EMS, EMS or EMS?

  • Published
  • By Mike Jago
  • 14th Civil Engineer Squadron Environmental Chief
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  The military loves acronyms.  Most people would understand "ASAP", "M-16" or "Sgt." if they saw it, but EMS may forever be the one that shows up after you call 911; at least to me and everyone I directly ask.

Apparently we have at least three people at Columbus Air Force Base that have "EMS manager" as their duty title and it means very different things for each position. One is the emergency 911 manager aka Emergency Medical Services, the other one takes care of military evaluation records aka Evaluation Management System, but the one I want to talk about works with bugs and bunnies.

Let me tell you about the Environmental Management System manager, Ms. Kim Davis. Her job is to make all the wheels turn on the EMS machine. The first moving part of the machine is the Wing Commander's EMS policy. It gets to be first because a policy is enforceable and demands a standard be met. For the military, failure to follow official policy is a violation of UCMJ article 103, which is a firing offense. So, the first EMS may save your life, the second may get you promoted, but the bugs and bunnies ems can get you in hot water?  Yep, that sums it up.

This policy is posted in your work center with a photo on it of Col. John Nichols, 14th Flying Training Wing Commander. Basically, the EMS policy states we will recycle because congress declared that we will not put chemicals and trash where they don't belong, and think about better ways to take care of the base and community. 

The next wheel of the EMS machine is you. Your predecessors have already built recycling into your work area, identified the chemicals and registered them with any hazards appropriately. They have also worked with Bioenvironmental engineering to get rid of any work place hazards. Even after that, plenty of work remains. Everyone must maintain the protections already in place, meaning training and upkeep on machines and equipment. New equipment and processes mean the older protocol may no longer be valid. Standards change and pollution regulations tighten so the old way may not be good enough. Office and staff workers are not exempt from this pattern. Offices are not what they were ten years ago and are far different than 30 years ago. Look around and make sure the changes haven't left you with a "we always did it that way" problem. There are lots of remnants of technology around that don't do anything anymore, consider putting them in the scrap heap for recycling.

The EMS machine has about 18 or more wheels which contain problems that can't be fixed at your level, especially if you are a technician. One of the tasks built in to EMS was to identify each and every task done on Columbus Air Force Base and make sure it doesn't create problems elsewhere. Since Bioenvironmental and Safety have already done most of this work already, the next look was to evaluate the trash. The trash in question is the stuff coming off Columbus AFB to include rain water, sewage, smoke, chemicals, metals and garbage. EMS demands we turn over the trash and take a hard look at it.  What is in there that shouldn't be? Can we sell the metal scrap? Is the washing process for weapons causing water pollution? Is the wash water from aircraft engines safe?  And so on.

Once the problems are identified, they must be divided into aspects and opportunities. These must be discussed at your environmental representatives meetings with Hazardous Material Management Program and the Unit Environmental Coordinator. The issues Airmen cannot solve or don't have the money to solve, get elevated. Problems the base can't fix now or need a long term solution get discussed and planned at the command level. Another level, another wheel, which proves the EMS process works best when informal.   

You have the power to make a positive and long term impact on your future. By using EMS, you get to make decisions in your area and you get to contribute to the Air Force making smarter choices about where we will invest next. 

You can learn more about the USAF EMS program by visiting https://cs1.eis.af.mil/sites/edash-ins3/Columbus/SitePages/Home.aspx.