It’s National EMS Week, and it’s the perfect opportunity to recognize and thank the EMS workers who are rising to the often daunting challenge of caring for those who have been exposed to the coronavirus across the country.

EMS professionals like Laura Hartnett in New York; Blake Andersen in California; and Michelle Prentice, Patti Davidson and Seth Cribb in Arizona continue to work double-shifts, often without adequate supplies of personal protective gear, in the collective effort to curb the effects and spread of the pandemic.

EMS workers, unfortunately, are one of the many fields whose jobs will be decimated by state and local budget cuts without the aid of the HEROES Act, recently passed by the House of Representatives.

AFSCME President Lee Saunders, urging the president to sign the bill into law, said “A crisis of this magnitude demands the boldest possible response, and this bill meets the moment.”

Read more about National EMS Week and the importance of the HEROES Act here.