EMS WEEK 2023

EMS Week is a time to celebrate the health professionals on the frontlines who save lives every day — teams of dedicated first responders that do everything they can for patients and their families and communities — overcoming challenges and individual risks and putting patients first to provide exceptional care to anyone who experiences a medical emergency.

​The sacrifice and dedication of EMTs, paramedics and other EMS practitioners has rightfully earned them admiration and gratitude in their communities.

Calling them heroes sometimes obscures the fact that -- behind those masks -- are people who, every day, take on many crucial roles: Healthcare professional. Emergency manager. Social worker. Crisis counselor. Consoler. Caregiver.

This year, for National EMS Week, we honor the places where emergency care begins — the rural communities, the volunteer fire departments and their dedicated professionals who risk it all every day to be the lifeblood of their communities.

​We recognize the need to share their story with the rest of the world, to make sure people understand that EMS isn’t defined by lights and sirens or ambulance rides. The full portrait of what EMS does and who they are is much more complex, diverse and nuanced.

It’s the firefighter who makes sure someone will feed an elderly patient’s cat when she’s at the hospital.

It’s the emergency medical responder who holds a child’s hand on the scene of a vehicle crash to make sure he isn’t scared.
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It’s the volunteers that spend an hour fighting for a cardiac arrest victim’s life at the end of long night.

It’s the emergency medical professionals who care for our communities, day in and day out.

They are EMS.