About - EMS Museum

About The National EMS Museum

The National EMS Museum is a volunteer led organization that collects, preserves and shares the history of emergency medical response in the United States in hopes of inspiring future professionals to take up the call.

The National EMS Museum organization operates a virtual museum and produces traveling exhibitions that tour the country every year.

The Collections at the National EMS Museum house over 300 years of history that covers the development of pre-hospital care in the United States, North America and around the world.

To host, support or donate to the National EMS Museum, please reach out to us via phone at 612.298.4567 or email info @ emsmuseum.org

Our Mission

The Mission of The National EMS Museum is to engage the legacy and heritage of pre-hospital care, disseminate knowledge of emergency care, inspire innovation, and cultivate an appreciation for emergency medical services.

Our Vision

The National EMS Museum will inspire a personal and lasting connection between prehospital care providers and the public they serve.

Our Story

In the early years of the 21st century, EMS professionals, educators, and community members from around the United States discovered their common desire to create a cohesive, national repository to house their profession’s history, preserve the memory of first responders around the world, and share the stories and artifacts with future generations.

In June 2006 a small group of EMS providers posed a question to the EMS community: What if we develop a national museum to preserve our heritage and educate the next generation?

What came next set the stage for the development of The National EMS Museum!

The Idea

Since the closing of the To the Rescue Museum in Roanoke, Virginia, the emergency medical services (EMS) has been under-represented, if represented at all, in museum collections across the country. The public did not have the opportunity to engage in the amazing story of pre-hospital care and the innovations at work in their community every day! Nor was there a dedicated museum to preserve and honor the legacy of those who changed the course of US history forever.

However, private collection a bound in the homes and stations of EMS professionals coast to coast. History was being saved, but was it accessible to the public, where would those collections go if their current stewards were no longer able to care for them? Who was going to ensure the EMS story became front and center for generations to come?

After a series of meetings with private collectors, EMS innovators and industry leaders, and some community input, it was decided a national museum dedicated to EMS should exist to honor our brothers and sisters working day in and day out to safe neighbors, friends, and family and to ensure the legacy of emergency medical responders was not lost to time…

The Birth of a National Museum

With the assistance of a start-up grant from the National Association of EMT’s (NAEMT) and a number of private donors, the National EMS Museum was born in the fall of 2006. Originally, the Museum’s Board of Trustees hoped to develop a national repository and a number of satellite sites that would feature EMS history exhibits for EMS practitioners. Immediately the Board set out to collect as much EMS related materials as possible.

Unfortunately, 2008 was not kind, and with the economic downturn in October, the Museum Board decided to concentrate its efforts on maintaining its current collection and creating a traveling museum that could easily move to EMS conferences, tradeshows, and EMS related events around the United States.

The National EMS Traveling Museum was a huge success and has made repeat appearances at EMS Today, EMS World, and a number of state conferences every year. In 2014 the museum embarked on a new strategic plan to focus once again on public outreach and collection development with the hopes to expand the role of The National EMS Museum in the EMS industry and open up the story of the Emergency Medical Services to communities across the country…

The New National EMS Museum

In 2015, with a new strategic plan approved by the Board of Trustees the National EMS Museum set to work, collecting more artifacts, documents, pictures, and more, to highlight the innovations and everyday stories that make EMS what it is today. A new timeline app was launched for on the go history, a new website was developed to feature the Virtual Museum exhibits that now highlight important stories, events and people instrumental in the development of the emergency medical services.

2016 & 17 brought more collecting and organizing EMS history within our collections and connections to more industry leaders to contribute to the strategic leadership of The National EMS Museum.

The biggest change to The National EMS Museum came in the fall of 2018 when the Board of Trustees (now the Board of Directors) brought on a development consultant to help ensure dedicated growth at the Museum each year for the next five years. With in the first year of contract, The National EMS Museum was invited to exhibit in host museums across the country, including the International Surgical Museum in Chicago, Illinois. By the end of year two, The National EMS Museum had more than doubled its revenue, ensuring a budget surplus that would carry forward.

Year three brought us a global pandemic in the form of COVID-19, and despite the hardships experienced by NEMSM and its colleagues, supporters and friends across the country, the Museum was able to carry on with developing new virtual exhibits and programs to ensure more people had access to the historical collections held in trust at The National EMS Museum.

As the world starts to rebound and settle into a “new normal” post -pandemic, The National EMS is looking to expand its presence within local communities in each region of the United States. To accomplish this goal the Museum needs your support!

If you are an individual interested in EMS history please become a Member of The National EMS Museum
If you are a crew chief or operations officer please encourage your company to become a Crew Member of The National EMS Museum
If you are a company operating in the EMS Industry, get your brand in front of providers and decision makers by Sponsoring The National EMS Museum
If you are a foundation manager please connect with us on how your grant funds will support the growth of The National EMS Museum

2021 will be an interesting year for us all. We look forward to taking the opportunity to reflect and celebrate 15 years of historical preservation, but also can’t wait to continue to grow, with your help, into THE NATIONAL home for EMS history in the United States.

Learn How to Support The National EMS Museum