Earthquake: Experts believe that an 8.0 magnitude tremblor is long overdue for – not California – but the Midwest.

Turkey and Syria earthquakes: The growing number of fatalities brings a greater awareness of human vulnerability to everyone.

For ambulance agencies, one of the most important factors to consider is EMS response times – which is sometimes a large community problem.

EMS Community Risk Reduction plans – to collect and analyze fire and EMS data – play an important role in mitigation.

Surviving natural disasters and their aftermath is possible. However, preparation and understanding community resources is essential.

To solve agency problems, EMS agencies nationwide need to focus on offering professional development opportunities to current employees.

To fix ongoing issues such as volunteer recruitment and retention, EMS agency leaders need to pay more attention to best practices.

Disasters typically involve businesses, public transportation, first responder organizations, homeowners, power companies and schools.

One new idea that EMS leaders should consider is whether paramedics should be in school systems acting as school nurses.