More than 100 air medical services personnel from across the country will converge on the nation’s capital March 17-19, 2010, to draw greater attention to emergency medical services (EMS) regionalization, health care reform, disaster response, EMS helicopter safety and other issues affecting the emergency medical transport community. As part of their visit, these air medical services leaders will meet with key policy- and lawmakers on Capitol Hill on March 18 to educate them about the need for federal funding to support the low-altitude aviation infrastructure, the importance of air-medical services, particularly in rural areas, and other issues related to both air and critical-care ground transport.

The meetings are part of the annual Spring Conference of the Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS), set for March 17-19, 2010, at the Washington Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, D.C. The conference provides the opportunity for air medical crew members to learn about the operational and legislative issues that directly affect medical transport programs nationwide, and to effect change in the national legislative and regulatory arenas. Highlights of the conference follow. Please see http://www.aams.org/ for details.

When:	March 17-19, 2010
Where:	Washington Marriott at Metro Center 775 12th Street NW Washington, DC 20005 Phone: 1-800-393-2510
What: Why:	AAMS Spring Legislative Conference Every day in Washington, lawmakers and federal administrators can potentially make decisions that have profound effects on patient care, flight regulations, hospital and EMS administration, funding and reimbursement. This conference provides attendees with the chance to provide input into that process and to enhance the operation and delivery of air-medical and critical-care ground services.