Wildland Fire
NASEMSO Provides Comments on the "Recommended Standards for the Delivery of Medical Services on Incidents Managed by NWCG Member Agencies" (12/10/09) On behalf of the members of NASEMSO, President Steven Blessing thanked the National Wildfire Coordinating Group for the work they’ve done on standards and guidelines and the opportunity for NASEMSO to review and comment. "Due to the unique challenges of providing medical support for wildfires, a number of issues have been identified and this document represents some great steps towards resolving many legal and operational concerns that federal and state/territory agencies have struggled with," stated Blessing. "The adoption of this standards document will greatly enhance the consistency of providing emergency medical services at Medical Units on wildland fire incidents." Download recommendations.
Update from the Incident Emergency Medical Task Group (IEMTG) (posted 10/05/09)
- Letter from the Incident Emergency Medical Task Group Chair Jan Petersen. The Sept. 17, 2009, letter provides an update on the review draft IEMTG standards for delivery of medical services on incidents managed by NWCG member agencies. The letter thanks NASEMSO members for the supportive feedback. "The IEMTG Tactical Plan identifies ongoing tasks and goals for the workgroup. The next major project will be the development of an accompanying "Standard of Care for the Delivery of Medical Services on Incidents Managed by NWCG Member Agencies."
- Draft Recommended Standards for Delivery of Medical services on Incidents Managed by NWCG Members Agencies, NWCG Safety and Health Working Team Incident Emergency Medical Task Group, Safety & Health Working Team (September 2009)
- IEMTG's National Interagency Tactical Plan (updated September 2009)
NASEMSO To Review Draft IEMTG Standards for Delivery of Medical Services on Incidents Managed by NWCG Member Agencies (06/09/09) Draft recommended standards have been developed by the Incident Emergency Medical Task Group (IEMTG) for the delivery of medical services on incidents managed by National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) member agencies. Download draft standards here. These incidents are most commonly wildland fires of sufficient size and manpower deployment to warrant one or more "medical units" to be established. These medical units are manned by EMS personnel who are often from multiple states of origin. These draft standards are being presented to the state EMS officials through NASEMSO, and active review by state EMS directors, state EMS training coordinators, state EMS licensing managers, and state EMS medical directors is critical. The overall IEMTG plan for standardization and legal recognition can be viewed here. NASEMSO members are asked to submit your comments on the draft standards via e-mail to Tawni Newton either individually or as a state no later than July 15, 2009. After review of comments and revision, the document will formally be presented at the NASEMSO 2009 Annual Meeting.