 - The City of Riverton designated May 17-23 as Emergency Medical Services Week on Tuesday at the request of local Red Cross representative Carol Harper.){kind=link}
(Riverton, WY) – The City of Riverton designated May 17-23 as Emergency Medical Services Week on Tuesday at the request of local Red Cross representative Carol Harper.
The week celebrates “EMS professionals and the important work they do in our nation’s communities,” bringing together “local communities and medical personnel to honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine’s frontline,” according to EMSWeek.org.
Mayor Tim Hancock read a proclamation for EMS Week on Tuesday, calling EMS “a vital public service” performed by teams that “are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
“Access to quality emergency care dramatically increases the survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury,” Hancock read. “Emergency medical services fills health care gaps by providing important out of hospital care including preventative medicine, follow-up care, and access to tele medicine.”
The proclamation notes that local EMS systems include first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, prehospital nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians, trained members of the public, and other out of hospital medical care providers.
All of those team members – both career and volunteer – “engage in thousands of hours of specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills,” Hancock read, and “it is appropriate to recognize the value and the accomplishments of emergency medical services providers by designating the Emergency Medical Services Week.”
“There are no words that can describe the courage and strength of our first responders on any given day – the scenes that they come upon, the stress they endure, and the mental impact and strain that stays with them all their lives,” Harper told the Riverton City Council this week. “One week out of the year, we respect and honor them for what they do.”
The theme of EMS Week 2026 is “Improving Outcomes Together,” so during her presentation, Harper outlined several actions local residents can take to help ensure they are safe – especially during emergencies.
Her tips include:
- wear a seatbelt or helmet
- don’t drive buzzed or drunk
- have a 72-hour kit of food and water, medications, and important documents ready in case of a disaster or mass casualty event
- learn hands-only CPR and how to stop a bleed
- when entering public buildings, locate the exits, fire extinguishers, and AED devices
- teach children to swim, bike, walk, ride, and use the internet safely
- show children the fire exits at home and school and regularly review escape plans
- be aware of your surroundings
- make sure your home has a smoke alarm
- pull over when you see lights and sirens
- in an emergency, call 911
“Don’t hesitate,” Harper said, referring to the last item on the list. “Seconds count, (and) our first responders are here to help. They have emergency protocols in place to serve, protect, and care for our communities.”
Harper also brought some gifts to share with the mayor, council, police chief, and city administrators this week – coins recognizing local police, military, corrections officials, nurses, dispatchers, firefighters and EMS professionals for their courage, service, honor, respect and integrity.
“May (this) be a reminder that all of our first responders in the county work together – dispatchers, law enforcement, fire, corrections, hospitals, search and rescue, victim services – that we all work together for the citizens, businesses, and governments of our communities, so that our local economies have the ability to thrive and survive for whatever comes, and that we are all connected,” Harper said. “In this family, no one fights alone.”