State EMS Office Excellence Awards Program

State EMS Office of the Year

Recognizes a state EMS office that has demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and measurable impact across all facets of EMS system development, coordination, and oversight; celebrates a comprehensive commitment to advancing EMS at the state level, addressing challenges, and setting benchmarks for excellence. 

Hawaii –  Advancing Longitudinal, Optimized, and Harmonized Access to Health Information (ALOHA) EMS & Trauma HealthLink Initiative
Selected for achieving something no other state has: 100% statewide interoperability across multiple partners on a single platform. The ALOHA EMS & Trauma HealthLink Initiative demonstrates complete, measurable, and replicable system modernization at scale.

Excellence in Regulatory Modernization and Oversight

Recognizes a state EMS office for outstanding efforts in modernizing and overseeing regulations to improve EMS systems' effectiveness, sustainability, and operational integrity. 

Maine – Plan for a Sustainable EMS System in the State of Maine: A Vision for 2035 
Selected for undertaking a multi-year, collaborative implementation of a statewide EMS vision and plan that is modernizing oversight structures, strengthening professionalization, and securing new, sustainable funding to enhance Maine’s EMS system resilience and reliability. Learn more.

Data-Driven Excellence

Recognizes a state EMS office that, through its data staff, demonstrates exceptional use of data and analytics to drive system improvements, policy decisions, or public transparency. 

Connecticut – Overdose Query Quality Improvement Initiative 
Selected for transforming high-quality EMS data into actionable analytics that have directly informed statewide system improvements, guided evidence-based policy decisions, and enhanced transparent reporting to stakeholders and the public. Learn more.

Workforce Recruitment, Retention, and Sustainability

Recognizes a state EMS office for innovative and effective programs aimed at addressing the challenges of recruitment, retention, and workforce sustainability in the EMS field; celebrates initiatives that strengthen the workforce and ensure its long-term viability. 

New York – Mental Health & Wellness Symposium and Fellowship
Selected for creating a free statewide symposium and year-long fellowship that normalizes provider wellness. These dual initiatives trained resiliency leaders in every EMS region, and embedded sustainable peer support structures that make EMS careers more attractive and enduring across New York State.

Innovation

Celebrates state EMS offices that have demonstrated creative and impactful use of innovation to address challenges, improve system performance, or enhance provider and patient experiences. 

Indiana – EMS Readiness Fund
Selected for designing a coordinated EMS Readiness Fund that strengthens the state's EMS infrastructure and workplace. Learn more.

Virgin Islands – EMS for Children Program Disaster Initiative
Selected for creatively uniting territorial agencies and communities to build pediatric-focused clinical protocols, disaster communications, and full-scale exercises that measurably strengthen coordinated response and improve pediatric patient and provider experiences across the U.S. Virgin Islands. Learn more.