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Nathan Williams
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Tommy Loyacono
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Kurt Krumperman | NAEMT President Ken Bouvier has announced his selection of three members to sit on the Board of Directors of the Advocates for EMS lobbying group. The three board seats were made available to NAEMT as part of a deal approved by Advocates in January.
NAEMT will be represented to Advocates by NAEMT Past President Nathan Williams, Tommy Loyacono and Kurt Krumperman. Williams also is the newly elected president of Advocates.
One of only a few currently existing EMS lobbying groups, Advocates for EMS was founded in 2002 by the National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) and the National Association of State EMS Officials (formerly state directors, or NASEMSD) to lobby on behalf EMS policy and funding issues in Washington. Also joining the Advocates board with three seats is the National Association of EMS Educators.
NAEMT Leaders in Dallas
Bouvier and President Elect Jerry Johnston joined representatives of most of the national EMS associations in Dallas in January to discuss the formation of an EMS political action committee (PAC), an EMS Congressional caucus and other ways to more effectively lobby on Capitol Hill.
“We’re not going to get anywhere in promoting EMS as a profession if we can’t work together,” Bouvier said after the meeting, noting that NAEMT’s policy platform endorses “open and constructive working relationships with all the major federal agencies involved in EMS, as well as all national associations and organizations that have influence on EMS personnel.”
A PAC raises and spends money to elect or defeat political candidates. Congressional caucus is an organized but informal group of members of Congress that promotes or advocates for a specific interest.
After the meeting in Dallas, the NAEMT Board voted to continue exploration of the PAC and caucus concepts with other participating EMS organizations, including the National EMS Management Association, the National Association of EMS Educators, the National Association of EMS Physicians and the International Association of Flight Paramedics.
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