Quick Ideas

Ok…the calendar is coming up on May, and you don’t have anything planned for EMS Week. What can you do in a short amount of time?

Here is a list of quick things you can do to promote your agency and recognize your employees for EMS Week that do not require a lot of planning:

1. Place EMS Week-related content on social media sites (Website, Facebook, Twitter, Google+).
2. Invite your local, state and federal elected officials to participate in your EMS Week events.
3. Another great way to educate your elected officials on the EMS profession is to invite them to participate on a ride-along. The more you can engage your elected officials, the more they can relate to EMS.
4. Work with local media outlets to promote EMS Week (press releases, media ridealongs, etc.).
5. Advertise at your station (signs on roadside, banners on station building, etc.).
6. Collaborate with local entities (appearances at meetings of local government, fraternal/service organizations, etc.).
7. Recognize agency personnel (providing meals for crews on shift, apparel giveaways, service awards, reimbursement for educational opportunities).
8. Work with local restaurants or entertainment groups for EMS personnel discounts (meals, movies, local amusement parks, etc.).
9. Hold events to honor Line of Duty Deaths.
10. Conduct community health and safety outreach projects (BP screenings at malls, grocery stores, etc).
11. Plan and hold a recruitment campaign.
12. Collaborate with hospitals and/or other public safety agencies in a local preparedness project.

Any of these should be relatively easy to plan and execute with a small amount of time or resources and would be excellent ways to showcase your EMS system during EMS Week.