I am paying close attention to Super Bowl week because my team, the Green Bay Packers, made it to the big game. I have high hopes for Sunday’s game. Football is full of metaphors for life and the week leading up to Superbowl XLV has many events that could be tweaked and replicated for EMS Week 2011.
1. EMS Skills competition. Start a round robin tournament of timed skill stations between crews in April. Top performing crews advance to an elimination play-off competition during EMS Week. Invite the public and policy makers to the playoff and finale.
2. VIP Party and Reception. Move the EMS week banquet from the stodgy hall favored by administrators and medical director to a trendy night club or restaurant popular among the staff.
3. Gamble. Award prizes for most calls, covering the average call volume, most multiple patient calls, longest scene time, and more.
4. Go Social! Give every crew a disposable camera, or permission to use their smartphone camera, to take photos of everything except patients and actual incidents. Capture “day in the life photos” for a banquet slide show, the department Facebook page, or photo account. Upload to Flickr and tag with EMS Week.
5. Get Personal. During Super Bowl week actual stories about football are few. The media deluges us with “human interest” and “profile” stories about the players. Write and submit stories about the people who make your agency great.
EMS Week 2011 is scheduled from May 15 to May 21.
Need more EMS Week ideas? 25 Ideas to Celebrate EMS Week
