Moen - Tools, Tips and Trends
End of an Era
By
Dec 11, 2004, 11:56

Courtesy the EMS House of DeFrance http://www.defrance.org

In the last couple of years, EMS has lost two pioneering spirits with the deaths of James O. Page in 2004 and Nancy Caroline, MD in late 2002.

James Page was a fire chief and attorney who served in the 1970’s as a technical advisor for the original “Emergency” television series, which many older EMS professional credit as their first exposure to the newly developed EMS system. Over the last 30 years, he served as an EMS administrator, fire chief, attorney, publisher of “JEMS” magazine and tireless advocate for the EMS system and for EMS professionals working in the streets.

Nancy Caroline, MD, began her EMS experience working with the Freedom House Ambulance Service in Pittsburgh, PA; one of the few physicians willing to leave the safety and comfort of the hospital to work side by side with the newly certified paramedics. She literally wrote the book on training paramedics with her textbook “Emergency Care in the Streets” that was first published in 1979. Many older paramedics identify when they were trained by which edition of “Emergency Care in the Streets” was used in their training program. She went on to direct the nationwide Mogen David Adom ambulance service in Israel.

Page and Caroline were by no means the only ones guiding the development of the EMS system, but their influence was wide spread and well known. Their deaths signify the end of an era, an era that saw the birth of the modern day EMS system.

There are fewer and fewer EMS professionals each year who remember the early days: days when a call for an ambulance meant a fast ride in an unequipped Cadillac ambulance; when people argued against training ambulance attendants; when the extent of care available was little more than minimal first aid.

As modern EMS was developing in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, these and other pioneers poked, prodded, cajoled, bargained and negotiated through the bureaucratic maze to assist, and in some cases to force, the development of EMS. They were tireless advocates for the system and its personnel. Their ultimate concern was to ensure that patients received the best possible care. They gave us the basics upon which to build, a solid foundation which has slowly grown to the modern system.

It is by no means perfect. There is still much room for growth and development. The initial attempts to standardize training have resulted in various levels of certification that carry little consistency across state or national borders. Until recently, there was no consistent strategic plan for the system to continue to grow and develop.

That is changing.

The EMS Agenda for the Future lays out a framework for continued system development. Offshoots of this document lay out guidance for future education and rural EMS issues. A single patient care dataset has been developed and is being implemented through the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) project. Comments are currently being sought on a national scope of practice proposal that has the potential to standardize certification levels across the nation. Various research projects are looking at the skills, practices and techniques used in the field to scientifically evaluate and confirm their value.

The end result will be a more mature, consistent and ultimately better system. A system based on common terminology, technology and data rather than belief and conjecture. A system that would leave the early EMS pioneers proud of what they had started, like proud parents watching their child grow.

James Page and Nancy Caroline indirectly touched millions of lives. Their deaths leave a void- a void that must be filled with other pioneers and leaders to continue where they left off. Leaders and pioneers that have the best interest of the system and its people at heart. Leaders and pioneers who understand that the ultimate purpose of the EMS system is to serve the patient at their time of greatest need.

Godspeed James Page and Nancy Caroline.


Links:

James O. Page Memorial:

EMS Agenda for the Future

EMS Education Agenda for the Future: A Systems Approach

The National Scope of Practice Model

Rural and Frontier EMS Agenda for the Future

National EMS Information System

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