If there is one phone number known to every adult – and even most children – in America, it’s 911. Urban or rural, English-speaking or not, every citizen knows that in an emergency, you dial those three digits and expert help will come.

Help will come in the form of the EMTs, firefighters, paramedics and registered nurses who provide emergency care to anyone and everyone who calls. This week, May 15-21, is celebrated nationwide as National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Week. Join us as we pause to remember that medical care often takes place outside of the safe, insulated and well-lit hospital environment. Emergency care can start in a patient’s home or place of work. It can start on a busy sidewalk, in the tangled remains of an SUV, or down a muddy embankment in the rain. The help never takes a holiday, and it arrives without regard for time of day, weather or safety conditions.

This year, EMS week has a fitting theme of Called to Care. It’s also being celebrated as the 50th anniversary of the modern EMS system and its 50 years marked by great change and innovation.

This week, we celebrate the people who make the system strong. Please join all of us at Merit Health Natchez in thanking our local EMS providers and those across the country who are Called to Care in a career that demands passion, purpose and heart. We are proud to work with them for patient care!

Eric Robinson

Chief executive officer, Merit Health Natchez