EMS Week 2018

EMS Strong – Stronger Together

Virginians rely on Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel to respond to the call for help and to provide quality prehospital care during their greatest time of need. Last year, more than 1.46 million EMS calls, approximately 4,000 responses per day were documented in Virginia’s web-based, electronic patient care data collection system.

National EMS Week is May 20 – 26, 2018. EMS for Children Day, May 23, focuses on the pediatric patient and the specialized care required when providing treatment for them. During this special week, we recognize the dedication of 35,195 EMS providers and 600 agencies in Virginia. We commend their continued commitment to the citizens of the commonwealth and to the EMS system. We are especially thankful for their life-saving efforts, not just during this week but every day!

National EMS Week will feature a theme for each day of this special week. Learn more about EMS Week at: http://www.acep.org/emsweek/. Download a copy of the planning guide at: https://www.acep.org/globalassets/sites/acep/media/ems/documents/2018emsweekplaningguide.pdf.

The 2018 National EMS Week themed days are as follows:

  • Monday is “Education Day” to highlight both public education programs and EMS provider education;
  • Tuesday is “Safety Tuesday” to promote safety for the EMS provider, the patient and the public;
  • Wednesday is “EMS for Children Day,” to highlight the special needs of the pediatric patient;
  • Thursday is “Save-A-Life Day,” to promote CPR and Stop the Bleed, which is citizen bleeding control education, “Until Help Arrives” – active bystander training, public CPR programs and other related education programs;
  • Friday is “EMS Recognition Day,” to recognize your local EMS heroes and those saved by the EMS system.

Please join us in recognizing the inspiring contributions of our extraordinary EMS providers, as we thank them for their dedication to serving their neighbors and communities.