Emergency physicians who are not EMS specialized can turn to a number of resources for assistance. Both ACEP and the NAEMSP have educational courses and many states also have training programs that can help explain state rules and regulations, as well protocol development, and assist them in developing robust education and quality improvement programs.

From the national perspective, EMS care looks very different depending on where you live.

EMS Week helps inform the public about the importance of EMS and

is often used to encourage individuals to learn basic life-saving skills like CPR and first aid.

For example, rural EMS teams must depend more on EMS volunteers, they face staffing and sustainability requirements, they experience more financial stress, and they also depend more on their local physicians. However, more and more, there are a good number of subspecialty physicians who are moving to rural environments.

Dustin Holland, MD, MPH, FACEP, has worked in both rural and urban environments. He began as a volunteer EMT outside of Las Vegas, then moved to an ED in the city, handling calls on the Las Vegas Strip. He now serves a more suburban setting in Carson City, where he works as an emergency physician with rural EMS teams, something the agencies haven’t had in the past.

Nevada is a great example of the importance of an emergency physician and EMS trained physicians, Dr. Holland explained. Other than Las Vegas and Reno, the rest of the state is rural and needs coverage. “The challenges, obviously they vary, depending on what type of agency it is … (but) you can run into an issue where those are usually the agencies that require the most help and teaching and education and quality review because they have very long transport times,” he said. “They are actually providing patient care for a lot longer, and if that patient is really sick, things can go south pretty rapidly. So you have to have well-trained EMS clinicians in these areas where they have to provide care for a longer amount of time.”

EMS Week facilitates collaboration among EMS agencies, policy makers, organizations, and communities.

In urban settings, transport times can be 5 to 10 minutes to the closest hospital, but for the rural Nevada area, “it could be 45 minutes,” Dr. Holland said. “It’s very different. It’s unfortunate that sometimes these are the agencies that need the most help, but they’re not getting it because no one really works out there that’s trained as an EMS physician.”