Ventura County Paramedic Honored for Creating Modern and More Effective EMS Model

When someone calls 911, the first few minutes can determine everything.

Yet veteran AMR paramedic, Mark Rock, noticed something surprising while teaching future EMS professionals: many of the patient assessment models being taught relied on processes developed decades ago, most of which no longer reflected sound medicine and/or didn’t consider the realities of emergency medical practice in the field setting.

While teaching paramedic students at a local college, Rock observed students taking as long as 10 to 12 minutes to complete patient assessments, often with inconsistent accuracy in diagnosing patients at the scene of an emergency. He also noticed that many assessment practices had not kept pace with evidence-based developments that were already standard in clinical medicine but had not found their way into field protocols.

Rock believed there had to be a better way.

Rock developed the “21st Century Patient Assessment” Model, a framework that reorganizes how EMS professionals evaluate patients during emergencies. The model prioritizes life-threatening conditions earlier, simplifies the assessment process and places greater emphasis on scene control, critical thinking, teamwork and leadership. For patients, the impact is straightforward: faster recognition of life-threatening conditions, quicker interventions and more efficient decision-making during emergencies.

Today, the framework has been incorporated into Ventura County's Universal Patient Care Guidelines, published nationally in JEMS Magazine, featured in European EMS publications and recognized by EMS leaders around the world. For his contributions to advancing EMS protocols and field medicine, Rock has been named a 2026 Star of Life honoree, one of the highest recognitions in emergency medical services.

"Every minute matters during a medical emergency," Rock said. "The goal was to create a system that helps providers identify problems faster, prioritize what matters most and provide patients with the best possible care."

What was the old model?
For decades, emergency medical services relied on patient assessment models that were largely unchanged from the 1970s and 1980s and included disconnected mnemonics and assessment stages. Students often became focused on remembering the steps instead of understanding what was happening with the patient. In simulations, assessments would just take too long.

The older framework also prioritized some interventions in a sequence that no longer reflected current medical evidence. For example, severe bleeding might not be addressed until well into the assessment process at the scene of an emergency, despite research showing that uncontrolled hemorrhage is often the most immediate threat to survival.

What changes were made?

Rock's "21st Century Patient Assessment" model reorganized the assessment process around three major concepts:

• Address the most immediate threats first, including catastrophic bleeding.
• Simplify, streamline, and re-compartmentalize assessment steps so providers are able to evaluate patients in a manner that’s at once intuitive, thorough, and diagnostically focused while spending less time learning and following static mnemonics.
• Expand scene safety into "scene control," requiring crews to actively manage the entire field environment in a manner that optimizes patient assessment and treatment: remove hazards, improve lighting, eliminate distractions, coordinate resources, and overall create conditions that support better patient care.

Instead of viewing patient assessment as a checklist, the model emphasizes critical thinking, teamwork, delegation and leadership.

What is the result?
When Rock tested the model with his Palomar College EMS students, diagnostic accuracy improved dramatically, rising to more than 90 percent. Assessment times were also cut nearly in half, dropping from as much as 10 to 12 minutes to approximately five to seven minutes.

AMR colleagues say the innovation reflects Rock's decades-long commitment to improving not only patient care, but the profession itself.

After more than 30 years in EMS, Rock hopes the conversation he started will continue to grow.

"Field medicine is constantly evolving," he said. "The responsibility we have is to keep learning, keep improving and make sure our practices reflect the best evidence available."

Rock is one of 33 first responders within AMR’s parent company, Global Medical Response, selected for the 2026 Stars of Life program and will join honorees from across the country in Washington, D.C. in November. The national program recognizes EMS professionals whose service has made a meaningful difference for patients, colleagues, and communities. During the program, honorees will also have opportunities to visit Capitol Hill, meet with lawmakers, and share their experiences in EMS with those shaping policies that affect the profession and the communities they serve.