Skip to main content

Session Track: Clinical

Blood Drive

Written by Amanda Riordan on .

Blood Drive Hosted by American Ambulance Association & Lexington Fire Department

Schedule Your Donation

American Ambulance Association and Lexington Fire Department are proud to partner with the American Red Cross and be a part of all they do for our community, our country and around the world. Our blood drive at the 2025 Annual Conference & Trade Show is important to patients in need, including those we serve with ambulance mobile healthcare.

The Red Cross needs to collect more than 13,000 blood donations and more than 2,500 platelet donations each day.

The blood collected by the Red Cross helps millions of patients in more than 2,500 hospitals and other facilities across the country.

84% of blood donations are given at blood drives hosted by generous sponsoring organizations like ours.

From Sirens to Science: The Next Era of EMS Medicine

Written by Amanda Riordan on .

EMS medicine is evolving beyond lights, sirens, and rapid transport. As prehospital healthcare expands in scope and complexity, EMS clinicians are embracing cutting-edge innovations, advanced protocols, and new models of patient care. This session, led by Douglas Kupas, President of the National Association of EMS Physicians, and Gerad Troutman, Medical Director for the American Ambulance Association, will explore the latest trends shaping the future of EMS medicine from mobile integrated healthcare and AI-driven decision support to novel pharmacologic interventions and emerging prehospital care trends. Attendees will gain insight into how science, technology, and policy are redefining EMS, empowering providers to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care in an ever-changing landscape. Join us as we navigate the next era of EMS medicine!

From Provider to Patient: Lessons from a Life-Changing Journey

Written by Amanda Riordan on .

Join NAEMT President and Kootenai Fire Chief Chris Way as he takes you on a deeply personal and transformative journey through his recent experience with a life-changing cancer diagnosis. Known for his humor and humility, Chief Way will share what it’s like to transition from being a leader in EMS to becoming a patient reliant on the very healthcare providers and systems he once worked alongside.

Through this candid and inspiring session, attendees will gain unique insights into the profound impact of relationships, attitude, and resilience on patient care. Chief Way will discuss how the connections we foster as healthcare professionals shape the care experience, how a positive mindset can influence outcomes, and why relinquishing control is sometimes necessary—and okay.

This session is a heartfelt reminder of the humanity behind the uniforms and a powerful exploration of how resilience can fuel recovery.

Never Have I Ever: Never Events in EMS

Written by Amanda Riordan on .

The National Quality Forum has a list of “Never Events” that should simply never happen in healthcare – actions that are clearly identifiable, serious, and preventable. This list of 29 serious preventable events has some application to the EMS profession, but because of our unique environment of care, some of these do not apply while others require some modification.

We will review the definition of a “Never Event” in the EMS profession and contrast these events with “best practices.” We will then discuss a series of EMS-specific Never Events in the clinical, operational, and administrative segments of our system, and for each one we will clearly define the event and the mandatory preventative measures that can help prevent them from occurring.

This lecture is a unique look at a major safety aspect of EMS as part of healthcare that we do not typically focus on. Attendees will take home real-world tools to put into action in their systems to help improve patient care and reduce these preventable major safety events.

Community Access Physician Extender – Enhancing Rural Healthcare

Written by Amanda Riordan on . No Comments on Community Access Physician Extender – Enhancing Rural Healthcare

Many rural areas in the United States struggle with access to healthcare, and Maine is no different. Faced with the loss of access to healthcare after normal clinic hours, residents of the Jackman/Moose River, Maine area opted to support an innovative pilot program utilizing Advanced Practice Paramedics and telehealth to continue access to acute care. In addition to the after-hours care, the paramedics provide ALS support to the local BLS ambulance service, Community Paramedicine, and Health Care Technician services during normal clinic hours. During the session, participants will:

  • Understand the process to develop and implement a rural health care program utilizing Paramedics
  • Identify the key components of the educational requirements for AP paramedics.
  • Recognize the key elements of sustaining a Community Access Physician Extender Program.

How Did Negligence Become Homicide?

Written by Amanda Riordan on . No Comments on How Did Negligence Become Homicide?

5 Critical Leadership Lessons from the EMS Criminal Cases

The EMS community and the nation were captivated by the trial that resulted in the conviction of two Colorado paramedics for criminally negligent homicide in the death of Elijah McClain. And the murder charges against two Illinois EMTs in the death of Earl Moore, Jr. was yet another tragedy. These “first-of-their-kind” criminal actions against EMS practitioners exposed a myriad of issues that strike at the core of how we handle the typical – and not so typical – response to difficult patients and persons in police custody. In this eye-opening session, Doug and Steve will discuss the key themes that emerged in these cases that led to these tragic results. They will layout the top five leadership actions that must be put into practice now to reduce risk as we move into a new world of greater scrutiny and accountability for the actions of our EMS practitioners.

Clinical and Operational Synergy for Your Ambulance Service

Written by Amanda Riordan on . No Comments on Clinical and Operational Synergy for Your Ambulance Service

Ambulance Services in 2024 are the most clinically and operationally complex that we have seen throughout our careers. Services no longer just provide emergency medical technicians and ambulances to treat and transport patients to the hospital, they are a sophisticated network of disciplines that all need to support the daily operations of providing high quality and efficient service to our patients, facilities and municipalities.

This discussion is designed to provide information on how to strategically align the clinical and operational products within your EMS agency and strengthen the internal relationships of management, communications, IT, education, field, quality assurance and fleet.

Revising EMS System Response is a High Priority Call

Written by Amanda Riordan on . No Comments on Revising EMS System Response is a High Priority Call

If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your 911 system?
In April of 2023, Mecklenburg EMS Agency (MEDIC) completely overhauled the way it responds to 911 calls, aiming to preserve ALS resources for patients experiencing time sensitive medical emergencies while mitigating ever-increasing low acuity call responses. The panel will talk through the data, experience gained, and lessons learned after one year in the new response configuration. Strategies to discuss include; enhanced use of MPDS in the 911 call center, increasing response times to low acuity calls, reducing lights and sirens usage, expansion of BLS resources, and revising the allocation of first responders. This session will also cover patient safety, predictions versus outcomes, community education, as well as how MEDIC leadership navigated the political landscape to get this major system change off the ground.

Retention, Revenue, and Realizations in MIH

Written by Amanda Riordan on . No Comments on Retention, Revenue, and Realizations in MIH

In the lecture titled “Retention, Revenue, and Realizations in Mobile Integrated Health,” industry leaders will explore the intersection between Mobile Integrated Health (MIH), Community Paramedicine (CP), and critical issues in the EMS sector. Topics discussed will include well-being and professional development of personnel, innovation of service delivery, and optimizing resource allocation as they relate to revenue, partnerships with healthcare providers and payers, and other realizations of MIH. This session aims to empower decision-makers in the EMS industry to navigate the evolving landscape of mobile integrated healthcare while ensuring sustainable growth and improved operations.

Getting Over the Wall: Measuring, Managing and Mitigating Ambulance Offload

Written by Amanda Riordan on . No Comments on Getting Over the Wall: Measuring, Managing and Mitigating Ambulance Offload

Hospital delay, “holding the wall,” “ambulance patient offload time”—call it what you will, this is a major challenge to current EMS operations. It causes frustration, jams up systems, and may lead to patients having to wait to receive an EMS response.

Mike Taigman will lead a panel of international guests who will identify how they have addressed this issue through data, liaisons, and understanding. All will discuss approaches taken and how issues have been measured and managed and system flows restored.