The Wisconsin EMS Association Board of Directors wishes to go on record in support of Administrative Rules that are flexible and provide for options in enhancement of patient care at the local and/or regional level. It is imperative that the EMS Section, EMS Board, and Physician Advisory Committee consider and investigate Rules changes that enable the maximum level of care that a service is able to provide. We strongly support changes to the Administrative Rules that will use paramedic-level skills when one or more persons with the proper training, equipment, and medical control are present. We strongly support changes to the Administrative Rules that will allow for operating flexibility in paramedic systems already in existence as well as those that are planned for the future.

It is equally imperative that rules not be created that will inhibit or reduce the level of patient care already existing. We need to be certain not to mandate an unattainable level of care in the remote and sparsely populated areas of the state. We need to be certain that proposed changes will not decrease patient care now within existing EMS systems.

The Board of Directors of the Wisconsin EMS Association are committed and willing to offer continuing input to the EMS Section, EMS Board, and Physician Advisory Committee by gathering a grassroots knowledge of services and systems from throughout the state. We are willing to help evaluate proposed rules and regulations from that grassroots perspective. And, we are committed to assuring a realistic approach to quality emergency medical care for the people and communities we serve.