Spreading the Word on EMS 2.0

Up until about five months ago, I found myself in a real down period in my career. I wasn’t really sure where I wanted to go, or where I wanted to end up. All I knew was I needed to freshen things up a little bit.

Then, one afternoon, I got that call with the offer to do some time in Alameda County. As I had previously mentioned here, it was a great experience, and that is where I learned about Chronicles of EMS.

In the months since, I’ve imersed myself in the Chronicles, and I’ve begun exploring the Social Media aspect of the choice I made for my career: Emergency Medical Services. This has included reading up on some great blogs, spending quite a bit of time making friends on Twitter, and most importantly, my discovery of the EMS 2.0 movement. Recently, I got thinking, what can I do to support and spread the word?

For me, it has started with the word of mouth. I’ve told some of my colleagues where I work about it, and steered as many people as I can in that direction. I’ve cornered Paramedic and EMT Instructors at my place of employment, and made efforts to contact my old college professors, all in an attempt to let them know about this great thing I’ve found, in hopes that they will share it with their students. Last week, another idea came to mind.

I was trying to think of a way to bring the EMS 2.0 agenda to those around me, and hopefully spark some questions and interest in this new movement that I was becoming so proud of. I loved the t-shirts, but I wanted something I could wear to work, since that’s where I spend my time with the people who this should matter to most, and that’s when it hit me: a pin.

The idea I came up with is simple, really. The half blue and half red Star of Life signifies the first obstacle that EMS 2.0 must overcome: the unification of EMS. Maybe if I’m lucky, two people will come up to me and ask “hey, what’s that pin about?” And they will want one too. Then, maybe two people will ask each of them, and so on and so on.

So what now, you ask? Well I am ordering 100 pins, and I plan to take donations for them and send ALL of the money from the first batch to the Chronicles of EMS team. After that, if there is more interest in the pins, I will order more for everyone.

So what does everyone think? Do you want one for yourself? Do you want to get a few for your partners and friends? All you will have to do is let me know.

The EMS 2.0 Movement has given me a chance to be part of something that is bigger than myself, and I want to contribute everything I can to it. Hopefully, this will be the first of many of those contributions.

I am still ironing out some of the details. I need to figure out ways to collect donations for the pins, and the best way to keep track of everything. If anyone has any suggestions, I would love to hear them . I am hoping to have everything figured out by the middle of next week, so expect news on that very shortly.

Until then, stay safe out there!