The Mindset of Progress, Part 2: Progress must be continuous

Do you remember life before fire prevention initiatives, building codes, sprinkler systems, or fire extinguishers in the home? Over the past decades, these things became part of the response of our fire districts to protect the safety and health of our communities. Our efforts have been so successful that the number of structure fires and/or hazard-related calls for service has dropped more than 50% while calls for medical emergencies increase yearly. Responding to the needs of our communities means achieving a balance between fire and EMS that makes sense. To meet the needs of the ever-changing landscape of EMS you must be data-driven and practice evidence-based emergency medicine.
Emergency medicine and population health may be where we need to focus to meet these changing needs, but equally important is a parallel development of both fire and EMS divisions with an eye to achieving a more blended, efficient, and effective response agency. We will discuss data and evidence that support the need for this paradigm shift, strategies to create a more blended and responsive public safety and health agency, and how principles of data-driven and evidence-based emergency medicine can be applied across the organization.