National First Responders Day on October 28 recognizes the heroic men and women who make it their business to take immediate action when disaster strikes. Not sure what a first responder does? Just think about 9/11 for a moment. Firefighters, police, paramedics, and more — rushing into Lower Manhattan.
Whether you’ve had your own emergency or not, it’s not hard to understand and appreciate the dangerous and difficult work they do.
- 1860s – The history of first responders in the US dates back to the Civil War, when field workers would provide needed, on-site care to wounded soldiers
- 1865 – According to historical records, the first civilian ambulance in the United States was put into service in 1865, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
- 1980 – UCLA and Eastern Kentucky University are the first to invite national accreditors to review their EMT programs.
- 1970—Health experts begin to theorize that more could be done in out-of-hospital settings, including advanced airway management, vascular access, and medication administration. This leads to the creation and implementation of the emergency medical technician–paramedic (EMT-P) curriculum.
- 1972 – The popular TV series, Emergency!”, shows paramedics providing care in a manner that most Americans had never seen. Although purely fictional, Emergency! Sets new expectations for the job and encourages many Americans to pursue careers in EMS
- 1979 – Advanced cardiac life support training provides a crucial new tool to treat patients experiencing a heart attack or other form of cardiac arrest. Still, it was not required for paramedic training and certification until the mid-1980s
- 2001 – 412 of the 2,977 deaths resulting from the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 were emergency workers.
- 2013 – Andrew Collier, brother of Sean Collier, an officer killed during the Boston Marathon bombing, helped establish a day of recognition.
- 2017 – Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tom Cotton, along with Representatives Mark Meadows, Michael Capuano and Elijah Cummings introduced a resolution to establish National First Responders Day.
- 2017 – Colorado approved a bill honoring every first responder.
- 2019 – the United States Senate passed a resolution designating October 28th as National First Responders Day to honor the men and women putting their lives on the line.
- First responders are firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians (EMT), paramedics, and 911 operators.
- The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has designated flight attendants as “first responders,” which means they’re certified to provide pre-hospital care in a medical emergency.
- According to the CDC, 97 firefighters and 155 police officers die each year in the line of duty.
- An estimated 240 million 9-1-1 calls are made in the U.S. per year.
- A fire department responds to a fire every 24 seconds.
- Emergency Medical Services takes care of 22 million patients a year.
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