The National EMS Museum

The Idea
Since the closing of the To the Rescue Museum in Roanoke, Virginia, emergency medical
services (EMS) has been under-represented, if represented at all, in museum collections across
the country. The public did not have the opportunity to engage in the amazing story of pre-
hospital care and the innovations at work in their community every day! Nor was there a
dedicated museum to preserve and honor the legacy of those who changed the course of US
history forever.
However, private collection a bound in the homes and stations of EMS professionals coast to
coast. History was being saved, but was it accessible to the public, where would those collections
go if their current stewards were no longer able to care for them? Who was going to ensure the
EMS story became front and center for generations to come?
After a series of meetings with private collectors, EMS innovators and industry leaders, and
some community input, it was decided a national museum dedicated to EMS should exist to
honor our brothers and sisters working day in and day out to safe neighbors, friends, and family
and to ensure the legacy of emergency medical responders was not lost to time…
The Birth of a National Museum
With the assistance of a start-up grant from the National Association of EMT’s (NAEMT) and a
number of private donors, the National EMS Museum was born in the fall of 2006. Originally,
the Museum’s Board of Trustees hoped to develop a national repository and a number of satellite
sites that would feature EMS history exhibits for EMS practitioners. Immediately the Board set
out to collect as much EMS related materials as possible.
Unfortunately, 2008 was not kind, and with the economic downturn in October, the Museum
Board decided to concentrate its efforts on maintaining its current collection and creating a
traveling museum that could easily move to EMS conferences, tradeshows, and EMS related
events around the United States.
The National EMS Traveling Museum was a huge success and has made repeat appearances at
EMS Today, EMS World, and a number of state conferences every year. In 2014 the museum
embarked on a new strategic plan to focus once again on public outreach and collection
development with the hopes to expand the role of The National EMS Museum in the EMS
industry and open up the story of the Emergency Medical Services to communities across the
country…
The Next Chapter
NEMSM celebrated its 10th anniversary with a new strategic plan and a focus to get more
involved with EMS at a community level.  Enlisting the help of both EMS professionals and
museum experts in the new plan.

Together with NEMSM volunteers the Museum embarked on some ambitious projects which
included an exhibition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wedsworth-Townsend Act, the
20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and new programs like Museum Talks and Coffee with
Doc.
When COVID-19 hit we felt an acute punch as our community outreach projects quickly
morphed into virtual experiences and we had to re-find our footing in our goals for the future.
Luckily, we had experience on our side and, unlike many of our museum friends, we were able
to keep moving forward building on our established virtual museum and recommitting ourselves
to virtual programing accessible to our visitors around the world.
In 2023 a new group of leaders have taken the helm at NEMSM and are working on growing the
presence of NEMSM through publications and public exhibitions.  It is an exciting time to be a
member, volunteer and partner at NEMSM and we hope you will join us for the adventure. We
can’t be the best NEMSM without you by our sides!