OSHA Emergency Response Rulemaking

The proposed rule by OSHA released this year with the intention of being finalized in 2025 is part of an effort to update the Emergency Response Standard and aims to improve safety protections for emergency responders, including EMS personnel, firefighters, and search and rescue teams. This rule would revise the existing Fire Brigades Standard (29 C.F.R. 1910.156) to extend its coverage to additional groups of emergency responders, such as those in EMS and technical rescue roles.

Highlights of the proposed rule include:

• Expanded Coverage to include EMS, search, and rescue functions
• Alignment with current safety and operations standards such as those in the National Fire Protection Association
• Enhanced health and safety measures against wildfire and hazardous material exposures
•  Volunteer fire department exemptions and extension of implementation timelines

OSHA Proposed Rule Insights

"How will Trump’s campaign promises impact EMS funding, call volume and service quality?"

On November 6, Greg Friese, MS, NRP, penned an article for EMS1 specific to Trump policies potential impact on EMS. Friese writes, "Based on Trump’s previous term and the campaign trail promises from Trump and his surrogates, it is worth considering what a second Trump presidency means for EMS. The centerpieces of Trump’s campaign were tariffs, immigration, taxes and crime, issues that touch every aspect of daily life, in and out of the workplace." 

Full Article Here

2025 Session Important Dates.pdf

Click the link above to learn more.

Mayo Clinic Ambulance Service paramedics in Rochester, Minnesota responded to a patient experiencing a heart attack only to discover their former teacher in need.

Read & watch more about this story.

https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-xnhty-172fe5e

Watch the full podcast by clicking on the link above.

"Highlighting the significance of qualitative research, Dr. Barr remarks, 'Numbers work well for testing theories, but when it comes to generating new ones, the hard work of interviews, coding and theming is essential.'"

Learn more about how Professor Bram Buffee, PhD, EMT-P & Dr. Nigel Barr, PhD, RN, RP discuss the impact of COVID-19 and the importance of capturing qualitative research for greater insights on healthcare practices and challenges: EMS Research Podcast: Paramedic Perspectives on COVID Through Qualitative Research - JEMS: EMS, Emergency Medical Services - Training, Paramedic, EMT News. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to inform clinicians and health departments about the Republic of Rwanda’s first confirmed outbreak of Marburg virus disease (MVD) with 36 laboratory confirmed cases and 11 deaths reported as of October 2, 2024, including at least 19 cases in healthcare workers. 

CDC Health Alert Network Communications

Background

Marburg Virus Disease is a rare but highly fatal viral hemorrhagic fever caused by infection with either Marburg virus or Ravn virus. Both Marburg virus and Ravn virus are within the family which also includes Ebola viruses. A person infected with the Marburg virus is not contagious before symptoms appear. Symptoms may include fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, gastrointestinal symptoms, or unexplained bleeding. The virus is spread through direct contact with broken skin or mucous membranes with the body fluids of someone who is sick with MVD, or who recently died from their infection. These body fluids include blood, urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, breast milk, amniotic fluid, or semen. People can also contract MVD if they have contact with infected animals, or with needles, or with other objects or surfaces contaminated with the virus. Marburg virus is not spread through airborne transmission.

Access revised guidelines here: https://netec.org/2023/03/09/ems-guidelines-for-marburg-virus-disease/

The following corrections were made to the 2024 NEMSQA Measures Report on 10/16/2024.  

1. Airway-01: Successful First Endotracheal Intubation Attempt without Hypotension and without Hypoxia
2. Airway-05: Adequate Oxygen Saturation Achieved Before Endotracheal Intubation Attempts
3. Airway-18: Waveform Capnography Confirmation of Invasive Airway

A Wake-up Call on Airway Management

The National EMS Quality Alliance (NEMSQA) has provided evidence-based quality measures designed to improve EMS performance and patient care. These measures areas like clinical effectiveness, patient safety, and patient experience. Using standardized definitions that map directly to NEMSIS fields, these measures provide individual EMS agencies, regions, and states a way to measure and enhance their performance. On a national scale, these measures identify variations in care and highlight best practices to improve the EMS industry.

"Improving airway management isn’t about accepting low performance – it’s about taking the information we have and using it to drive change. By focusing on standardized processes, embedding essential checkpoints into our workflow and leaning on quality measures, we can make real strides. And with the lessons learned from the NEMSQA EQUIP Airway Collaborative, we’ll have the insights we need to close the gaps. The goal is straightforward: keep pushing EMS forward to a higher standard of care, one airway measure at a time."

Read the full article here!

Emergency Medical Services (EMS): A Look at Disparities in Funding and Outcomes

Access the Full Article Here!

Key Points:

• Substantial geographic disparities in emergency medical services (EMS) exist based on urbanicity—for example, in rural areas more staff volunteer or work part time, response times are longer, paramedics typically have lower levels of certification, and EMS relies heavily on fee for service funding.
• EMS response times for patients with cardiac arrest are 10% longer in low-income neighborhoods than in high-income neighborhoods.
• Studies find substantial disparities in the provision of EMS based on race and sex.
• In a case study of eleven counties in California, local EMS agencies that served rural counties had lower per capita EMS funding and lower percentages of cases that met established quality standards.

Dartmouth College EMS Research Study Survey

EMS researchers at Dartmouth College are conducting a brief survey examining how EMS clinicians cope with work-related stress. The team will use your opinions to inform the development of a future smartphone app for EMS clinicians that provides specific resources for healthy stress management.

The goal is to design an app for EMS clinicians by EMS clinicians. Through the survey conducted by Dartmouth College, they are collecting data specific to the high-stress situations you handle as an EMS Practitioner on a daily basis and how these situations can contribute to burnout and impact your health. This survey will allow Dartmouth to learn more about these experiences and help support retention and wellness of the EMS profession through a future EMS stress management app.

If you have not already participated in this brief survey study, please follow this link to the survey to determine if you are eligible:

Click here to start the survey or scan the QR code below: