AAA Annual Conference: Report from Day One

American Ambulance Association (AAA) President Mark Postma opened the 2018 AAA Conference and Trade Show on Thursday, Sept 6, at the MGM Grand Hotel Conference Center in Las Vegas. AAA's conference is a place for key leaders in the private ambulance industry to connect, discuss challenges and learn from others’ experiences. 'Re-Imagining Your Organization' Postma introduced Keynote Speaker Rob Lawrence, California Chief Operating Officer for Patient Care Logistics Solutions, previously known as Paramedics Plus. Lawrence started his presentation, “Re-Imagining Your Organization”, noting that today social media isn’t always sociable, and email can be a weapons-grade communication device. He also told the attendees that everyone with a phone camera is a videographer for the evening news. He told managers that the media will reference current and “former” EMTs and paramedics in their reporting, so agencies must be ready to defend themselves and get ahead of it in the media – often going out in the field or to the home of involved patients with the media to clarify issues. He showed several slides that exhibited his point, poking fun at himself with an image where he was caught checking his cell phone during a public event and showing another EMS officer nodding off during the same event. The message: the media and the community are now watching us 24/7. With an extensive background of media management, story development and getting in front of a story before i...
Source: JEMS Administration and Leadership - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: EMS Insider Administration and Leadership Source Type: news