EMS News Briefs from Mike McEvoy

EMS Coordinator Mike McEvoy, Ph.D., NRP, RN, CCRN
NYSAFC EMS Committee

Federal Mandatory Vaccine Rules Released
OSHA and the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) released their proposed mandatory vaccine rules on November 4, 2021, and neither appear to include fire or EMS departments, unless the department has more than 100 members. For a full look at the requirements, see the CMS and OSHA websites. The IAFC also made a blog post explaining the rules here.

Lights and Sirens Project
The National EMS Quality Alliance, in conjunction with NHTSA, the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch, National Association of EMS Physicians, and the Center for Patient Safety, is launching a Quality Improvement project to help departments reduce their lights and siren use. Scheduled to begin in 2022, the project will enroll 50 departments. A brochure on the program is available here. The National EMS QI Partnership Enrollment Form Survey is available here.