By Michael Benavides, Austin-Travis County EMS

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is plagued with being the “Ghosts on the Scene.” The necessity of responding to incidents, and treating and transporting patients off the scene in a relatively expedient manner is not only unavoidable, but it is a good pre-hospital care business practice.

Unfortunately, this has created a void for the EMS industry to provide a voice to their agencies and medics involvement on the scene of most incidents. While this is a practical reality, the advent of social media has provided a conduit for EMS systems to communicate the role their organizations play in their communities. These include, but are not limited to:

• Their involvement on the scene of public safety incidents.
• The conveyance of official department information to the media.
• The education of the public on health and injury prevention topics.
• A portal for delivery of safety messaging.
• Promotion of EMS community engagement programs/activities.
• A conduit to provide awareness and acknowledgment of your agency’s readiness and performance.

The presentation, ‘Social Media in the EMS Industry’, provides an introspective view, of the use of social media by the Public Information Office (PIO) of Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, in addition to providing tips, examples, suggestions, and ideas for consideration, implementation and success.

Click here to view the presentation from EMS EVOLUTION 2016.