In this episode of the EMS One-Stop podcast, host Rob Lawrence sits down with returning guest Chief Robbie MacCue of Colonie EMS (New York) to explore the transformative potential of the .
Funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, SS4A aims to prevent roadway fatalities and enhance post-crash care. With $5 billion available nationwide and $900 million still on the table for FY25, this conversation is a call to action for EMS agencies across the country.
Chief MacCue shares the story of how his department, in collaboration with neighboring EMS and police agencies, secured $2.4 million in SS4A funding for a project focused on innovative vehicle alert systems, prehospital health information exchange and groundwork for whole blood deployment.
From demystifying the grant application to defining success metrics and compliance reporting, this episode breaks it all down 鈥� turning policy into practice, and complexity into impact.
Memorable quotes
- 鈥淚 was pretty taken back by the statistic that 40% of these patients were alive when EMS arrived and later died. Those are patients that are talking to us that are no longer living after a crash.鈥� 鈥� Robbie MacCue
- 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 free money. It comes with reporting requirements, match funding and responsibility 鈥� but there鈥檚 help out there, and it鈥檚 absolutely worth it.鈥� 鈥� Robbie MacCue
- 鈥淥ur goal is to go upstream to the source of the problem. How do we stop the bleeding? How do we stop some of these accidents from actually happening?鈥� 鈥� Robbie MacCue
- 鈥淲e put a two-page narrative together that generated a $3,000,000 regional application 鈥� based on simple principles about statistics.鈥� 鈥� Robbie MacCue
- 鈥淧ost-crash care is definitely a missing element in the Safe System Approach 鈥� and EMS needs to be part of the solution, not just the response.鈥� 鈥� Robbie MacCue
- 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to have all the solutions right away. You just have to have the initiative to get with other like-minded people.鈥� 鈥� Robbie MacCue
- 鈥淭his project isn鈥檛 just for crashes. It will also help us with high-utilizer patients and improve reimbursement accuracy by connecting data silos.鈥� 鈥� Robbie MacCue
- 鈥淪omebody emailed me in the week to say that the EMS One-Stop podcast is the podcast that鈥檚 able to turn a very complex EMS topic into a car bumper sticker. So there you go. If we鈥檙e doing that and we can achieve that, then we鈥檙e getting somewhere.鈥� 鈥� Rob Lawrence
Episode timeline
- 00:00-02:00 鈥� Intro to SS4A and the scale of available funding ($5B)
- 02:00-04:00 鈥� Why post-crash care matters: 42% of patients alive at EMS arrival die later
- 04:00-07:00 鈥� How Colonie EMS discovered and approached the SS4A opportunity
- 07:00-10:00 鈥� Building a regional grant application and tripling the funding
- 10:00-13:30 鈥� Overview of the proposed project 鈥� transponder tech, health information exchange and whole blood
- 13:30-17:00 鈥� Specific technology being explored and integration challenges
- 17:00-20:00 鈥� Working with MPOs, consultants and navigating acronyms
- 20:00-25:00 鈥� Finding the 20% match, leveraging in-kind contributions and funding timelines
- 25:00-30:00 鈥� Federal reporting requirements and budgeting with SF-424A
- 30:00-35:00 鈥� The big goal: Closing the outcome data loop and EMS-hospital data sharing
- 35:00-40:00 鈥� Measuring success, from whole blood to vehicle alerts
- 40:00-42:30 鈥� Robbie鈥檚 final advice: 鈥淒on鈥檛 be intimidated 鈥� reach out and apply.鈥�
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- SS4A Application Portal & Resources:
Looking to navigate the complexities of grants funding? Lexipol is your go-to resource for state-specific, fully-developed grants services that can help fund your needs. Find out more about our grants services here.
