Conference educates, unites EMS personnel
EMS personnel from across the state are at the Hot Springs Convention Center this week to attend seminars by nationally known speakers, participate in competitions, purchase needed equipment and reunite with old friends.
The Arkansas EMT Association’s 39th annual EMS conference began Wednesday and will last through Sunday, utilizing all four of the convention center’s main halls, several speaking rooms and its back parking lot with
exhibits that seek to promote — and possibly improve — the work of emergency medical services.
“It’s basically an educational conference,” Jennifer Davis, conference chair, said Thursday.
Davis noted a few changes in this year’s conference, such as the competitions, which have moved from inside the convention center to the back parking lot just north of Church Street.
Competition facilitator Dwayne Aalseth said temperatures during the week the conference is held usually hit 100 degrees, but more mild conditions this year allowed for the change. Davis said the new location gives the competitions a more realistic feel, as first responders often operate outside.
The competitions are divided into categories specific to each team of first responders, including air medical, fire and rescue and EMT, with MEMS out of Little Rock and Jacksonville Fire Department two of the many teams competing.
“They are competing in different scenarios depending on where they work,” he said. “All of these teams compete against each other, as far as different companies are concerned, for the bragging rights of being the best team in the state of Arkansas.”
Davis said each year the conference hosts a mix of in-state and out-of-state speakers, but this year the number of out-of-state speakers increased to 17.
“We’ve upped that, the nationally known speakers, a lot of which have spoken at the World EMS Expo,” she said. “That draws people.”
The speakers offered educational opportunities to those attending by covering relevant topics such as preparation for treating children with autism, presented by Josh Dugal of Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis.
Dugal said he was impressed with the conference.
“They gather a lot of attendees from across the state here who get to come and hear people from across the country present on different topics, and also see the latest and greatest in equipment,” he said.
The conference also pulled in a record number of vendors and is predicted to pull in an increase in attendees from 2016. The registration desk cited 89 vendors, which Davis said is the most of any year.
Davis told The Sentinel-Record Wednesday that approximately 600 people from all over Arkansas would attend the conference, up from 530 last year. She noted a steady stream of visitors this year as opposed to an early surge like in years past.
“It keeps people from being in line, waiting in line for a long time,” she said.
EMS personnel attending the conference also had the opportunity to reunite with old friends.
“It’s a great time for all of us out here at EMS conference,” Aalseth said. “We all get together out here, and (I see) people I might not have seen because they live in the northern part of the state.”
“They get together and go to classes, but then you see people you only see once a year,” Davis said. “It’s basically a big EMS family reunion.”