Our smart phones and tablets constantly require upgrades to new versions of software to improve security and address bugs in previous versions. But more importantly, they need upgrades to offer new and improved services and apps. If you fail to upgrade to the newest version, you may find that your device doesn’t work quite as well as it used to or that your friends and coworkers have better options and information than you.
You certainly don’t want to be left behind.
With this in mind, the EMS Section has taken significant steps to upgrade this year’s Fire-Rescue Med to a new version.
First, we’ve changed the date of the conference. By having the conference in May, we were always competing against Mother’s Day, school graduations and other events that made it difficult for members to attend the conference. So, we’ve moved it to June 11-13, with preconferences being held on June 9 and 10. These dates also allow us to get a better price break for the conference as well as attendee hotel rooms.
Second, we’re moving to a new venue. While the previous venue served us fairly well, there were some challenges with space and local labor issues. We didn’t want to continue to subject our members, attendees and vendors to constant calls and emails about the labor issue. We also were hoping to expand our vendor area. For these reasons, the EMS Section Board selected the M Resort as our new venue.
The M Resort is also located in Henderson, it’s relatively close to the airport and it offers a much better layout for our conference. Described as a boutique hotel that has received a four-star rating every year since opening, it will offer attendees conveniently located conference rooms as well as a large vendor space. The M Resort is family friendly, has a 100,000-square-foot pool and has a number of top-quality restaurants.
Third, the entire Fire-Rescue Med program has been upgraded as well. After a new program planning committee was established, committee members have worked hard to keep some elements of the older version, like the EMS Leadership Academy and Infection Control training classes, while expanding into new areas.
Conference offerings now include EMS research, formal updates from our federal partners and sessions on timely topics such as the National Model EMS Clinical Guidelines, NREMT updates, community healthcare, active-shooter events and human trafficking.
Attendees will also find sessions on specific NFPA standards and how they apply to fire and EMS, behavioral health, legal issue, and sleep deprivation. And, in keeping with the previous version, we’ll still have the Heart Safe Community and James O. Page awards, along with our keynote, opening and closing sessions and many networking opportunities and events.
Finally, the program planning committee and IAFC staff continue to work to bring us the best in vendors and technology. With an expanded vendor floor and the opportunity to use the outdoor pavilion, this should prove to be one of the best vendor floors we’ve had in quite some time.
All in all, we believe that attendees will be pleasantly surprised with this new version, and you certainly won’t want to miss out on this upgrade. Simply go to IAFC.org/FRM to register for your upgraded version of Fire-Rescue Med v2.0.18.