EMS is a Business
Every EMS organization is a business regardless of size or structure. Controversial? Maybe. True? Definitely.
Municipal fire departments, hospital-based services, investor owned and yes, the thousands of small to mid-sized volunteer or hybrid agencies…all businesses. Unfortunately, too many do not operate as though they understand this fact.
Stick with me for a couple of minutes while we go through 10 basics of what makes a business a business:
1. You have staff, clients or customers (patients).
2. You get funds for your services through fees, subsidies, donations or grants
3. You have to buy supplies and equipment
4. You need state and /or local permits/licenses to operate
5. You complete tax/accounting paperwork, tax returns, budgets and non-profit 990 forms
6. You promote yourself to clients, to recruit staff or do damage control when something bad happens
7. You must make a profit of some kind to stay in business…yes even non-profits have to stay within budget and have enough left over to operate
8. You maintain insurance and abide by wage and labor laws
9. You plan for continuity during crisis and disaster situations
10. You need strong effective leaders to attract quality people to your organization and keep them
Every single one of these 10 points apply to EVERY EMS agency just as much as they apply to the local hardware store, law practice or auto dealer…we are in business. And what's true about businesses? They will fail due to lack of money, lack of trained staff, poor legal issue management or simply lousy leadership.
Many EMS agencies still believe they can rest on their laurels, and the communities they serve will let them slide by on some of these issues. You can't. They won't. And you will lose support, funding, staff and, eventually, your ability to operate.
Our EMS agency360sm program is designed to review each of these and several other areas to make sure that you've got all of your bases covered.
Let's connect and discuss what's happening in your service and community.
