Texas EMS

[Guest guest]

Hello Ladies & Gentleman,

I am new to the group and have been impressed by the level of

converstion and debate. I currently live out of state and I am

considering moving to Texas. I was hoping to hear from from all of

you about what you believe are the current strengths and weaknesses

of the EMS System in Texas. I know itis a huge state and there are

many variances across the board, but hoped to get a little snap shot

of your perception. To specificify the question slightly I am

interested in areas such as:

- Integration of Health Services - How well does EMS fit into the

big system of Health care? How seemlessly will a patient move from

Prehospital to hospital care?

EMS Research - How much research is taking place? What kind of

research? Is it a priority? Do field providers by into the need?

Legislation and Regulation - How supportive is the State EMS Office,

other state regulatory agencies, and local government? Are EMS

statues/rules up to date or are they percieved to be archiac? Do

local and state politicians buy into and support EMS? Does the

public buy into and support EMS?

System Finance - Are most local jurisdictions financing EMS delivery

through the tax base or fee for service or some combination of

both? Have provider agencies been successful in receiving grant

monies from federal, state, or local agencies/insurance

companies/foundations for capital expenditures, human resources,

educational outreach?

Human Resources - In a recent tread, the question of a lack of EMS

providers was raised? What is the perception of need? What

percentage of agencies areas are paid versus volunteer? How is

volunteer recruitment & retention?

Medical Direction - What is the typical involvment role of Medical

Direction? How about support from non-EMS, non-EM physicians of EMS?

Education Systems - What is the percieved quality of EMS education?

What measures are being taken to advance not only medical education,

but EMS leadership/management/research education programs?

Public Education - Is public education occuring? What types of

programs exist? Where does the funding come from? How do these

programs measure success?

Prevention - Do Injury and Illness prevention programs exist? Who

participates? What types of programs exist? Where does the funding

come from? How do these programs measure success?

Information Systems - How do providers track carethat is given? Is

there a state wide data collection system? Is it usable? Can you

get the data you need?

Evaluation -Do quality assurance and/or quality improvement programs

exist? What are some of the benchmarks used to measure success or

track the need for improvement?

Sorry for the length of the post and please feel free to replyon as

much or as little as you like, on or off the group

(emseduc@...). Thanks in advance for your insight.

Bill Dunne, NREMT-P