Proclamation 5706 --
Emergency Medical Services Week, 1987
September 23, 1987
By
the President of the United States of
America
A
Proclamation
We
can all be extremely proud of and grateful for those who staff our Nation's
emergency medical services (EMS). They make a tremendous difference in
our land as they save lives and care for the injured and the critically ill.
Dedicated physicians, nurses, paramedics, park rangers, fire fighters, law
enforcement officers, and countless devoted volunteers form a system that works
daily for the safety and well-being of all Americans. Many perform their tasks
under severe conditions, and many risk their lives to rescue accident victims;
all of them make EMS a national success.
Most
of us can tell from personal experience of quick, efficient EMS teams who have saved
the lives of people we know and love. Despite these many successes, however,
more than 750,000 Americans continue to lose their lives from emergencies each
year. That is why EMS teams across our country strive constantly to
improve their remarkable lifesaving record. They work to upgrade their training
and skills, to find new methods and better equipment, and to establish
nationwide standards for EMS training and the delivery of care.
Additionally, they work to teach citizens what to do when emergencies confront
us in our homes, places of work, or on the street.
We
can all recognize, appreciate, encourage, and support our local emergency
medical services teams. We can also improve the current EMS system by developing
awareness of accident prevention, by following good health practices, and by
learning CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation). These personal efforts can help
make life safer for all of us.
The
Congress, by House Joint Resolution 134, has designated the week of September
20 through September 26, 1987, as ``National
Emergency Medical Services Week'' and authorized and requested the President to
issue a proclamation in observance of this event.
Now,
Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim the week of September 20
through September 26, 1987, as National Emergency
Medical Services Week, and I call upon all Americans to participate in
appropriate ceremonies and activities.
In
Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of
September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-seven, and of
the Independence of the United States of
America the two hundred and twelfth.
Ronald
Reagan
[Filed with the Office
of the Federal Register, 11:52 a.m., September 24, 1987]