SE Region EMS Council

The SE Region EMS Council was incorporated and established as a 501(c)(3) non-profit in May 1977 in response to the State of Alaska’s determination of ‘regions’ within the state. 1977 was the first year that the regions received State operating grant funds. Currently, there are 7 recognized regions with SE Region encompassing the area that runs from Yakutat in the north to Metlakatla in the south.

The SEREMS office is located in Sitka, with staff located in several Southeast communities. Southeast Alaska has a land area of 35,138 square miles (91,010 km²) comprising six entire boroughs and three census areas. Due to the geography, SE Alaska is known as the land of 1000 islands, with few being accessible to each other by roads.

Southeast Alaska is comprised of a 600-mile long narrow strip of mainland coastline that is an average of 120 miles wide on the east and hundreds of islands in the Alexander Archipelago on the west. Six of these islands are over 1,000 square miles each in area. These are Prince of Wales, Chichagof, Admiralty, Baranof, Revillagigedo, and Kupreanof islands.

Mainland and island areas of the region share mountainous topography, a maritime climate characterized by high levels of rain and snowfall, and mild temperatures. There are nearly 10,000 miles of shoreline along the islands and mainland, which are separated by sounds, straits, canals, narrows, passages, and channels. Many of these are protected waters, while others are treacherous passages with unmarked navigation hazards that can change quickly from calm to stormy waterways.

Although it has only 6.14% of Alaska's land area, our region is larger than the state of Maine and almost as large as the state of Indiana. The Southeast Alaskan coast is roughly as long as the west coast of Canada.

Due to the extremely rugged, mountainous nature of Southeastern Alaska, almost all communities have no road connections outside of their locale. Aircraft and boats are the major means of transport. The environment has made Southeast Alaska good habitat for creatures of the land and sea, including humans. However, the mountainous terrain limits settlements to the coastline. Overland travel within the area is very difficult due to the dense forests, and overland travel out of the area is limited by the routes through the mountains.

Added to our 72,000 residents are the millions of visitors annually that cruise the Inside Passage, putting stress on all of the SE Infrastructure. The same number of passengers on cruise ships that dock in Juneau also dock in Skagway, which has 1/10 the capability and resources as Juneau. These floating ‘communities’, as SEREMS refers to them, can increase a community's year-round population by greater than 100%.

SEREMS is also the owner/author of the Emergency Trauma Technician (ETT) course, which was first developed in the early 1980’s for remote/rural workers in the timber, fishing, and mining industries. The course is now used across the state as Alaska’s first responder course and has evolved to include medical situations that an ETT might encounter in remote communities. The ETT course and book are currently being revised in light of new National Standards for EMS education, but will still retain the critical Alaska-specific information necessary when there is delayed transport or no ability to access higher EMS care in the community.

SEREMS also conducts an annual EMS symposium that offers quality CME for all levels of EMS, nurses, mid-levels, and physicians. SEREMS continually strives to improve the continuum of care, placing significant emphasis on clinical-level education while never forgetting the first responders and their needs. This allows medical directors and their services to learn and work side by side.

SEREMS prides itself on being the resource for ‘all things EMS’ for Southeast Alaska. Whether it is problems with training, equipment, disaster planning, communication, recruitment/retention, or management issues, they know that SEREMS will get them either the answers or leads to where they can find them.