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Emergency Medical Committee

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Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The Emergency Medical Committee (EMC) provides national leadership in incident emergency medical services (EMS) for wildland fire personnel. The EMC establishes NWCG standards that support rapid delivery of high quality emergency medical services on national interagency wildland fire incidents.

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Primary Objectives

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  • Establish wildland fire EMS operations, staffing, and equipment standards.
  • Establish standards that enable system-wide accountability, including quality assurance, medical direction and oversight, provider credentialing, and records maintenance.
  • Facilitate national mobility and availability of wildland fire EMS personnel.
  • Establish standardized EMS data collection practices for wildland fire incidents.
  • Collaborate with key stakeholders among the federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners in support of wildland fire EMS standardization and improvement efforts.
  • Contribute to the standardization of information technology systems (such as FireNet, IROC, etc.) to collect and distribute data, processes, forms, and other operational elements.

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Other Policy/Guidance Documents

The NWCG EMC annually recognizes and honors individuals and/or organizations who have demonstrated outstanding work, actions, or programs in emergency medical service for our nation’s wildland firefighters.  

The five Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Award categories include:  

  • Outstanding Wildfire EMS Individual of the Year
  • Outstanding Wildfire EMS Squad/Crew/Team of the Year
  • Outstanding Wildfire EMS Distinguished Service of the Year
  • Excellence in Wildfire Emergency Medical Service/Rescue
  • Janette Peterson Lifetime Achievement in Wildfire Emergency Medical Service 

2025 Award Nominations

To nominate an individual or group for an NWCG Wildland Fire EMS Award, complete this nomination form:

2025 Emergency Medical Service Award Nominations

Previous winners

 

Featured Links

Additional Resources

Critical Incident Stress Management(CISM)

Line-of-Duty Death (LODD)

Chair: Hnat, Mark

NWCG Coordinator: Gaskill, Steven

Parent Committee: N/A

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NWCG Latest Announcements

Leadership Committee IAP Flyer Now Available

Date:  May 8, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Leadership Committee

The NWCG Leadership Committee promotes and enables leadership development across the wildland fire service. The committee provides education, training opportunities, and support for leadership innovation and best practices throughout the community.

A new IAP flyer is now available on the committee website, offering an overview of the products, curriculum, and learning opportunities the Leadership Committee develops. This resource is ideal for posting in your office, sharing with new employees, or distributing through your incident management teams to engage new voices in the leadership journey and reinforce a culture of self‑reflection, development, and growth.

References:

Leadership Committee 2026 IAP Flyer

Incident Operations Subcommittee Updates the Next Generation Position Task Book for FFT1

Date:  May 7, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Incident Operations Subcommittee

The NWCG Incident Operations Subcommittee (IOSC) has updated the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1 (Squad Boss) (FFT1), PMS 311‑14. The FFT1 Position Task Book transitioned to the Next Generation (Next Gen PTB) format in June 2025 through the Incident Performance and Training Modernization effort. Since then, IOSC has received feedback from the wildland fire community regarding coding for one of the tasks. Task #13 has been updated to include the option of evaluation in a simulation.

See IOSC Memorandum 26‑01: Transition Plan for Implementation of Updates to the NWCG Position Task Book for Firefighter Type 1 (Squad Boss) (FFT1), PMS 311‑14 for more information.

References:

IOSC Memorandum 26-01: Transition Plan for Implementation of Updates to the NWCG Postion Task Book for Firefighter Type 1

NWCG Firefighter Type 1 Squad Boss Position Page 

NEW! S-212, Intermediate Faller (Online) Course Available Now 

Date:  April 23, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: Hazard Tree and Tree Felling Subcommittee

NWCG is pleased to announce that the new S‑212, Intermediate Faller (Online), course is now available on the Wildland Fire Learning Portal (WFLP). This second course in the series provides students with the knowledge and skills required to perform the duties of an Intermediate Faller (FAL2), as described in the FAL2 Incident Position Description. This course is intended for individuals seeking to advance from Basic Faller (FAL3) to FAL2.

S‑212, Intermediate Faller is a fully online, self‑paced training program consisting of 13 units. Learners will engage with interactive, scenario‑based content designed to progressively build foundational skills and knowledge essential for the FAL2 role.

Students must be qualified as a Basic Faller (FAL3) prior to enrolling in S‑212, Intermediate Faller course.

Any changes to qualification pathways will take effect with the next update of the NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Position Qualifications, PMS 310-1, scheduled for January 2027.

References:

S-212 Intermediate Faller (Online)

RMC Memo 26-01: Transition Plan for Implementing Updates to Intermediate Faller (FAL2) Position Qualifications

Intermediate Faller (FAL2) Position Page

NWCG Standards for Wildland Fire Chainsaw Operations, PMS 212

New Aircraft Flight Schedule Form, PMS 249

Date:  April 17, 2026
Questions? 
Please contact: National Coordination System Committee

A new publication from the National Coordination System Committee (NCSC) is now available. The NWCG Aircraft Flight Schedule Form, PMS 249, will be used for aviation crews and dispatch to share flight information that is needed for resource tracking, and if needed, for emergency procedures.

For further details, please contact your NCSC representative. 

References:

NCSC Memo 26-01: Implementation of NWCG Aircraft Flight Schedule Form, PMS 249

NWCG Aircraft Flight Schedule Form, PMS 249