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EMS Capitol Day 2003 |
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EMS personnel gathered at the State Capitol on Feb. 11th for EMS Capitol Day. Activities began with Senator Larry Salmans, EMT, Hanston visiting with us. Sen. Salmans has been the sponsor of Capitol Day since it began in 1999. He encouraged us to visit with our Legislators and become involved in the legislative process that governs Kansas EMS. Sen Salmans is a member of the BEMS and has long been a proponent of EMS. Randy Cardonell, Tribune, President of Region II, welcomed everyone and thanked them for taking time from their obligations to travel to Topeka and join us today. (Click here to read Randy's Welcome Speech.) David Lake, Administrator of the BEMS, shared with us some of the challenges that the BEMS and EMS agencies throughout the state are facing. Mr. Lake invited us to sit in on a House sub-committee meeting after lunch where he would be testifying regarding BEMS funding. Many folks did attend the meeting. Our presence was noted by the committee members in support of the testimony Mr. Lake presented. Jason White, KEMSA and J.R. Hatfield, KEMTA Legislative Liaisons handed out position papers regarding legislative issues affecting EMS and visited with us regarding this legislation. EMS is governed by a political process and individual involvement is necessary in order for us to have input in our future as a practitioner and as a profession. JJ Deckert shared the schedule for the day, which included the group sitting together in the galleries of the House and Senate while they are in session. During the Senate session, President Dave Kerr introduced us and we all stood as we were recognized. Everyone was encouraged to meet their Senators and Representative and to visit committee meetings. We were privileged to have Governor Kathleen Sebelius greet us. She welcomed us to Topeka and visited with us for a few minutes. We appreciate her taking time to join us and her acknowledgement of our contributions as EMS providers and our Capitol Day activities. The BEMS staff hosted an open house in their new offices on the 10th floor of the Landon State office building, just across the street east of the Capitol. Many visited the new offices throughout the day. There were 32 EMS agencies represented, including volunteer, part time and full time staff, BEMS Staff, BEMS members J.R. Behan and Duane Mathes, both professional organizations, EMS educational systems and the EMS Regional Councils. Thanks to everyone who attended and participated in this, our 5th annual EMS Capitol Day. Our special Thanks to Willie Helms and Pat Davis from Meade Co. EMS, Dorothy Faulkner and Georgette Lonsinger from Ford County, Jason White from MAST, J. R. Hatfield from Halstead EMS, Bob Orth from Sublette EMS, and Randy Cardonell from Greeley Co. EMS for their assistance in coordinating Capitol Day 2003. SKEMS-Region II EMS Council is
proud to sponsor this event on behalf of all EMS systems and personnel throughout our
state. It will be held again next year in 2004. We sincerely hope you will be able to
join us.
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| EMS Capitol Day 2003 Welcome from Randy Cardonell | |
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Good Morning Everyone. My name is, Randy Cardonell, on behalf of Region 2 SW KS, it is my honor to welcome all of you to EMS Capital Day 2003. We would like to thank you all for taking the time away from your jobs and personal lives to be here today Our goal today is to inform legislators about what we need to accomplish our responsibilities to insure the health and well being of the people of Kansas. We need to take this opportunity to contact everyone we can to get our message across. The role we have in the world today is vital to the public. Do not underestimate your importance and don't let our lawmakers be uninformed as to your importance. Shortfalls in the budget have stimulated a lot of re-evaluating of priorities. EMS is a basic priority that can be over-looked and taken for granted. Sometimes the assumption is made "That it will be there when needed". We all know that it takes people with commitment, equipment, and money to be prepared before we are needed. Lets make sure that our legislators understand this as well. I would like to remind everyone of the legislative reception at the Capital Plaza Manor at 7:00 this evening. This will give us an opportunity to visit with our legislators in a much more informal setting. We would like to thank KEMSA and KEMTA for sponsoring this event. These groups play a vital role in representing us the other 364 days of the year. Thank you again. It is now my pleasure to have the opportunity to introduce some guests that have joined us today.
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"Capitol
Day" Evening Legislative Reception... |
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The annual EMS Capitol Day was another success. Jerry Jo Deckert along with the Soughwest Kansas EMS - Region II, KEMSA, KEMTA and the Board of EMS all need to be congratulated. We had a good turn out, but more importantly, the folks that came to the capitol were very good at carrying the message to the legislators about the various issues we are facing. Approximately 50-70 EMS folks from around the state came to lobby legislators on the various bills that have been introduced, the budget concerns as well as the rumors of comb ining the Board of EMS into another state agency. Once more Senator Larry Salmans (a long time friend of EMS in Kansas) sopke to the crowd as well as several EMS leaders. Governor Kathleen Sebelius also took a moment to address the group. The day was capped off with an evening reception held for the legislators at the Capitol Plaza Hatel. This event was sponsored by KEMSA and KEMTA. We had a wonderful group of EMS folks (around 80) attend the reception. Many who attended were on hand to attend the Rural EMS Summit scheduled for the next day. At least 30 legislators attended and we were very fortunate that most were able to connect for some quality conversations with EMS folks from their area back home. With a dinner at the Governor's mansion taking many legislators we were very pleased not only with the number that came for a visit at the reception but also the quality time that many spent chatting about EMS issues from around the state. Following is a list of the legislators who were able to come visit with the EMS community at our EMS Captiol Day Reception.
By: Jason White - KEMSA Legislative Representative KEMSA Vice President |