“Excellence in Education” is the mission of the Oregon EMS Conference: our core value is offering affordable education to the prehospital providers of Oregon.
History
The Oregon EMS Association began in 1974, then known as the Oregon State Paramedic Association, which it was called for 30 years. In 2014, the name changed to Oregon Emergency Medical Services Association to affirm our commitment to representing everyone participating in the chain of Prehospital care. Although OEMSA has evolved, our goal is to provide the preeminent professional association for prehospital providers in Oregon.
Our current focus is to bring affordable education, including through grants to all geographic and practice areas.
OEMSA plans to update our website to be a resource for current information for providers both about updates in Oregon as well as nationally that affect the practice and pratitioners of prehospital care.
Skip Kirkwood, then State EMS manager, and David Long, then Director of the Oregon Training Education Research Foundation (OTREF) founded the Oregon EMS Conference more than 31 years ago. The two believed in the importance of holding an annual EMS Conference to ensure rural providers of Oregon had access to excellence in prehospital training. The first Conference was held in the Portland area in 1992. This Conference included the first EMS and Trauma Office’s Awards Banquet.
Since then, the Oregon EMS Conference has been held throughout the State of Oregon and grown into one of the largest EMS Conferences on the West Coast.
Attendees from Alaska, Washington, California, and Idaho regularly attend this event. Our Conference features renowned national speakers and local experts from Oregon.
The conference committee comprises volunteers from across the state, including Community Colleges, Hospitals, EMS providers, private and public EMS systems, vendors, and other allied healthcare professionals.
In 2022 the Conference moved from under the nonprofit status of OTREF to the Oregon EMS Association (OREMSA). This change brought a new wave of leadership and a partnership with the OREMSA.
Board of Directors
Brad Kastner, President
Dawn Poetter, Vice President/Education Coordinator
Scott Cooper, Secretary
Oregon EMS Association Bylaws
Coming soon.