The COVID-19 pandemic has been a society altering event and a wake-up call for EMS agencies and public health entities across the world. Prior to the pandemic, limited interaction occurred between EMS and public health, often leading to a lack of understanding about each other’s roles day-to-day and during a significant emergency.

It’s clear that there is a need for these entities to communicate better in order to best understand overall capabilities and capacity. Are you, in your role as an EMS leader, doing enough to better understand, and communicate with, public health authorities? If communication improved during the pandemic, do you have a plan to continue that momentum?

Discussions about shared resources, new funding opportunities and other synergies are a must if both EMS and public health entities are going to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic stronger.

In this session you will learn about:

• Where EMS and public health intersect
• How the language of public health differs from ours
• What the EMS role in past public health emergencies tells us
• Lessons learned during COVID for future public emergencies

You’ll also get an update about a special project, managed by the National Association of State EMS Officials and funded by the NHTSA Office of EMS and HRSA EMS for Children program, to develop guidelines to improve and facilitate collaboration between EMS, public health, 911 and emergency management authorities. Find out more about this critical effort and how you can become involved.

Ray Barishansky, MPH, got his start as an EMT and has never lost his connection to or passion for EMS, even as he rose the ranks of public health to become Deputy Secretary for Health Preparedness and Community Protection at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, a role he recently left after several years. He will facilitate this session with Dia Gainor, MPA, executive director of the National Association of State EMS Officials and former Chair of the National EMS Advisory Council. They will be joined by several EMS leaders who have successfully collaborated with public health organizations in their communities, including Deputy Chief Chris Williamson of Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue in Alabama.

This session is sponsored by ESO.