08/08/2026
An open letter to the supporters and friends of The National EMS Museum
The National EMS Museum has been around as an organization since 2006 - twenty years now. But honestly, since our inception, we’ve struggled to find our footing and our place in the EMS world. We’ve struggled to be relevant, to be better known, and to obtain adequate funding so that we can steadily grow. Candidly, we’ve come close to closing our “doors” twice. As we go through 2026, there are just four volunteers keeping the idea of a museum dedicated to EMS going. We have a little over 100 members and donors. Not exactly big numbers. We recognize that.
But we’re not ready to give up!
Several months ago, we held a meeting with a smart and talented group of EMS leaders - people whose opinions we value because of the role they’ve played in the development of EMS over the years. We had a great discussion. Out of that discussion, we decided on a path forward for the museum. We wanted to share that path forward with you.
We have determined that the only realistic way we can seek to preserve the history of EMS and to best tell the story of EMS is to significantly upgrade our website - to make our website the museum for all intents and purposes. Our original plans - from back in the day when we started - for a “brick and mortar” museum someday or even a “mobile museum” are not realistic without an immense amount of financial and staff support. We just haven’t been able to raise that kind of funding. But an improved website is financially feasible. That’s where we think we should focus our efforts going forward.
To that end, we have entered into a relationship with a contractor that specializes in designing and constructing effective websites. We hope to have some notable improvements in the appearance and functionality of our website up soon. We’ll keep you apprised of our progress.
Here’s where you come in.
One of the important changes we’re working on is a way for people in the EMS community to submit content for our website. That includes photographs, articles, memoirs, biographies, scans of documents, bits of EMS history - basically anything that tells the story of EMS. We want to be the national “depository” of the EMS story. We need you to help us make that happen. We can’t do it by ourselves.
We’ll have a button somewhere on our homepage that allows you to submit content. Our job will be to make sure that content submitted is appropriate and to figure out where best to “park” it as part of our website exhibits.
We’ve heard many times over the years - “That’s a great idea; I’m glad you guys are doing that.” when it comes to the museum. But that sentiment doesn’t translate very often to any kind of support, financial or otherwise - especially from the EMS community. If we don’t have the backing of the EMS community, this museum isn’t going to happen. We need you! We hope to get content from a wide range of the EMS community. In addition, the majority of any funding we receive will go toward the maintenance and continued improvement of our website.
We want The National EMS Museum website to be THE place people go when they want to learn about the history of EMS or to tell and read the stories that make up the amazing profession so many of us love and appreciate. We hope you’ll join us on this continuing journey.
Stay tuned for further information. And thanks for listening!
