National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week is May 20-26, 2007.  

The theme of the 2007 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week is "Extraordinary People, Extraordinary Service. This theme was chosen to remind the public of the outstanding services provided every day, under any circumstances by the 750,000 EMS providers who serve their communities.  EMS Week brings together local communities and medical personnel to publicize safety and honor the dedication of paramedics, emergency medical technicians, first responders, fire fighters, police and others who provide often heroic, lifesaving services as a routine part of their jobs.

Each year, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) develops and distributes EMS Week organizational kits including a planning guide to help communities plan and promote activities for the week. The kits are free to the public thanks to the support of CDC and others.

This year, the planning guide features information about the upcoming CDC course, “Emergency Medical Services and Public Health: Forging a More Powerful Relationship.” The course identifies opportunities and methods to combine the two fields to ultimately save lives. Planned for launch later this year, the course is a first step in professional training that combines EMS and public health practices to improve both daily operations and disaster preparedness.

To order a free 2007 EMS Week Kit, visit www.acep.org/emsweek/.  

To learn more about the new CDC training EMS-public health training
course, click on EMS-PH.