NEMSM’s 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!
NEMSM’s first museum display at EMS World 2007
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 Next Chapter
NEMSM celebrated it’s 10th anniversary with a new strategic plan and a focus to get more involved with EMS at a community level. Enlisting the help of both EMS professionals and museum experts in the new plan.
Together with NEMSM volunteers the Museum embarked on some ambitious projects which included an exhibition to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wedsworth-Townsend Act, the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001, and new programs like Museum Talks and Coffee with Doc.
When COVID-19 hit we felt an acute punch as our community outreach projects quickly morphed into virtual experiences and we had to re-find our footing in our goals for the future. Luckily we had experience on our side and, unlike many of our museum friends, we were able to keep moving forward building on our established virtual museum and recommitting ourselves to virtual programing accessible to our visitors around the world.
In 2023 a new group of leaders have taken the helm at NEMSM and are working on growing the presence of NEMSM through publications and public exhibitions. It is an exciting time to be a member, volunteer and partner at NEMSM and we hope you will join us for the adventure. We can’t be the best NEMSM with out you by our sides!
