IAFP

Progress: The IAFP moves forward 

Rule number one: Write about what you know. I am becoming very familiar with many different facets of progress: personal, professional, chronological. I am also getting quite familiar with the fact that progress is subjective. It's open to individual interpretation. The progress evaluation depends on who's doing the critique.

As a personal example, I had a great idea to build an addition onto my home. This new space would add a two-car garage, master bedroom, walk-in closet, and master bath, as well as adding 8 additional feet onto our existing dinning room. My wife fell in love with the idea! In spite of busy careers and IAFP board commitments, we reasoned that our timing could not have been better since the interest rates are at an all-time low.

In order to keep the costs down, I'm doing much of the work on this project myself. This is where individual subjectiveness comes into play. From my point of view, the project is moving along fairly well. I'm able to see progress. Slow and steady keeps things moving ahead. On the other hand, my wife just called in reinforcements. For some absurd reason, she feels that 4 years working on this project is not progress at all! Sure sounds a lot like one of those reality TV shows.

My point is that progress on any project takes time and hard work. How you evaluate progress depends on your specific viewpoint. The IAFP has made some significant progress this year. Some of our current projects are moving along quite well, while others are a little slower but are showing progress. When the association changed its name this past January, we informed the membership that greater emphasis would be placed on the needs of our members. Months of hard work by the board and individual members are starting to make a difference.

Last fall the association reviewed the first draft of the National EMS Scope of Practice Model. We approached the membership and asked you to get involved and let us know your position on this document. Thanks to those of you who responded. After reviewing your concerns, we drafted our response. Along with our response to the content of the Scope of Practice, we also addressed the obvious lack of representation from the air medical industry on the national task force that created the document. Through continued member support and persistent letter writing, the IAFP was invited to sit on the national review team, to hear public comments, and to take an active part in the final draft of the document.

Due to your support, the IAFP was represented at the table in Washington, DC, this June. Many of the concerns voiced by our membership were echoed in the public testimony. Much of the conversation revolved around the EMT-intermediate level knowledge base and skill set. In the end, the final document will reflect many of the suggestions made by the IAFP and its members.

The final draft of the National EMS Scope of Practice Model will be ready in September to submit to NHTSA for approval and adoption. Due to the lack of definition and development, the “advance practice paramedic” section was removed from the final document. The IAFP advocated a paragraph be included in the final document that would recognize that many critical care and flight paramedics throughout the county are routinely involved in advanced practice situations every day. Failure to mention the existence of the advanced skills presently being performed would leave the flight and critical care transport paramedics in an undefined role.

Drew Dawson from NHTSA indicated that his office would convene a work group this fall to develop the advanced practice paramedic model to be added to the scope of practice. The IAFP will keep a close eye on this project and report back to our membership. We plan to be substantially involved in the definition and creation of any advanced practice scope of practice documents.

Also in June, the IAFP was represented on the committee of another NHTSA project, The Inter-Facility Transfer Guidelines document. This document has been under construction for the past 2 years. The majority of the work has been completed over the Internet. The IFT workgroup meets in Washington, DC, to pull all of the sections of the document together to create a final document. The final draft on this document should be available to the association members to review early this fall. Check the Web site!

This summer the IAFP was invited to participate in the NIMS National Credentialing Initiative. We are part of a diverse group of professionals working to establish a nationwide credentialing system to be used in situations of large scale mutual aid, like natural disasters and acts of internal or external terrorism. Through bimonthly conference calls and face-to-face committee meetings, we are making slow but steady process. The entire project should be complete by spring 2006.

The NIMS project dovetails with the National EMS Scope of Practice documents and IAFP and BCCTPC work to develop and credential the national advanced practice and critical care for EMS.

On a much broader scale the IAFP has taken the position to support the document written by the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute titled “Back to the Future: An Agenda for Federal Leadership of Emergency Medical Services.” The IAFP believes the optimal solution to advance EMS at the federal level, both from a policy and financial perspective, is to create an independent U.S. EMS Administration within the Department of Homeland Security. While NHTSA has been the home of EMS within the county for the past few decades, its primary focus and mission is not directed to the administration of EMS but toward improving transportation and motor vehicle safety.

With limited funds and little federal recognition, NHTSA has done the best they can to promote EMS over the years, but EMS has matured to the point where it deserves a suitable federal agency with equal but separate identity alongside the U.S. Fire Administration. Our position has been supported thus far by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the EMS Labor Alliance, and state associations including Florida, Georgia, and New Jersey.

With these projects underway, the future of the IAFP looks very exciting. At our summer board meeting, we reviewed the state delegate program. Future emphasis will be placed on expanding the state delegate program and adding a political action committee to address the needs of our members on the state and local levels. The ultimate goal is to provide more advocacy for our profession.

In my evaluation this is progress, progress that takes time and lots of hard work. Looking back, this just might be the reason it has taken me 4 years to finish my addition to my house. It just so happens that I've been on the board for the past 4 years. I need to remind my wife of that. I'm not sure it will turn back her contractor, but it's worth a try.

The IAFP is always looking for individuals who are interested in rolling up their sleeves and getting involved. Help us move ahead and make your association progressive. Let us know your ideas and needs; you can contact us through our Web site at www.flightparamedic.org. Or come on over, and we'll discuss your ideas over some sandpaper and varnish.

Fly safe,