*** AAEM UPDATE: S.2351, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES SUPPORT ACT ***

CAL/AAEM News Service calaaem_news at yahoo.com
Fri Jun 4 11:20:04 PDT 2004


*** AAEM UPDATE: S.2351, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES SUPPORT ACT ***

June 3, 2004

 	
Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) have introduced a bill -
S.2351 - to establish a Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical
Services (FICEMS) that will serve to coordinate various federal agencies
involved in EMS, including HHS, Homeland Security, and NHTSA. 

For the past twenty years, federal support for EMS has been both scarce and
uncoordinated. In 2001, the General Accounting Office cited in its report -
Emergency Medical Services: Reported needs are Wide-Ranging with a Growing
Focus on Lack of Data - the need to increase coordination among Federal
agencies as they address the needs of regional, state, or local emergency
medical services systems. 

FICEMS would enhance coordination among the federal agencies involved with the
state, local, tribal and regional emergency medical services and 9-1-1 systems.
The Interagency committee would help assure federal agencies coordinate their
EMS-related activities and maximize the best utilization of established
funding. FICEMS would also establish an Advisory Council, composed of 13
non-federal representatives to receive direct input and advice on operational
issues surrounding EMS.

STATUS OF LEGISLATION:

S.2351 was reported out by the Senate Government Affairs Committee on June 2.
That means that the bill can now go to the Senate floor for a vote. It is quite
likely that S.2351 will be placed on the Suspension Calendar. Bills brought up
under this process are debated for 40 minutes, may not be amended, and require
a 2/3 vote. 

Once we know when the bill is scheduled to move, we'll be calling upon you to
contact your Senators to vote in favor of this measure.


Source: 
Kathleen A. Ream
Director, Government Affairs
American Academy of Emergency Medicine 



=====
Cyrus Shahpar & Brian Potts 
Managing Editors, CAL/AAEM News Service 
UC-Irvine



	
		
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