A letter sent to all 25 members of the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (NEMSAC) informed them that their appointments were terminated.
“As of the date of this letter, your appointment has been terminated," Office of EMS Director Gamunu Wijetunge wrote on Aug. 13.
The NEMSAC was established in 2007 by Congress, under the Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In addition to the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS, NEMSAC was to provide recommendations for patient care and EMS operations.
"NEMSAC provides a forum for the development, consideration and communication of information from a knowledgeable and independent perspective," according to a statement on the NEMSAC website. "NEMSAC does not exercise program management or regulatory development responsibilities and makes no decisions directly affecting the programs for which it provides advice."
Board members were appointed by the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and came from EMS systems, health and hospital organizations, fire-based EMS and other local and national organizations. They were appointed to two-year terms.
"The work of NEMSAC is essential. The 25 industry experts who volunteer their time to serve dedicate hundreds of hours each year to conceiving, researching, and developing import advisories and letters that support the essential work of EMS and the patients they serve," Brenden Hayden, outgoing chair NEMSAC said in a statement to Firehouse.com.
"NEMSAC is apolitical and members are not paid federal employees. There has been an assertion that this body has become stagnant and focused more on DEI and climate change rather than EMS. That is just is not the case," Hayden added.
He expressed that the work by the advisory council was on patient care, supporting the resiliency of EMS agencies and ensuing EMS agencies are properly funded.
Hayden said: "A quick review of NEMSAC advisories will show that the Council's work is focused on delivery of care, recruitment and retention, funding, support of EMS as an essential service, pediatric and trauma care, resiliency, and much more. NEMSAC also produced more advisories and letters in the past 2 years than in any time prior. By termination 13 council members who would have served as mentors and allow the work of NEMSAC to continue in an uninterrupted fashion when 12 new members were appointed, any new council will undoubtedly spend at least the first year of their term having to learn the role, how to navigate the federal architecture, and be blind to the past work of the Council including at least 8 advisories and letters that were in development. This all comes at a time when EMS is in dire need of support nationwide. NEMSAC is the only voice that is empowered by charter to speak directly to the federal government on issues impacting EMS."
About the Author
Peter Matthews
Editor-in-Chief/Conference Director
Peter Matthews is the conference director and editor-in-chief of Firehouse. He has worked at Firehouse since 1999, serving in various roles on both Firehouse Magazine and Firehouse.com staffs. He completed an internship with the Rochester, NY, Fire Department and served with fire departments in Rush, NY, and Laurel, MD, and was a lieutenant with the Glenwood Fire Company in Glenwood, NY. Matthews served as photographer for the St. Paul, MN, Fire Department and currently is a photographer for the Fort Worth, TX, Fire Department.