Episode 79 | Voices from the Field: National EMS Week 2024

Narrator: You're listening to Public Safety First, a podcast to help you learn about the First Responder Network Authority and how you can be part of the future of public safety technology.

And now, your host.

Jonathan Olson: Thank you for joining us today on the Public Safety First podcast. I'm Jon Olson, the EMS Subject Matter with First Responder Network Authority.

We’re joined today by Chief Jason Rhodes of the Rhode Island Center for EMS, which is within the Rhode Island Department of Health. So, good morning, Jason. Thank you for joining us today.

Chief Jason Rhodes: Good morning, Jon. Thank you for having me.

Jonathan Olson: Very good. Tell us a little bit about yourself and what it is that you do for the state of Rhode Island EMS.

Chief Jason Rhodes: Sure. So, as you mentioned, I serve as the Chief of the Center for Emergency Medical Services. So, I oversee our office here in Rhode Island. We have a fairly small office. We have six people right now, including myself and a part-time medical director, but we're looking to expand a little bit, hopefully here in the very short future. We do a lot of different things. We're the primary regulators of EMS here in the state. We license and oversee individuals, ambulances, and ambulance services. Also, initial educational training programs, we license them as well. Complaint investigation and resolution data management. So, all the modern stuff of EMS that has come at us. We also have some federal grants that we administer and oversee and we've been doing some great work on those. We have a mental health for first responders grant. We have an opioid overdose grant, as well, the EMS for children program. So, we have a wide variety of programmatic work here that we do as opposed to just regulatory work.

As far as myself, I have been in this position for coming up on 14 years. I started in November of 2010, previously employed as an EMT firefighter in the Harrisville Fire District, which is in the town of Burrillville in Rhode Island. The fun fact about that town is it is the only town in the state that borders both Massachusetts and Connecticut. So, we are way up in the northwest corner. I started there as a junior volunteer firefighter at 16 years old. Recently, my daughter has joined as a junior volunteer firefighter in the department, and that makes four generations deep that's served in that department. Later on, I went to work there as a career fire department, the second person they had ever hired. Stayed there for about 11 years and moved on to this position.

Jonathan Olson: So, I'm guessing my next question as to what got you into public safety was family, it was tradition?

Chief Jason Rhodes: Absolutely. Yeah. My dad was very active, still is active at 77 years old. And, you know, that's what we did on Monday nights. He went to the fire station, and I was usually hanging around with him. So, it just became a natural progression.

Jonathan Olson: Tell me how that evolved you into the world of EMS.

Chief Jason Rhodes: So, back in the late ‘80s when I started, there was one person who worked there Monday through Friday, 7 to 3, so it was really a volunteer-based service. So, I became interested in doing what I could to help. And was interested in the medical field as well. So, just started learning as much as I could and took an EMT course when I was 19. Then took the next step the year after, and I was off and running from there.

Jonathan Olson: So, as you look back over your career, both in your hometown as well as the role that you serve at the state and everything in between, what would you say is your greatest accomplishment? What's your proudest moment?

Chief Jason Rhodes: Fortunately there's a lot. I think one of my proudest moments here, sitting here in the Department of Health, was when we went online with an electronic data system for the entire state. We'd been using bubble sheets. And we were way down on the list of states that had been reporting to NEMSIS [National Emergency Medical Services Information System]. So, being able to accomplish that and get everybody on board and now have a fully functioning data system and to see what that has been able to do and how we've been able to share data and how that's affected the public's health has been absolutely tremendous.

Jonathan Olson: So, what would be an example of something you've been able to do with the data generated by the EMS providers in Rhode Island that has changed something, added something that's improved patient outcomes?

Chief Jason Rhodes: Sure. Absolutely. So, one prime example is we are still in the midst of the opioid crisis, where one of our partner centers here in the department has an epidemiologist that's dedicated to pre-hospital data. So, with that, we have noticed the trend recently where the number of nonfatal opioid overdoses has decreased across the state and our summation at this point is because the improvement of programs in which EMS is very much involved, as well as other community outreach organizations. And being able to use our EMS data to target certain communities and certain neighborhoods where clusters of overdoses are occurring has certainly been very effective.

Jonathan Olson: So, we hear a lot across the country about community paramedicine. Is that a program that's active within Rhode Island? And if so, tell us a little bit about that.

Chief Jason Rhodes: Sure. So, we have a staff member dedicated to Mobile Integrated Health and Community Paramedicine, which has been very exciting. I heard a success story the other day, where some of our team was presenting at a conference here in the state and one of the local agencies who was implementing a community paramedicine program took a look at their top 20 people who utilize their system the most, and over a period of time, they were able to engage with them and reduce the number of incidents they were going for 9-1-1 calls by doing community paramedicine by up to 75%, so huge success.

Jonathan Olson: Very good, very good. So, in addition to your work in the state of Rhode Island, you're active with the National Association of State EMS Officials [NASEMSO]. Tell us a little bit about that organization, the role you play, and tell us why the NASEMSO is important to EMS in the United States?

Chief Jason Rhodes: Sure. Absolutely. So, I've been a member of NASEMSO now for 14 years. It's a collection of state EMS officials across the country, not only the state EMS directors, per se, but also those very important components within state EMS offices. Very supportive of state EMS offices, that's kind of the main goal, right, is to make sure that that we can provide different services. The organization is broken down into six councils that focus on specific topic areas. For example, the Medical Directors Council, the Data Managers, the Pediatric Emergency Care folks, Trauma Managers. And we meet regionally amongst ourselves to collaborate, talk about different issues.

So, I became the East Region chair in 2017. I was then nominated to serve on the Executive Committee as the Member at Large from one of the regions. Then became the Secretary and now serve as the President Elect.

Jonathan Olson: Very good. We hear a lot, Jason, about responder wellness, the impact that having mentally sound and healthy EMS providers are to the profession. There are lots of different initiatives going on around the country when it comes to responder wellness. Tell me what your approach has been in the state of Rhode Island to nurturing and taking care of those providers that you do have.

Chief Jason Rhodes: Sure. So, a couple of years ago, we applied for and received a mental health awareness training grant. That particular grant is pointed directly at the first responders and emergency healthcare workers. We know there's still more to do. We continue to collaborate with a lot of organizations, and everybody has that level of interest from different associations across the state of fire chiefs and firefighters and advisory boards and the like. It is something that is very important to us and we hope those programs continue to be successful.

Jonathan Olson: Very good. So, this is EMS Week. Jason, what does EMS Week mean to you? And what message about EMS Week would you like to share with our audience?

Chief Jason Rhodes: Sure. So, very exciting that this is the 50th anniversary of the recognition of National EMS Week across the United States. I can tell you here in Rhode Island, it is a big week for us. We have always embraced National EMS Week and try to celebrate our emergency medical services providers across the board. We have the opportunity, being in a small state, on the Friday of EMS Week, which is EMS Recognition Day, to walk from across the street to our very lovely state house and hold an EMS recognition ceremony, in the Governor's State Room. Right. It's kind of like the spot in the State House. So, always very well attended.

So, it is a chance for the nation to take a step back, recognize what EMS practitioners do for their communities. But also, to take a step back and make sure that we protect them as well.

And then thirdly, where do we go in the future? Right. How is this going to look in the next 10, 15, 25 years? The landscape is going to look a lot different. We see higher utilization rates. But we also see greatly improving and enhanced technologies. So, we celebrate our past, our present, but also taking a look into that future as to where things are going to go.

Jonathan Olson: Very good. Well, Jason, I thank you for joining us today. I appreciated hearing about you and the fine work that you're doing in the state of Rhode Island. It's always refreshing to hear different and innovative examples of leadership at EMS being proactive. And it sounds like that's happening on a number of different fronts within Rhode Island. And I also appreciate you sharing with our audience a little more about who and what is NASEMSO and what do they do on a national basis. So again, I'd like to thank you for joining us today. I'll let you close us out with any closing comments.

Chief Jason Rhodes: Well, I'd just like to thank you for the opportunity, Jon. It is exciting to celebrate National EMS Week. I think EMS is an absolute vital component of our communities, of our states and our nation. We all need to remember that and be able to take a step back and think about the responders that are coming to your home and your business and celebrate them for the great work that they do.

Jonathan Olson: Very good. Thank you so much.

Narrator: Thanks for listening today. We're excited to have you join our podcast community. Make sure to subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, and YouTube. You can learn more about the First Responder Network Authority at FirstNet.gov and learn about FirstNet products and services at FirstNet.com.