Revision of the Emergency Medical Services Agenda for the Future; Request for Information

NHTSA, on behalf of the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS), is seeking comments from all sources (public, private, governmental, academic, professional, public interest groups, and other interested parties) on the planned revision of the 1996 Emergency Medical Services Agenda for the Future (EMS Agenda). FICEMS was created (42 U.S.C. 300d-4) by the Secretaries of Transportation, Health and Human Services and Homeland Security to, in part, ensure coordination among the Federal agencies involved with State, local, tribal or regional emergency medical services and 9-1-1 systems. FICEMS has statutory authority to identify State and local Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and 9-1-1 needs, to recommend new or expanded programs and to identify the ways in which Federal agencies can streamline their processes for support of EMS. FICEMS includes representatives from the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense--Health Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), HHS Indian Health Service (IHS), HHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HHS Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HHS Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Health Affairs (OHA), DHS U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), NHTSA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and a State EMS Director appointed by the Secretary of Transportation. On June 19, 2014, FICEMS unanimously approved a motion to proceed with a revision of the EMS Agenda, with a focus on data-driven approaches to future improvements. This followed an April 24, 2014 letter in which the National Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council (NEMSAC) issued recommendations to NHTSA regarding revision of the EMS Agenda. NEMSAC's recommendations were as follows: •  A major revision of the EMS Agenda for the Future should be undertaken as soon as possible; •  The revision process should be guided by an external entity (not NEMSAC) that will ensure a consensus- and data-driven process with broad stakeholder representation. The goal should be to replicate the process used to develop the original EMS Agenda for the Future, published in 1996; •  The U.S. Department of Transportation should seek financial support and assistance from members of FICEMS to accomplish this task. The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments on the planned revision of the EMS Agenda, and to request responses to specific questions provided below. This is neither a request for proposals nor an invitation for bids.