San Diego City Wire

The San Diego County's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) office recently held an event to honor EMS professionals and offer free skills verification sessions. This event was part of the 50th Anniversary of EMS Week.

"Although we dedicate one week a year to our EMS professionals, the fact of the matter is it’s really every single day that we want to recognize the incredible work that they do," said Jeff Collins, director of the San Diego County Fire Protection District. He added that these professionals often have an incredibly difficult job as they are usually first on the scene for tragic medical emergencies.

Collins mentioned there are approximately 10,000 EMS professional workers in San Diego County. A significant portion of these individuals are not affiliated with a professional organization but have volunteered to assist their communities.

In one section of the event, CAL FIRE Engineer Paramedic Michael Wright led a group of EMTs who were being recertified. "Today, we’re doing EMT skills verification. Every two years, EMTs must complete these hands-on skills to renew their state certification," Wright explained.

The training involved moving from station to station, demonstrating various skills such as trauma assessment, cardiac arrest management with AEDs, and childbirth and neonatal resuscitation.

Claudia Rempel, president of the Ambulance Association of San Diego County, expressed her excitement about "the opportunity to just share the efforts that the County and the EMS providers are doing to increase diversity in EMS."

Collins also urged community members to take safety precautions to lessen the burden on EMS professionals. He suggested measures like securing swimming pools with locked fences and driving more carefully.

"This week if you see an EMT, if you see a paramedic... give them a thumbs up... They deserve it," Collins concluded.