Very little has been written about EMS and fire customer service since the days of the late legendary Fire Chief Alan Brunacini’s proverbial Mrs. Smith or respected author Thom Dick’s patient centric book People Care. As new generations arrive in the workforce, a new approach to both internal and external customer service needs to evolve to attract and retain people and best serve your communities.

Without fulfilled, engaged employees, you can’t expect good customer service. And new generations have different expectations about what “fulfilled and engaged” really means. This session will look at the experience from the traditional customer service approach developed in the early days of the American Ambulance Association to the emergence of Mrs. Smith and her challenges to the perspective of a new generation of first responders.

Using technology to expedite customer feedback to crews will be explored and case studies will be used to highlight challenges and successes. And what does all that have to do with peanut butter? Come to the session to find out! Bruce Evans, MPA, is Fire Chief of Upper Pine River Fire Protection District in Bayfield, Colorado, and serves as President of NAEMT. Matt Riggins serves with Chief Evans as a firefighter/EMT.