Company: NorthStar EMS, Tuscaloosa, AL
Company Description: Founded April 1, 1992, NEMS is Alabama’s premier ambulance serving ten counties. NEMS provides a full range of medical transportation services: Basic Life Support (BLS), Advanced Life Support (ALS),Specialty Care Transport (SCT), Neonatal transportation, stretcher/wheelchair van services, EMS education, billing, dispatch and EMS consultation services.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Department Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year - Public Services & Education

Nomination Title: NorthStar EMS

Tell the story about what this nominated department achieved since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

The birth of NorthStar EMS (NEMS) was predicated on a desire to provide
excellent prehosptial emergency care for the community.; NEMS ran its first call
on April 1, 1992.; This call to excellence resulted in NEMS being recognized as
the largest private EMS provider in the State of Alabama.

During the past year, NEMS noted that the company’s growth was such that it was
losing its personal touch that had differentiated it from other EMS services.
As such, NEMS embarked on a journey to begin changing its culture.; There were
many discussions about our “purpose” and “why we do what we do.”; It was
important to define and embrace core values that had always been understood, but
not quite spelled out.

With a new mission statement clearly defined, and core values identified that
would guide our business activities, it was easy to begin developing our vision
for our future.; Many of our Team Members live in and have family in the
communities we serve.; We didn’t want to be just another ambulance company, but
we wanted to be recognized as a true community partner founded on trust and
stability!

Our Team Members began to understand that our mission statement didn’t just
apply to providing medical care.; But, that “care” can take the form of; “words”
and “actions.”; Our employees began coming to work with a renewed commitment to
“providing personalized and professional care to our community!”
Our marketing team worked with operating units to identify projects for their
respective communities.; The primary events that served as our turning point
were: NEMS’ Jefferson County, AL operations issued a challenge between the four
major ambulance services within the Birmingham metropolitan area during
Thanksgiving 2008.; A local charity, the Jimmie Hale Mission which helps the
homeless by providing food and shelter, would be the recipient.; Our goal:;
which service could fill an ambulance with food?; The result was that over 1,600
pounds of food was donated.; It didn’t matter who won the contest…as everyone won!

During Christmas 2008, NEMS revamped our “Home for the Holidays” program and now
offered it throughout each of our nine county operations.; While we have always
known how special this service has been in the past, our new sense of wanting to
“care” brought about an entirely new and fresh emotion.; We do care about people
and want to help them if we can.

All of a sudden, we have found that our Team was beginning to look for
opportunities to get involved in the community.; Many of our activities are
highlighted in the News & Information section on our website:
www.northstar-ems.com

The premise for this nomination is that EMS is more than just responding to
emergencies and providing medical care and transportation.; Providing “CARE”
means so much more than just a physical act.; It truly includes meeting people’s
emotional and even spiritual needs as well.; We are experiencing a positive
culture change that is having a significant impact on our co-workers and the
community we serve.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.northstar-ems.us/
http://www.northstar-ems.us/information/news/
http://www.northstar-ems.us/information/newsletter-archive/

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated customer service organization:

Brent H. Dierking, Director
Business Development & Strategic Planning

Responsible for providing multi-site EMS oversight and direction to meet
performance standards based on short and long-term business strategies. Dierking
is continuously developing, implementing, and enhancing integrated operations
and business development strategies in order to ensure NEMS competitive and
successful place in the local markets. He also ensures superior customer
relations through regular visits with contracted and prospective clients.
Dierking also plays a key role in arranging for providing education, support and
services that will contribute to the success of local community/business relations.