The Florida College of Emergency Physicians (FCEP) and Florida Emergency Medicine Foundation (FEMF) have been awarded two Florida Department of Health EMS Matching Grants as a part of the organizations' continuous mission to provide educational opportunities to all Florida first responders.

Empowering our Heroes - Promoting and Preserving Mental Wellness in EMS will be a webinar series that approaches issues of mental wellness of EMS personnel from an awareness standpoint, serving as a method by which to educate its target audience about the problem, how it can and does affect one's life, and review what resources exist to help and explain what to do next. Each webinar will be created by subject matter experts in the field of psychiatry, psychology and/or emergency medicine with particular experience working with EMS professionals.

"Programs like these, especially concerning mental wellness, are important to our organization's mission to provide lifesaving education to lifesavers -- which includes addressing the health & wellness of our emergency medicine and EMS professionals," EMLRC Director of Education Niala Ramoutar says. "EMS wellness is a topic often not typically addressed within the EMS community, but it is our hope that this webinar series will not only promote awareness and provide a better understanding of the issue of mental wellness but also show that it is key a component of longevity."

Lightning, Gators, and Tractors...Oh My: Florida's Environmental Emergencies will also be a webinar series that will review one topic related to environmental and/or wilderness medicine specific to the State of Florida. The program will discuss signs and symptoms, typical presentations, and on-site treatment & management of each identified topic. Topics may include, but are not limited to agricultural-related injured; bites and stings; heat-related injuries; animal and reptile attacks lightning strikes; water-related incidents; and poisonous plants.

"Florida is a very unique environment, which calls for having knowledge of a wide variety of environmental- or wilderness-related medicine particularly on the part of the emergency medicine provider," Ramoutar says. "From beaches to forestry, alligators to bee, farming to tourism each characteristic that makes Florida unique but also brings with it a special set of medical needs therefore providing the EM and EMS community with training and education regarding these topics is critical."

FCEP and FEMF were awarded two EMS Matching Grants in 2016 entitled Street Drugs Webinar Series and Unfamiliar Pediatrics: A Closer Look. The FCEP/FEMF is headquartered in Orlando, Fla. at the Emergency Medicine Learning and Resource Center (EMLRC). FEMF serves as a continuing education provider for all pre-hospital, emergency nurses/physicians and other public health providers across the State of Florida.