Inside Michigan’s largest EMS conference

MARQUETTE — The largest EMS conference in the state of Michigan is held right here in the U.P.

Thursday was the first day of the 36 Annual U.P. EMS Conference, nearly 500 people were in attendance. The U.P.-EMS Conference is held at Northern Michigan University and is Michigan’s most comprehensive educational program for emergency medical personnel. During the four day period over seventy separate emergency topics are presented from professionals across the Midwest. A major topic is pediatric care- presentations offered this weekend range from trauma, emergencies, and opiate abuse effecting children.

“Just because they are so fragile and EMS personnel thankfully don’t always have the opportunities to work on small kids,” U.P.-EMS Executive Director Bob Struck said. “That’s a very special and delicate situation.”

“We hope the information we’re presenting helps increase their ability to provide care, give new information, give new insights,” Pediatric speaker Chuck Herbst said. “Sometimes there’s a new procedure out there that not everybody is aware of, so that’s the stuff we’re trying to bring.”

The conference helps EMTs, first responders, and paramedics be trained on and comfortable with most things that can happen to a human being in an emergency care situation.

Struck said the conference shows how much EMS workers care, they travel a long ways voluntarily to learn enable to better help their communities.