EMS Week in Wisconsin

EMS Week (May 16-22) is an opportunity for Services to focus on getting out health and safety messages to their community and to recognize and honor those who dedicate a significant portion of their lives to helping their community.  I’ve asked some of our rural services here in Wisconsin to share news about their EMS week activities.  A few are below.  If you’d like to mention your activities, register (at the bottom of the right column) and leave a comment.  The link above also has some great ideas for EMS Week (or any week) activities.

  • Waushara County EMS is holding their annual Family Fun Fair May 20 at 230 W. Park St. in Wautoma.  They’ll have games, food, a K9 unit demonstration, petting zoo, ambulance and fire truck display and tours and the ThedaStar helicopter. 
  • The Allenton Volunteer Fire Department’s EMS Safety Day is May 23 from 11 to 3 at the Allenton Elementary School, 228 Weis St. in Allenton.  It will feature a bike rodeo and bike helmet give-away, car seat checkups, blood pressure checks and other activities.  The Flight for Life helicopter will visit at 1:00. 

The Office of Rural Health is a co-sponsor of the 42nd Annual Emergency Care and Trauma Symposium June 23-25 in Wisconsin Dells.  The Symposium is an opportunity for emergency medical staff to improve their skills and field performance.  All levels of EMS, emergency nurses and allied health professionals are encouraged to attend.  The EMS Olympics will again be a featured event Thursday evening!

I talk with many rural EMS about funding—there never seems to be enough—so I try to regularly post about funding sources.  Earlier this week the Office hosted a federal grant technical assistance workshop (it was videotaped and I’ll let you know when that’s up).  One of the basic pieces of information participants took away was that you can’t get a grant if you don’t apply!  Don’t be afraid of applying for any of these opportunities.  Contact the funder and ask questions.  They’re happy to help.  They want to give away money to organizations just like yours.

Proposals for the federal Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program are due May 28.  Here’s a great opportunity to secure funding for equipment and training for your fire or EMS service—yes, funding isn’t restricted to fire departments and equipment.  Yes, it is a federal grant, so it will take some more work, but this site has a lot of assistance and tutorials.  Don’t be concerned about contacting the funder directly.  They’re there to help you.

EMT training can be expensive.  The National Association of EMTs is offering scholarships for Association member who want advance their EMS education.  The program seems pretty straightforward—become a member (if you’re not already), submit the online application including a letter describing why you’re pursuing advanced education and successfully complete the courses.  I couldn’t find any restrictions.  The Association offers scholarships twice a year.  The next deadline is June 15.  If you already have school loans, the federal Department of Education has a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program that may benefit you.  You must be employed full time in a public service job, including emergency management, teaching, etc.  After you’ve made education loan payments for 10 years, the balance is forgiven. 

Medtronic Foundation sponsors the HeartRescue Program and awards grants to programs that increase awareness and education of sudden cardiac death and the need for early intervention.  Their focus is high-school based SCA education and emergency response plans.  They give priority to new initiatives that have not received past funding.  This a great opportunity to collaborate with schools in your community to increase SCA awareness and training.  Proposals aren’t due until October 15, so you have plenty of time to develop and write your application.

I’ve posted several times about the Jenny Jones Foundation.   They fund a variety of community projects, including the purchase of AEDs and safety equipment.  No deadlines.  This is fairly simple application process.  A good place to begin if you’ve never submitted a grant proposal.

April 29, 2010 · KJacobson · 3 Comments
Tags: , , ,  Â· Posted in: Conferences and Webinars, Grant Advice, Program Updates

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