Matthew Tirschwell had watched volunteer EMS agencies across New York State follow the same downward trend for years: funds were scarce, leadership was lacking, and with no succession planning or financial oversight in place, there was no formal effort to develop the next generation of leaders. In 2018, he founded EMS Access.
Matthew started by approaching Nicholas Sopkin, a lifelong friend who brings over two decades of investment banking experience and a decade as treasurer for a major nonprofit. After meeting at the first EMS Access Summit in 2022, Steven Blocker came on board, bringing firsthand fire and EMS leadership experience, having risen to EMS Chief at his own volunteer agency on Long Island. Michael Schlechter joined next, a longtime EMS Chief who brings the perspective of someone who has written his own agency's bylaws and SOPs from the ground up, and the management consulting expertise to help others do the same. Steven Jaffe is the most recent addition, bringing decades of education, community leadership and volunteer service on Fire Island.
Together, they run EMS Access, partnering with volunteer agencies to build the governance, financial, and operational systems that allow the work of serving their communities to come first. They are not consultants studying these organizations from the outside. They have led the crews, sat on the boards, and built and run the businesses.
Clinical care in our agencies is strong, but the back office is where we struggle. This is a solvable problem and what keeps me in it is straightforward: the work matters, and it matters most to people on the worst day of their lives.
— Michael Schlechter
I have watched small agencies deliver clinical care on par with the most respected organizations in the field, and still close their doors. What separated them wasn’t the quality of care. It was whether the organization was managed with the discipline of a well-run business.
— Steven Blocker
My time here has been spent doing the actual work of supporting the accounting, board documentation, and membership analysis for the agencies themselves. I have seen how much lighter the load gets when someone who does this for a living sits down to help.
— Nicholas Sopkin
I've witnessed firsthand the direct impact that local infrastructure has on the people depending on it. I'm involved with EMS Access to ensure frontline first responders have the tools and resources to focus on what matters most.
— Steven Jaffe
Leadership
Strong organizations don't depend on any one person.
The bylaws, SOPs, and governance frameworks EMS Access helps put in place give agencies the structure to lead effectively through leadership transitions, annual elections, and whatever comes next, long after our work together is done.
Cooperation
Our fellowships are built on partnership.
We work hand in hand with agency leadership to understand the specific challenges each organization faces and develop solutions to fit their unique needs. Our own summits extend that spirit of cooperation further, creating space for agencies to learn from and support one another.
Transparency
Financial health starts with visibility and accessibility.
EMS Access helps agencies move from informal ledgers to modern bookkeeping systems that produce clear, accurate reporting, making it easier to manage funds responsibly, demonstrate accountability, and build lasting trust within their own organizations and communities. Measurement without culture produces reports nobody reads, and culture without measurement produces good intentions that drift.