Release Number: HQ-10-219

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Deputy Administrator Rich Serino addressed the 2010 American Ambulance Association at its annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Deputy Administrator Serino spoke about the importance of working together as a team to respond to and recover from emergencies.  Serino also urged the audience to incorporate the needs and capabilities of the entire community, including children and people with disabilities, when planning for disaster response and recovery.

"The American Ambulance Association is a crucial member of our national emergency management team and I appreciate the opportunity to talk with them about how we can work together to keep communities safe," said Deputy Administrator Serino.  "Every day, ambulance services are doing great work to provide medical transportation and emergency medical services in communities throughout our country. This conference gave me the chance to hear directly from them about how FEMA can better support their critical efforts, and how we can all better incorporate the needs of all members of our community."

Deputy Administrator Serino has more than 35 years experience in local emergency medical services- starting as a volunteer on the Boston ambulance squad and retiring last fall as Chief of Department of Boston EMS and Assistant Director of the Boston Public Health Commission.

The American Ambulance Association was founded in 1979 in response to the need for improvements in medical transportation and emergency medical services.  The Association represents ambulance services across the United States that participate in serving more than 75 percent of the U.S. population with emergency and nonemergency care and medical transportation services.  For more information, visit www.the-aaa.org.

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.