Suggestions for starting local EMS Support Group

[carolinacrump]

Hope it's not inappropriate for a non-EMS person to use this forum. But my daughter does work EMS and I know about things needed that aren't being funded by our community. I'm thinking about getting a group of (non-EMS) folks together to speak up to county planners/budget folks about needs for our EMS operations. I'm not sure where to begin. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[VentMedic]

Have you been to your local government meetings to see who is representing EMS from the community so efforts are not duplicated or where you could be over stepping other issues?

Our city and county meetings are open to the public and often special interest groups are there wihich now includes some very active members of the community since they are now wanting accountability for fundings. There had been many discrepancies notes when the balance sheets went public during the last major tax reform election.

 

[carolinacrump]

Meetings..

Thanks. Our board of commissioners' meetings are televised. I haven't watched all of them. Attending one of those to speak up about problems is a good suggestion. What I'd like to do is not face them alone, but have the support of a few others to stand with me. With a daughter on staff, I don't want to do anything that would reflect directly on her. "Safety in numbers" is what I'd prefer. Trying to approach things as an organized group instead of a concerned parent may work better.

 

[VentMedic]

I don't know your community so it is difficult to offer direct advice. Where I am located we have very active senior citizen groups who love get involved which is why I laugh when some in EMS say "they don't know anything about us". Many know more than you think at least from the financial and service side. This is why our FDs do such great PR compaigns to keep from upsetting the citizens and get negative publicity at election time.