2025 marks 51 years of celebrating National EMS Week, so we're sharing 51 inspiring ways for your organization to kick off the week and make it meaningful, as well as memorable. It’s the perfect time to recognize the profession, honor your local EMS professionals and promote awareness of their service to the public.
- Schedule Stress Reduction and Mental Illness EducationTake care of your crew by educating them about stress reduction and mental illness to reduce the stigma that prevents EMS providers from asking for help when they need it.
Hold an EMS Safety Course
Evaluate your EMS service’s safety data and utilize it to employ safety education programs tailored to the needs of your service and the community. An example is NAEMT’s EMS Safety course, which teaches students how to protect themselves and their patients while on the job. It promotes a culture of safety and helps reduce the number of on-the-job fatalities and injuries. https://www.naemt.org/education/ems-safety.
Host a Servant Leadership day
Plan a special event where agency management show their appreciation by serving personnel. Some ideas: managers wash employees’ cars or serve meals to employees.
Deck It Out
Decorate your EMS station or department with banners, balloons and signs to celebrate EMS Week. Special EMS Week materials available at the EMS Week Store.
Share Thank You Videos with Your Team
You’ll find several videos honoring EMS clinicians and recognizing EMS Week on the Resource Center for National EMS Week. Share the encouraging words from the presidents of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) and EMS Week sponsors in the videos found on emsweek.org
Host a Blood Drive to Highlight the Importance of Prehospital Blood Transfusions
This is an opportunity to help your community maintain a strong and stable blood supply through the summer months. It also highlights the critical role of prehospital blood transfusions in enhancing patient outcomes and survival rates. Consider working with the American Red Cross to hold a blood drive at your agency or a larger community-wide blood drive. If possible, offer those who donate a small gift or EMS Week incentive.
Participate in the Worldwide CPR Challenge
Across the United States and overseas, people participate in the CPR Worldwide Challenge. Plan events surrounding this challenge to train individuals, organizations, businesses, bystanders or students in your community. You could even reach out to beachgoers, grocery shoppers or sports spectators. Set up simple training using a manikin and teach bystanders compression-only CPR. Find more information on the ACEP website.
Host an EMS BBQ
Invite EMS professionals in the area to a special BBQ celebration in their honor.
Get Involved for a Good Cause
Glacier County EMS in Cut Bank, Montana, has hosted EMS Night at McDonald’s, where EMS personnel serve food and take orders. They’ve also done full-service bagging and carry-out at the nearby Albertson’s grocery store. All donation proceeds go to a special cause such as buying bike helmets for local children.
Host a Survivors’ Reunion
Reunite and honor survivors of near-fatal cardiac events with the men and women of EMS who saved their lives. This type of event always proves meaningful to survivors and EMS personnel.
Host a Family Fun Event
EMS clinicians who are also parents will appreciate a fun day for their children to gather and it’s a great way for families to bond. This could be a free park event or ask for sponsorship from a local kid-friendly restaurant or mini golf center.
Light Up the Night for EMS
In years past, the Empire State Building has partnered with FDNY to celebrate EMS Week by lighting the top of the building in yellow, white and blue. Consider scheduling a special building lighting in your own community to celebrate EMS.
Hold a Career Fair
Use EMS Week as a time to promote the profession and educate prospective employees. Hold a career fair within your agency where you can highlight the latest medical equipment, show off your vehicles and discuss career growth opportunities.
Promote Volunteer EMS and Firefighting
EMS Week is a great time to recruit volunteer EMS clinicians and firefighters in your community. Find out more about local opportunities to promote in your area on the NVFC site: Make Me a Firefighter
Give a Shout-Out to Students
Take an opportunity to recognize up-and-coming EMS providers by showcasing educational and cadet programs in your area. Profile students working hard to join the profession with write-ups on your website, in your newsletter and on social media channels. Consider inviting students to join the EMS Week events planned with your organization.
Plan School Visits
Every year, Siouxland Paramedics in Sioux City, Iowa, meet with young students to teach them about the EMS profession. Their community outreach helps kids develop trust in the local EMS professionals to take care of them and their loved ones. Plan something comparable in your area.
Set Up a Rider Alert Program
Get involved in existing programs such as Rider Alert, which provides free identification data cards that help first responders provide rapid and accurate medical assistance to motorcyclists involved in serious accidents. Find additional information at https://raaems.org/motorcycle-safety-program/
Plan a Fun Run/Walk/Bike Event
EMS Week is in spring, so it’s a perfect time to plan a fun run (or walk). Many agencies across the country host a running (or walking) event to celebrate EMS Week. It’s a healthy way to hang out and bond with fellow clinicians. Consider asking local businesses to sponsor drinks, snacks or T-shirts.
Host Vehicle Tours
Travis County Star Flight in Austin, Texas, invites the public to check out (and get into!) all the helicopters on display, along with rescue and firefighting equipment. Visitors have the opportunity to talk with the flight crew and watch helicopter demos, including patient rescues and water drops.
Host a Pancake Breakfast
This could be a department event, an EMS employee family event or a celebration that’s open to the broader community.
Organize an EMS Open House
Offer public education presentations and training or offer to speak to local groups to share why EMS is a valuable part of your community.
Host a Fundraising Event for the National EMS Memorial
Create a fundraising event for the National EMS Memorial Foundation to help build a national EMS memorial in the nation’s capital. Donations can be made through the foundation’s website.
EMS Trivia Night
Organize a fun trivia night within the department. Make sure to include snacks, drinks and EMS-related questions to raise awareness.
Host an EMS Bowl Event
This friendly competition can be held with crews from different shifts or other area services. Plan sporting events and athletic challenges. Add an extra challenge by including an EMS skills competition as well. FDNY holds an Annual EMS Week Competition where teams from all nine EMS Divisions and Emergency Medical Dispatch compete in various skill and knowledge challenges, vying for the title of New York’s City’s best EMT and Paramedic teams.
Give Out Grab-and-Go Lunches or Snacks
EMS staff appreciate healthy food and drink choices and this accommodates all schedules.
Have a T-shirt Design Contest
Ask for submissions of EMS-themed designs, then have employees vote to select their favorite. Print the winning design on T-shirts, which you can give out as EMS Week gifts.
Read and Promote EMS Blogs and Podcasts
There’s often no better way to learn than from your peers. Join the online community of EMS professionals who chronicle their experiences every day by reading EMS blogs and listening to podcasts – or even consider starting your own!
Plan an EMS for Children Education Day
Remind your personnel about the EMS for Children day by downloading and promoting educational resources to make sure they’re up-to-date on the specialized needs of treating children. Download from the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center website.
Honor Employees on Social Media Shout-Outs
Honor stand-out employees with special recognition on your social media channels during each day of EMS Week. Or consider making videos highlighting employees and sharing on social media.
Welcome New Department Members
Why not officially induct new members during EMS Week? The Yuma, AZ Fire Department hosted their official badge pinning event during EMS Week 2024. It was an ideal time to welcome the newest members of the Yuma Fire Family.
Recognize a CPR Save or Another Life-Saving Rescue
Few moments are more meaningful for EMS practitioners than meeting someone whose life they helped to save. Bring together the crew, the person who was saved and their family. If they’re willing, share the story with the media.
Organize a Stop the Bleed Day Event
Organize a community hemorrhage control program by placing bleeding control kits in public places like near an AED and offer training programs for citizens. Find more information at https://stopthebleedproject.org/stop-the-bleed-day/
Plan a Car Seat and Seatbelt Event
Host a child restraint inspection event where EMS professionals can teach families how to transport children safely.
Plan a Memorial Event or a Moment of Silence
Remember colleagues injured or killed in the line of duty with a public ceremony or a moment of silence. Another way to honor fallen EMS practitioners is by participating in the National EMS Memorial Bike Ride.
Make It Official
Ask your local state, county or city government officials to issue a proclamation to make EMS Week official on a local level. This proclamation helps generate attention for EMS Week with politicians and media and shines a light on the role of clinicians in the community. Here are some examples.
Host an Awards Dinner
This special event can recognize an EMT and Paramedic of the Year, as well as other awards for EMS professionals.
Thank Your Family
Give gratitude to your EMS families by taking some time off during EMS Week, relaxing and being present and attentive with the ones you love.
Shout It to the World
Buy a billboard in your city to thank practitioners for going above and beyond the call.
Provide Mental Health Perks
Ask local businesses such as massage, spas, gyms, salons and meditation and yoga studios to offer discounts, on-site services or special incentives to clinicians in celebration of EMS Week. A mini massage during a break or before or after a shift can help improve posture, stress levels and soreness.
Hire a Food Truck
Find a truck that offers local specialties for a fun outdoor May event. You might need to host your event on two separate days to make sure everyone has a chance to attend.
Raffle Off Large Gifts
In addition to giving employees small gifts to recognize the week, it’s fun to have a few large gifts to raffle off. Ask for community donations of gift cards and more.
Hold a Virtual Tour of Ambulances
If you can’t invite school groups and other members of the public in, bring the ambulance to them, virtually through social media, or other means, on video
Teach First On The Scene (FOTS)
First On the Scene is a four-hour course designed by NAEMT and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) that prepares the public to respond to medical crises that may occur in everyday circumstances or during mass casualty events such as shootings or motor vehicle collisions. Topics include: bleeding control, treating anaphylaxis with epinephrine auto-injectors, using naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses, among others.
Promote and Participate in the National EMS Memorial Service and Weekend of Honor
This event is scheduled for July 18-20, 2025 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA The purpose of the National EMS Memorial Service is to remember and honor those emergency medical services personnel who have died in the line of duty and to recognize the ultimate sacrifice they have made. For more information, please visit national-ems-memorial.org.
Create a Gratitude Wall
Allow colleagues, patients, and their families to leave notes of appreciation for EMTs and paramedics.
Attend an EMS for Children Webinar
Attend an EMS for Children Day educational webinar during EMS Week. Find more information on the EMSC Innovation and Improvement Center website.
Be Part of a Health Fair or Other Community Event
Book a booth at a health fair, street fair or other community event to educate the public about emergency preparedness and the role of EMS
Write Thank You Notes
Encourage community members, school children and government officials to write thank you notes to EMS personnel.
Secure Restaurant Sponsorships
Partner with local restaurants to provide meals for EMS staff during busy shifts or to-go meals to take home at the end of the shift.
Employee Car Wash
May is a great time for a car wash! Hold an event where EMS managers volunteer to wash the cars of staff while they are out on calls. It’s a much-appreciated gift to busy EMS professionals.
Hold a Fishing Tournament
The Southeastern EMS Director's Association (SEEMSDA) holds an annual EMS Week Bass Fishing Tournament (29 boats in 2024!). Participants consist of active EMS, first responders and hospital personnel and the event raises money for local charities. What a great idea to spend time on the water with friends and colleagues.