About Us
Our Mission
It is our mission to ensure a sustainable future for EMS, in which every person has equitable access to quality pre-hospital care when they need it, and every EMS professional has access to the resources, knowledge and tools they need to build a viable career as a healthcare professional and first responder within this field, not outside of it.
Our Story
In December 2019, the world changed forever as the most catastrophic global pandemic in over a century began spreading throughout the world. By March 2020, EMS providers were on the frontlines the COVID-19 pandemic, with the initial epicenter in New York.
While their neighbors "locked down," these selfless medical first responders went into the belly of the beast, serving their communities on the frontlines with limited access to PPE and little working knowledge of the virus and its effect on the human body. The work was exhausting, both mentally and physically, but they knew that their skills and knowledge were needed to save their neighbors' lives. They answered the call. They were essential.
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Yet, EMS was not legally classified as "essential" in New York or the majority of states in the US. The pandemic laid bare our society's indispensable need for quality pre-hospital care, and EMS providers realized that they could not sit idly by until our laws recognized them as such, too. The "Make EMS Essential" campaign formed in New York in 2021 as a grassroots effort by IAEP Local 20 members to lobby for legal essential status, as well as the necessary changes within the field of EMS to improve working conditions for the people who risk their lives every day for the benefit of their neighbors.
In 2022, this influence expanded to more providers throughout the state of New York, with EMS leaders and concerned community members with diverse backgrounds and perspectives joining the campaign. We were joined by road-level providers, chiefs, community members, educators, county officials and more. Nearly every sector of EMS (private, public, non-profit, municipal, fire-based, paid, volunteer and more) were represented in a coalition of individuals trying to unify the message and make a change. As our team grew, so did our influence.
By the end of 2023, it became clear that the singular goal of making EMS an essential service in New York and beyond was not only achievable, but realistic. The team behind the movement therefore started to explore what this future might look like. During those vision-building sessions, the EMS Sustainability Alliance was formed. We were established to not only continue to oversee the "Make EMS Essential" campaign, but also envision future projects and goals that could grow from that "simple" first step, and which would ensure a more sustainable and resilient future for the field of EMS.
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