ACEP celebrates 40 years of National EMS Week May 18-24 with the theme "EMS: Dedicated. For Life."

[May 23, 2014]  WASHINGTON - The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) celebrates four decades of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week starting May 18th with events in communities across the nation, as well as several national events organized around the theme "EMS: Dedicated. For Life." Thirty years of EMS for Children will be celebrated on Emergency Medical Services for Children Day, May 21st, focusing on EMS training, awareness and special events.

"EMS is your safety net 24-7, 365 days a year," said ACEP's president Alex Rosenau, DO, FACEP. "EMS professionals and volunteers carry specific medications, have specific skills and can take care of you at a moment's notice. They can get you to the right hospital at the right time and in the right way."

EMS providers include paramedics, emergency medical technicians, first responders, firefighters and police, some paid, some volunteer. National EMS Week will feature hundreds of local community activities coast-to-coast, including distribution of free bike helmets, blood pressure checks, first aid classes, fire station open houses and blood drives.

The National EMS Memorial Bike Ride and the CPR Worldwide Challenge Day are among the EMS Week events occurring at multiple locations across the country.
 

The National EMS Memorial Bike Ride honors EMS personnel through long-distance cycling events that memorialize and celebrate the lives of those who have become sick or injured or who have died in the line of duty. The "Muddy Angels" are organizing rides in different parts of the country between May and September.

The CPR Worldwide Challenge Day will take place in communities across the country and overseas on May 21st, in public parks, shopping malls and other public venues. Last year, 54,000 people were trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, during EMS Week. This year's goal is to teach tens of thousands more people how to save lives and make their communities safer.

"Since President Gerald Ford proclaimed the first EMS Week in 1974, ACEP has been a proud supporter of National EMS Week," said Dr. Rosenau. "Every member of the EMS family deserves our thanks and praise for what they provide their communities every day of the year."

EMS Week 2014 sponsors include Genentech, MedicAlert Foundation, Physio-Control, Stryker, Vidacare LLC – Business Unit of Teleflex, Inc., American Heart Association, EMS World, EMS Today, Journal of Emergency Medical Services (JEMS), Advanced Circulatory, Emergency Care & Safety Institute, Innovative Trauma Care, Jones & Bartlett Learning, and National Association of EMTs (NAEMT). Our federal partners are Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), ASPR/Emergency Care Coordination Center (ECCC), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

ACEP is the national medical specialty society representing emergency medicine. ACEP is committed to advancing emergency care through continuing education, research and public education. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, ACEP has 53 chapters representing each state, as well as Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. A Government Services Chapter represents emergency physicians employed by military branches and other government agencies.

[PRNewswire-USNewswire]