NAEMSP Supports H.R. 3443, the Modernizing EMS Delivery and Sustainability (MEDS) Bill
Washington D.C. (May 19, 2025) – The National Association of EMS Physicians (NAEMSP) supports the Modernizing EMS Delivery and Sustainability (MEDS) Bill (H.R. 3443) − legislation that aims to address critical issues faced by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals and their patients.
The MEDS Bill focuses on three main areas to ensure high-quality and available care delivered by EMS systems: Assessment of the value of EMS physician medical direction; Availability of essential medications and blood products for EMS patients; and Transparency of wall times at hospitals during transfer of care.
“There are many stressors on our EMS system that affect the patients treated by paramedics and EMTs. The quality and safety of care for these patients depends upon system oversight by an EMS physician, availability of essential life-saving medications, and efficient transfer of care to the emergency department. This bill is a crucial step toward strengthening EMS systems and improving outcomes for the communities they serve,” said Douglas Kupas, MD, NRP, FAEMS, president of NAEMSP.
Physician oversight of the clinical care delivered by EMS clinicians is essential to ensuring the delivery of high-quality, safe care delivered to patients. This proposed legislation seeks to quantify the value of clinical oversight of EMS systems by EMS physicians.
Shortages of essential medications and availability of blood products for administration by EMS clinicians impairs the ability to give the highest quality care to patients with medical or traumatic conditions in the prehospital setting. EMS agencies are experiencing shortages of everything from IV fluids to medications for seizures and cardiac arrest care, creating unique implications for EMS, especially for time-sensitive conditions.
Wall time is another serious concern for EMS patients and professionals. “Wall time” is the period when EMS personnel are required to stay with a patient until they are formally accepted by and transferred to hospital staff. This time is often spent “against the wall” in the emergency department, and in some communities, it can take over an hour for emergency department staff to accept responsibility for a patient. Extended wall times can delay EMS units from returning to service, therefore impacting their availability to respond promptly for their communities.
NAEMSP urges Congress to pass this bill to ensure EMS patients get the best quality of care and EMS physicians have the proper resources to provide said care.
Members: Visit NAEMSP’s Legislative Action Center to urge your federal leaders to support the bill.