Monday, October 13, 2008

10.2.08 CHFD EMS Members Attend State Conference

The New Jersey Statewide Conference on EMS was once again held in Atlantic City, NJ from October 2nd-4th, 2008. The conference is organized and sponsored by the NJ Office of Emergency Medical Services. It offers continuing education credits for basic life support, advanced life support, EMS physicians, EMS educators, EMS management/administrators, and school nurses.

This year the Cherry Hill Fire Department supported the state conference by participating as an exhibitor, with the CHFD conference booth on display. The booth was staffed by EMS Chief McCargar & Platoon Leaders: Dave Milsted; Chrissy Oatman; and Steve McCann. During the class intermissions, they were able to talk with prospective candidates interested in the hiring process and answer many questions that EMTs have had since the new process began. The booth displayed EMS action pictures and EMS training pictures along with a slide show that was created for public events. Our members were also able to visit other vendor booths and create contacts for the future.

One of the speakers at the conference made an impact on the attendees about a topic that affects all of us in the field. Her name is Dr. Nadine Levick, recognized internationally for her research, education, and published documents on ambulance safety. We encourage you to view her information at this website: http://www.objectivesafety.net/index.html. Dr. Levick has several educational resources and webinars available for review on her website and has extended an invitation for CHFD to participate in future EMS safety forums.

Next year, the conference will be held in Atlantic City from November 12 -14, 2009. You can view some details about the conference through this link: http://www.state.nj.us/health/ems.