BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — National EMS week was designed to recognize the contributions of the many healthcare professionals who work on the medical front line. 

This year, the special week is observed from May 15 to May 21.

On Sunday, the Baton Rouge Fire Department (BRFD) took to Facebook to honor local emergency medical technicians and paramedics for EMS week. 

BRFD:

They work under tough conditions, often putting their own safety and well-being at risk. But they never give up, and they never stop caring for patients and their families.

The post also honored East Baton Rouge Parish Emergency Medical Services, with BRFD praising them for providing, “top-quality emergency medical care to the citizens of Baton Rouge” and the fire department also noted that these men and women are “often taken for granted.” 

BRFD added that for the remainder of National EMS Week, it will use its Facebook page to post topics related to emergency medical services.

Their schedule of topics is as follows:

Sunday, May 15: Health, Wellness, and Resilience Day

Monday, May 16: EMS Education Day

Tuesday, May 17: EMS Safety Day

Wednesday, May 18: EMS for Children’s Day

Thursday, May 19: Save-A-Life Day (CPR & National Stop the Bleed Day)

Friday, May 20: EMS Recognition Day

The 2020 National EMS Assessment reported a total of 1,030,760 licensed EMS professionals, from emergency medical responders to paramedics, in the U.S.

According to one source, some of the frequent challenges EMS professionals face on the job include verbal and physical abuse or assault, working 16 to 24-hour shifts, and being called upon for non-emergency situations.