Ray Barishansky
@rbarishansky.bsky.social
Doctor of Public Health(DrPH). Autodidact. Human. All views are my own.
Interesting study that puts data behind what many of us have observed for years: a small percentage of patients account for a disproportionate share of EMS responses. #EMS @healthaffairs.bsky.social academic.oup.com/healthaffair...
A national description of emergency medical services patient utilization patterns
AbstractIntroduction. Repeat use of 9-1-1 emergency medical services (EMS) reflects complex intersections of medical need, social vulnerability, and health
academic.oup.com
"Recognizing the national security implications of threatened pandemics would establish a framework for a much-needed top-to-bottom review of our approach to infectious threats" #pandemic #publichealth www.statnews.com/2026/07/20/p...
It’s time to treat pandemics as threats to national security
“Pandemics should be viewed and combated as threats to national security,” write David Blumenthal and James A. Morone.
statnews.com
Excited and honored to be selected as a speaker at EMS World Expo later this year in Orlando! I’ll be presenting on the need for intentional strategic planning AND the importance of developing communication skills as EMS leaders. Will I be seeing you there? #EMS #leadership
"Nearly 40% of calls handled by Sacramento’s emergency medical services system were non-emergencies" - does this number seem high - or low - to you? #EMS #ambulance amp.sacbee.com/news/local/a...
Audit: 37% of city EMS calls were non-emergencies, tying up Sacramento firefighters
Calls for service rose far faster than staffing levels, creating new pressure on Fire Department responders.
amp.sacbee.com
I love the line "public health doesn’t just have a messaging problem; it has a proximity problem". Public health can't exist only in reports, dashboards, and conference rooms. It must be visible, engaged, and connected to the communities it serves. #publichealth publichealthpost.org/health-equit...
Closing the Distance Between Public Health and the Public
Public health doesn't have a messaging problem. It has a proximity problem, rooted in the gap between lived experience and evidence.
publichealthpost.org
"Ambulances function like public infrastructure, but they’re financed like a transportation business" - the title sums it all up so well. #EMS #ambulance www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...
Ambulances function like public infrastructure, but they’re financed like a transportation business
When it comes to stroke treatment, we need to align incentives with urgency, writes Sandeep Kumar, a vascular neurologist. "That means reimbursing not just for transport, but for readiness and rapid r...
wbur.org
Short answer - no, we are not pandemic ready. #pandemic #publichealth www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/w...
Are We Pandemic Ready?
nytimes.com
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda is now a “public health emergency of international concern” - here is what you need to know #Ebola #publichealth time.com/article/2026...
WHO Declares Global Emergency Over Ebola Strain With No Vaccine. Here's What To Know
The rare Bundibugyo strain, with no approved vaccine or treatment, has killed nearly 90 people.
time.com
"the Hondius’s situation highlights the need for more clarity about the response to disease outbreaks at sea and who bears responsibility for protecting people caught up in such precarious circumstances" #publichealth www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/edit...
How one stranded ship is posing questions for global health | The National
The hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise liner is a fast-moving logistical, legal and medical challenge
thenationalnews.com
EMS providers doing what they do best: improvising to make things work, even at 30,000 feet in the air. #EMS www.ems1.com/good-news/of...
Off-duty paramedics improvise to deliver baby on Delta flight
Two off-duty paramedics helped deliver the girl, improvising with passenger blankets and a shoelace before the plane landed in Portland
ems1.com
The bigger risk isn’t that AI exists, it’s that public health waits while every other sector learns, adapts, and builds guardrails through use. If public health doesn’t help shape AI now, it will inherit systems designed by others later. #publichealth #AI www.forbes.com/sites/brianc...
AI Is Already Here. The Real Risk In Public Health Is Sitting It Out
Americans are using AI even as they distrust it. For public health leaders, the bigger risk isn’t the technology — it’s failing to engage with it and shape how it’s used.
forbes.com
In the military, vaccines have long been about readiness, not politics. As history has shown that disease can sideline more forces than the enemy, this is just a bad idea. #publichealth #readiness www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Annual flu vaccine no longer required for U.S. military, Hegseth says
The move alarmed some public health experts and legislators, who warned that it would weaken troop readiness.
washingtonpost.com
"Around 73% of all calls the Annapolis Fire Department responded to are for emergency medical services" - so, is this still a Fire Department? Seems to me that they need a new name. #EMS www.ems1.com/legislation-...
Md. city budget proposal adds peak-time medic unit, six FF/EMTs, medics
Annapolis mayor’s FY2027 plan would staff a fifth ambulance during high-demand hours as EMS calls make up nearly three-quarters of department responses
ems1.com
New York States new requirement for dash cameras in all ambulances promises gains in safety, accountability, and training. But without dedicated funding, the mandate is placing added financial strain on EMS agencies. #EMS #ambulance www.firehouse.com/apparatus/ty...
NY Mandates That All Ambulances are Equipped with Dash Cameras
New York State is requiring dash cameras for all ambulances and medical response vehicles, aiming to improve safety and accountability.
firehouse.com
Will I be "seeing" you at the Seventh Annual EMS Leadership Summit in May? I will be speaking about the self-analysis that is critical to leadership. #EMS #leadership www.emsleadershipsummit.com
Join the FREE EMS Leadership Summit
🚨 The EMS Leadership Summit is back! 🚨Join 25+ top EMS leaders & industry experts for this FREE virtual event, packed with powerful insights on leadership, innovation, and the future of EMS. 🚑💡✅ Learn...
emsleadershipsummit.com
The measles outbreaks in the US are still ongoing. Per the latest CDC data (updated April 10, 2026, for cases through April 9): 1,714 confirmed cases reported in 2026 so far, across 33 jurisdictions. #measles #publichealth www.koaa.com/health/babie...
‘Babies become sitting ducks’: Measles resurges in South Carolina amid anti-vaccine push
South Carolina’s measles outbreak, the worst in decades, is endangering babies as vaccination rates fall and anti-vaccine legislation gains momentum.
koaa.com
I have often referred to this putting the public back in public health, but humanizing public health is another great term for it. And it is necessary. #pandemic #publichealth www.newswise.com/articles/why...
Why Preventing the Next Pandemic Involves Humanizing Public Health | Newswise
Perry N. Halkitis, dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health, Halkitis says the greatest drivers of pandemics are often human: our emotions, beliefs, political systems and social conditions. Halkitis, author of the forthcoming book Humanizing Public Health: How Disease-Centered Approaches Have Failed Us, discusses why this shift is needed as the world prepares for future health crises.
newswise.com
Is this a step in the right direction? Yes. Ohio’s proposal to require ambulance coverage statewide is acknowledging a real problem—rural access gaps are growing. Making it work is the next critical step. #EMS #ambulance www.ems1.com/legislation-...
Ohio bill would require ambulance service statewide, target rural coverage gaps
The proposal would require local governments to ensure ambulance coverage and offer incentives for those that consolidate services with other entities
ems1.com
Is the future of EMS county-based? As demand grows and systems strain, local models alone may not be enough. County-level leadership could be the key to stable funding, workforce sustainability and regional coordination. #EMS www.hmpgloballearningnetwork.com/site/emsworl...
Is the Future of EMS County-Based?
EMS is undergoing a period of transition. Long-standing structural challenges such as reimbursement, rising costs, workforce sustainability, increasing service expectations, and governance fragmentation have exposed the limits of traditional local EMS models.
hmpgloballearningnetwork.com
That's the thing about effective public health measures, they are working in the background to protect and save you, even if you don't know it. #publichealth
APHL@aphl.org · 4mo agoThe outbreaks you never heard about? That's public health working exactly as it should. Read CDC's campaign highlighting how rapid detection and strong lab infrastructure stopped Marburg, Ebola, and more before they crossed borders. APHL members are part of that system every day. buff.ly/L0LKc0p
When people think of New York, they think NYC. But more than 2/3 of counties in New York are rural and those areas are seeing a growing EMS crisis with longer response times, fewer providers, and systems on the brink. #EMS www.dailygazette.com/cjfund/healt...
'Brink of collapse': rural EMS providers face challenges in New York
A new report released by the state’s Rural Ambulance Services Task Force describes the rural EMS system in New York as "teetering on the brink of collapse” and in need of "urgent government interventi...
dailygazette.com
One of the most thoughtful pieces I’ve read on EMS provider mental health. The key point: protecting the EMS workforce isn’t just about resilience, it’s a system design and governance issue. A must-read. #EMS #mentalhealth www.linkedin.com/pulse/unengi...
Unengineered: A Governance Argument for EMS Workforce Protection from First Shift to Last
Paramedics face high rates of injury, burnout, and suicide. EMS must engineer workforce protection from training through retirement.
linkedin.com
I’ve seen a lot of back-and-forth about this incident. So, what do you think? No one wants to play Monday morning quarterback, but there are real questions to be addressed here. #EMS #ambulance www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
US officer having a ‘mild anxiety attack’ took ambulance meant for man shot by police
Dyshan Best later died after having to wait 10 extra minutes for next ambulance, according to Connecticut investigation
theguardian.com
The resurgence of measles cases isn’t just about measles. It’s a sign that some of the basics of public health—vaccination coverage, trust in science, and prevention—are starting to slip. Makes me wonder what comes next. #measles #publichealth theconversation.com/we-study-pan...
We study pandemics, and the resurgence of measles is a grim sign of what’s coming
Controlling the spread of many infections, including measles, depends on trust in public health, which is eroding.
theconversation.com
Lots to unpack here but hopefully this incident will have the City reexamine some of its processes. #EMS #ambulance www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
She called 911 for an ambulance. She got a nightmare instead
Seattle no longer is capping ambulance wait times for certain 911 patients, tracking those waits or penalizing its contractor when they run long.
seattletimes.com
I think the word failure is being nice, I think the more appropriate term here is "irreversible damage to public health" #publichealth
Ken Milne MD@thesgem.bsky.social · 5mo ago'One year of failure.' The Lancet slams RFK Jr.'s first year as health chief flip.it/s37gDC
I think every EMS provider has a story about impatient family or bystanders, but moving the ambulance while the medics are inside working is next level #EMS #ambulance www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2...
‘Impatient’ man arrested after moving ambulance as medics worked inside, Brevard sheriff says
A 58-year-old man was arrested on Thursday after the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office say he climbed into a parked ambulance while paramedics were treating a patient and attempted to move the vehicle b...
clickorlando.com
"For decades, EMS reimbursement has depended on moving the ambulance. TIP flips that model, rewarding clinical judgment over mileage — if payers, protocols and QA can keep up." #EMS www.ems1.com/treat-in-pla...
Treatment in place: The future of EMS … and yes, someone has to pay for it
For decades, EMS reimbursement has depended on moving the ambulance. TIP flips that model, rewarding clinical judgment over mileage — if payers, protocols and QA can keep up.
ems1.com
A permanent EMS funding source is a big step forward. I worry about the county match requirement. The places struggling the most are often the least able to come up with matching dollars. #EMS #funding wchstv.com/news/local/h...
W.Va. House votes to create permanent EMS funding source; counties to match state dollars
The West Virginia House of Delegates has passed a bill aimed at stabilizing emergency medical services as squads across the state struggle with rising costs.
wchstv.com
Grateful Pittsburgh EMS is getting new ambulances. But bigger question: why are core emergency services being “rescued” by hospital systems like UPMC? EMS is essential infrastructure and shouldn’t depend on charitable gifts to stay operational. #EMS www.publicsource.org/upmc-gifts-p...
UPMC to give Pittsburgh $10 million for new ambulances
Mayor O’Connor announced a $10 million gift from UPMC that will pay for new ambulances in Pittsburgh, freeing up funds to buy 35 new trucks that can plow snow.
publicsource.org