominate some one for one of our awards as well as a humbling experience to receive one.  Not only the above mentioned positions but we also award the Instructor of the Year, First Responder of the Year, First Responder Service of the Year, Fire/EMS Service of the Year, Industrial EMT of the Year, Dr. Judy Abbott Medical Director of the Year and the Arkansas Ambulance Association awards the BLS, ALS and Volunteer Services of the Year at the annual banquet at conference each year.  We have also had an addition to the awards beginning last year in remembrance of one of our icons in EMS, David A. Taylor, Sr. with the Excellence in EMS award chosen by the Taylor family in conjunction with the President of the AEMTA.  Please, nominate some one that you work with daily and assist in bringing the recognition to those who deserve it by making a difference in EMS.

As always, I respect and appreciate the hard work and dedication that each of you show on a daily basis in making a difference in those we care for.  Whether you are new to our Profession or one of those that have been around the block a time or two, I thank you for all that you have done.  Be safe in your travels, endeavors and calls and I look forward to seeing you at the 2011 South Central Regional EMS Conference in August!

Keith Edmonds, AEMTA President

What a wonderful 2010 South Central Regional EMS Conference we enjoyed this year. My utmost respect and appreciation to everyone involved in putting together such a great event. I know that each person involved in this event put a lot of free time as well as great efforts in seeing that each EMS Professional had the opportunity to come together and learn new and innovative ideas as well as brush up on some of the information that may have been stuck in the back of our minds. We also had the opportunity to rub shoulders and hug necks of those of our family that we haven’t had the opportunity to see in the past year as well as talk the streets with our comrades in arms.

I certainly wish that I could thank each person, ambulance service or anyone involved with our annual EMS Conference. The dedication that all of you have shown in making a difference in some one’s life is unremarkable and exemplary! We all know that it would take an enormous amount of time to make that happen but you know who you are and how much I do appreciate your efforts.

Thanks to the Sponsors who have assisted the Arkansas EMT Association with the support that you have shown over the years as well as the new Sponsors that have come aboard with the Association. Your efforts to assist us with our conferences as well as our Profession is unmatched! We greatly appreciate you and look forward to working with you for many years to come.

Our vendors were great this year in bringing in many new items in our Profession for us to see and touch as well as learn from. The appreciation for all of our vendors that support our Association astounding from all of us with the Arkansas EMT Association. We know that they could have been some where else showing their equipment, yet they chose to share their business ideas with us, the greatest EMS family on the face of the earth, the Arkansas EMT Association.

I personally want to thank over 250 attendees of the EMS Conference this year for showing that you care about yourself, your family and your co-workers by going to the Arkansas Heart Hospital booth and getting your free cardiac check up done. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for doing this and hope that each of you got a positive outcome of the tests that were performed. This is the type of dedication that it takes to ensure that we go home to our families safely in the morning when we have completed our shifts. It has been one of the most difficult times I have ever experienced in my life, when my dispatch and my partner had to call my wife and children and let them know that I had suffered a heart attack on duty and was being flown to a cardiac surgeon to assist me. I hope that you never have to experience that in your lives and I thank you again for stepping up to the plate to ensure that your family does not receive that dreaded phone call.

Many positives have came from our 2010 EMS Conference in addition to the education that was received by all in attendance. One of the most exciting to me,because of the passion and respect for all aspects of my EMS family,is the pursuit of a certification process for our Emergency Medical Responders. This is an event of major proportion for all of those EMS Professionals that work with the Emergency Medical Responders across our great state. I ask that should you have any questions or comments both in the positive or negative, to let myself or Dwayne Aalseth know as soon as possible. We will be working hand in hand with the Arkansas Dept of Health, Section of EMS as well as the Arkansas Fire Academy in the continual pursuit of assisting the Emergency Medical Responder in gaining the much needed support, education, protocols and the overall respect that they so deeply deserve for their efforts in assisting not only the EMS Professionals, yet the neighbors and friends of their communities that they serve. What an elite group of people that we have the opportunity to embrace in our EMS family!! These are the people who crawl out of bed at 0300 hours and drive to the scene of a hang nail or that person who has had flu like symptoms for 3 weeks without even a second thought. All the time, doing this of their own free will and expense without even thinking of compensation in most cases. We certainly look forward to the processes involved and wish the best of circumstances for everyone in our Profession. The Emergency Medical Responder committee will begin working very soon to assist in developing this program so we may present this to our Legislators in the 2013 General Assembly for passage.

Continue keeping an eye on the Arkansas EMT Association website as well as the LifeLine online newspaper for educational opportunities across Arkansas as well as continual changes that affect what we do on a daily basis.

I, once again, thank each of you for your efforts that you put forth each day. You do make a difference in the lives you come in contact with and I thank you for that. Continue your hard work and dedication to our Profession and you will be blessed richly for your efforts when that one patient hugs your neck or says thank you!

Keith Edmonds

As everyone is aware, the Arkansas General Assembly is in session to approve budgets for the State of Arkansas. The Session began on February 5, 2010 and the only decisions to be made this year are budgetary decisions.

The Arkansas EMS Profession was hit hard with budget cuts at the end of the 2009 fiscal year costing $5,000,000 to our Profession that was set aside at the beginning of the Trauma Funding to be dispersed among all EMS services in Arkansas for preparation of the Trauma System. This money was set aside in the budget under Category B subsection 1, which means that it is not guaranteed to be funded. All Category A budgets were funded, allowing for several grants to be made available to our EMS services and educational facilities.

We, as EMS Professionals, are very aware that all money is tight with the current economical situations that are being faced each day. EMS will see several of these situations arising in the next year even more so than we have in the past with the cuts in Medicare reimbursements.

I am asking for a favor from all of our EMS Professionals in the Great State of Arkansas. I ask that we all pull together to show our strength as equal to the Hospital Association, Nursing Association and the Physician Associations in asking for our part in funding for fiscal year 2010.

I ask that you join me in contacting both your State Representative and your State Senator in asking for the $5,000,000 that was cut in fiscal year 2009 Trauma Budget, Category B subsection 1, be funded in fiscal year 2010 under Category A.

If you are unsure who your Representative or Senator is, you can locate all of the Legislators at www.arkleg.state.ar.us.

The benefits of this funding will assist our Profession to grow with the Trauma System and not be behind all other services that are being funded.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to email me at keithedmonds@marioncounty.com and thank you for your efforts in promoting the greatest Profession in the World, Arkansas EMS.

Keith Edmonds

Another year has come and gone bringing several events throughout 2009.  We have all laughed a little and cried a little, yet we have all been there for each other.  What a great family I am a part of!

2009 has seen several firsts for Arkansas EMS.  We have successfully placed a red letter license in over 50 percent of our professionals with the remaining 50 percent to be issued by the end of March.   Great strides have been made in beginning our Trauma System in Arkansas which has been worked on for many years by many dedicated medical professionals.  We have seen new equipment, rules and regulations and several newly licensed EMT’s and Paramedics in the back of our trucks and on the streets of our great state.  My congratulations and thanks to all of those that have worked so hard to progress our profession to the point it is today.

We have been saddened by the loss of several loved ones and partners in EMS in 2009.  Familiar faces that we are so used to seeing as they work and play in EMS will no longer be there smiling and laughing with us.  We lost a great educator in our state with Jon McMahan – we will all miss his quirks and smiles at conference each year.  We also lost a tremendous leader within our state EMS system with the passing of David Taylor, Sr.  Anyone in the state of Arkansas carries a part of David with them.  Take a look at your license or certification and see what name has signed it.  (“Thanks Buddy!”)  David loved the professionals in our business like brothers and sisters.  He also had a passion for success in our trauma system, licensure and our new rules and regulations.  It was his desire to move Arkansas to the top in the nation with all the improvements we have made.  David will be missed along with each of those we have lost in 2009, yet they will never be forgotten!  It is our duty to see their legacy and passion for our business is carried on and never forgotten.  We need to gather the belts and purse strings, put our big boy/girl britches on and get to work!!  We should refuse to let those things that our friends, partners, leaders and family members have worked so hard on fall behind.

We have the ability to really move mountains in Arkansas and across the nation within the next year.  It is something that we can’t do by ourselves, yet with the person sitting next to you in that truck or the partner back at the station, we can make a difference.

I have asked several of the members of District 1 to do me a favor.  I have challenged each member of the AEMTA in this District to bring a new member to the Association this year.  If you do not reside in District 1, consider this your challenge!!  After working with both the state legislative bodies and the national legislative bodies, I have seen the power of numbers and the ability to make a difference in something we believe in.  However, with a small membership that only renews for the ability to attend conference at a discounted rate, we can’t succeed in moving forward.  We all have Senators and Representatives that were elected to represent us in Arkansas and in Washington.  Without a phone call or an email, they have no idea what we, as a group of professionals, are faced with or what our desires may be in moving our profession forward.  There will be agendas posted here in the LifeLine for immediate attention from our membership.  I will see that the topics that will need to be addressed for improving our EMS are posted and each member will have the ability to make a difference.

In return, the AEMTA will work for you.  We will continue offering the many hours of continuing education that we have all grown accustomed to.  Pending approval at the first of the year, we may see new educational opportunities arise in conjunction with the Trauma System.  These opportunities will benefit not only you, the member, yet will also benefit those that have yet to join our Association.  I ask that you continue to watch the LifeLine for opportunities for our membership as well as our AEMTA website.

It may seem that I have asked a lot of our membership, yet your board, which includes myself, Rod Barrett (Vice Pres.), Meagan McMahen (Sec.), Penny Russell (Treas.), Dwayne Aalseth (Parliamentarian), Tonia Hale, Board Member at Large, Allen Usrey (District 1), Donald Reed (District 2), Judy Taylor (District 3), Brenda Stewart (District 4), Ronnie Russell (District 5), Ben Blankenship (Past Pres.), Nora Jean Harrell (Paramedic Society), Larry New (Instructor/Coordinator Society), Delinda Duckworth (First Responder Society), Tim Green (Industrial Society) and Mark Warford (Fire/EMS Society) are here for you and to assist you in any way we possibly can.  We will work for you and will strive to make the AEMTA a strong organization progressing for your goals in 2010!

There are others that I would like to say a quick thanks to for their efforts in growing our Association.  Ben Blankenship, AEMTA Immediate Past President,  Laura Guthrie, Conference Chair, Sedley Tomlinson, AEMSF Chair, Brenda Stewart, LifeLine Editor, Denise Carson, Pres. Arkansas Ambulance Assoc., Patrick Moore, NAEMT Immediate Past President, KC Jones, NAEMT District 3 Representative,  the Division of EMS and Trauma and you, the backbone of our Association.

My name is Keith Edmonds, and I am proud to be a part of the Arkansas EMT Association and have the ability to work for you.  Should you have any questions that I can help you with, my email is keithedmonds@marioncounty.com and my cell number is (870) 754-9521.  Please use this contact information as you feel necessary.  I enjoy hearing from my family!!

May God bless each of you and keep you safe in your daily endeavors.

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.

While we had great success in the legislative effort for our association there were some efforts that were uncompleted and will be available for future opportunities.  I encourage the ones who are interested to begin now in preparation for the next legislative session.  We are a powerful voice in the legislature; our partnership with the Arkansas Ambulance Association gives additional credence to our requests for assistance.  It is interesting to watch the lawmakers respond when they know we are aligned with other representatives of our industry and they realize we do have strength in numbers.  I encourage the incoming leadership team to maintain our alliances; they do serve to benefit us all.

I encourage any of you who want to become involved in the leadership of our association to step up, become involved and help us to make a difference in our future.  Shyness is not a normal trait for people in our profession; we apply boldness to our delivery of patient care, boldly step out and assume your position in our future.  It is a rewarding effort and not only do we make a difference in our future but also in the future of the people we will care for in the days to come.

I’ve had the opportunity to be president of this amazing group of caregivers for a total of 5 years now and it is time for me to step back and let someone else lead this amazingly talented and diverse association as we avail ourselves of the opportunities available to us.

Thank you for honoring me with your trust and thank you for letting me head this organization.  It has been a humbling journey.

Stay Safe,
Ben

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.

Are career emergency medical providers less committed to the same provision of care to the persons they serve?  Of course not, the career provider stands side by side with the volunteer and in many cases the career provider volunteers their services in their off duty time to their communities.  What our focus must always be is the level of care provided to our patients.  Our patients most of the time cannot tell if the service they are receiving is from a volunteer or a career emergency medical services provider.  That is the way that it always should be.  Now the question arises, “how do we ensure that the same level of care is provided to all patients”?  We study and we participate in continuing education programs to ensure that our skills are up to date and that we are ready to meet the patients needs to the best of our ability.  Moreover, every two years we recertify to show that we have met the requirements of the State Health Department.  I have done it so many times that it seems to happen automatically every two years.

Why must we recertify?  Well, it is an attempt to document our professional skill level, just like the other medical professions we serve with in caring for our patients.  For many years, we have discussed elevating our professional perception of our trade by changing from certification to licensure.  In next year’s legislature, a bill will be presented to change our certification to licensure.  This step has the approval of the majority of our personnel in our profession.  You will see little change in the process, just a more professional level of documentation to the world.  I know that very few people like change; it is in our nature to be suspicious and wary.  This change though will elevate our profession in Arkansas to the same level as all other medical professional.  I believe that the time has come for us to make this long overdue move to stand with the other professionals in our state and in our nation.  We are professionals, plain and simple.  Always have been, always will be.

Stay Safe,
Ben