TPF initiative · Administered by The Paramedic Foundation · Founded 2005
International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine
The IRCP is the world’s leading international forum for advancing community paramedicine, mobile integrated health, and Second Generation Paramedic practice. Administered by The Paramedic Foundation, whose principals co-founded the initiative in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2005, the IRCP brings practitioners, researchers, and policymakers from more than twenty countries together each year to share evidence, build programs, and shape the future of paramedicine.
Now registering
22nd Forum — Regensburg, Germany — October 5–7, 2026
The 22nd Forum of the IRCP will be held in Regensburg, Germany, hosted by the Bavarian Red Cross. This year’s theme — Building a Shared Vision for Community Paramedicine: Evidence, Innovation, and Collaboration — reflects years of global research and the Bavarian Red Cross’s development of an academically informed, research-forward community paramedic program.
The forum is where ideas become action. Attendees engage in joint research and publications, develop operational recommendations, explore education reform and curriculum development, and examine evolving regulatory models that shape practice worldwide. Registration is open.
October 4 — the day before the forum opens — is the final day of Oktoberfest in Munich, 90 minutes by train. Plan ahead: Tourism Regensburg · Bavarian folk festivals · Explore Bavaria
Advancing novel healthcare delivery through international exchange
The IRCP promotes the international exchange of information and experience related to the provision of flexible and reliable healthcare services using novel healthcare delivery models. It is a resource for public policy makers, systems managers, and practitioners working to meet patient needs in environments where conventional care is unavailable or insufficient.
VisionSystems designed for where care is hardest to deliver
The IRCP facilitates discussions, meetings, and research focused on designing systems that ensure patients’ needs continue to be met in environments where health services are less available and provision of care is increasingly challenging. Central to this vision is the concept of the Second Generation Paramedic.
Second Generation Paramedic — G2PA framework for expanded-scope practice
The G2P framework describes paramedics practicing in expanded roles — applying their training and skills in non-traditional, community-based environments outside the emergency response and transport model. G2Ps provide services through unique care delivery models and enhanced protocols, working within an integrated, collaborative network with other health care providers.
The G2P concept emerged from IRCP’s foundational work and has shaped community paramedicine legislation, scope-of-practice frameworks, and education curricula across participating countries.
Community paramedicine resources at CommunityParamedic.org →Forum history
The IRCP has convened annually since its founding in 2005. From Halifax to London to Vancouver to Regensburg, each forum has produced joint research, operational recommendations, and cross-jurisdictional practice frameworks that have directly influenced community paramedicine policy in participating countries. The 2026 meeting in Regensburg is the 22nd.
IRCP 2026 — Regensburg
22nd Forum — October 5–7, 2026
Marinaforum, Regensburg, Germany
Hosted by the Bavarian Red Cross
Register → Submit abstract →
Regensburg — the host city
Regensburg is one of Germany’s best-preserved medieval cities and holds two UNESCO World Heritage titles. Its Old Town with Stadtamhof has been designated since 2006; the Roman Danube Limes added a second title in 2021. Within the medieval core stands Castra Regina, the Roman legionary camp established under Marcus Aurelius, whose northern gate — the Porta Praetoria — remains embedded in the walls of the bishop’s court near St. Peter’s Cathedral. More than 1,000 individual monuments form one of Europe’s most intact urban medieval streetscapes. The city’s density of cafes, stone lanes, and Italian-influenced street life has earned a longstanding nickname: Germany’s most northern Italian city.
October 4 — the day before the forum opens — is the final day of Oktoberfest in Munich, an easy 90-minute train ride.
Tourism Regensburg →
UNESCO World Heritage →
Bavarian folk festivals →
Resources and publications
The IRCP knowledge base — including curriculum resources, research publications, and forum proceedings — is hosted at ircp.info. Community paramedicine curriculum resources are available at communityparamedic.org, a TPF-produced platform.
Definitions
Community Paramedicine: A model of care whereby paramedics apply their training and skills in non-traditional, community-based environments outside of the emergency response and transport model.
Mobile Integrated Health (MIH): A broader framework encompassing community paramedicine, treat-in-place, and alternative destination programs within an integrated health system.
Remote: Largely unpopulated areas where provision of services is non-existent or very limited. The most challenging context for the G2P model.
International Rural & Remote Prehospital Collaborative (iR2PC)
A related TPF initiative convened by Gary Wingrove, the iR2PC focuses on prehospital care in rural, remote, and austere environments. Distinct from the IRCP’s community paramedicine orientation, the iR2PC addresses the operational, clinical, and governance challenges specific to frontier and wilderness settings. TPF team member Dr. Timothy Peterson attended the inaugural iR2PC meeting in Whitehorse in 2014.
History
Founded 2005, Halifax, Nova Scotia
In July 2005, nearly 50 delegates from Australia, Canada, Scotland, and the United States gathered at Dalhousie University in Halifax, hosted by National Association of EMS Physicians founder Ron Stewart, MD, and the Emergency Health Services Division of the Nova Scotia Department of Health. They came to share what had been, until that moment, largely parallel and disconnected work on the same problem: how to integrate rural EMS providers into rural health care delivery systems in communities where other options were being exhausted.
The meeting had specific institutional context. Between 2003 and 2004, the National Rural Health Association, the National Association of State EMS Officials, and the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health had led a U.S. consensus process to produce the Rural and Frontier EMS Agenda for the Future. Its first chapter recommended integrating EMS personnel into rural health care systems — precisely what Nova Scotia, Australia, and Scotland had already begun doing, independently and concurrently.
What the delegates found in Halifax was striking: the rural health challenges in all four jurisdictions were remarkably similar, and locally developed solutions were converging on the same model. In every case, community paramedicine programs had emerged not from top-down planning but from public pressure or a sudden shift in health care workforce availability. In every case, EMS had not been treated as part of the primary care continuum until most other options were exhausted.
That founding meeting established the IRCP’s enduring character: a practitioner-led, evidence-oriented, cross-jurisdictional exchange — not a membership organization, but a forum where ideas that work in one place can be examined, challenged, and adapted by people doing the same work in twenty others. The Paramedic Foundation — co-founded by IRCP founding chair Gary Wingrove — has served as the administrative home for the IRCP.
Leadership & administration
TPF-administered. Practitioner-led.
The IRCP is not an independent organization. It has no institutional membership structure and does not issue credentials or accreditation. It is an initiative administered by The Paramedic Foundation, which provides organizational continuity, convening infrastructure, and publishing support for the annual forum and associated research outputs. Day-to-day direction rests with a chair and an advisory board drawn from the international community paramedicine community.
Gary Wingrove — Founding chair, 2005–2025
Gary Wingrove co-convened the founding IRCP meeting in Halifax in 2005 and served as chair for the initiative’s first twenty years. Under his leadership the forum grew from a four-country meeting of 50 delegates into a globally recognized annual event with participation from more than twenty countries, producing research that has directly shaped community paramedicine legislation and scope-of-practice frameworks worldwide. At the 21st Forum in 2025, Gary was recognized for two decades at the helm of the world’s leading community paramedicine exchange. He remains President of the TPF Board of Directors and continues to convene the G5 Meeting and the International Rural & Remote Prehospital Collaborative (iR2PC).
Scott Willits, MPH, CPC — IRCP Chair
Scott Willits now chairs the IRCP. A longtime IRCP participant, he is a founding board member of the National Association of Mobile Integrated Healthcare Providers and a recognized expert in regulatory innovation, value-based EMS models, and the integration of paramedicine into broader care delivery systems. He serves as Director of Product and Strategic Partnerships at a health technology company leading strategy and regulatory engagement for EMS and mobile care providers across North America. Scott also serves on the TPF team as a consultant subject matter expert in MIH and alternative response.
Meet the TPF team →IRCP and The Paramedic Foundation
The IRCP is an initiative of The Paramedic Foundation (EIN 46-3271401), a Minnesota nonprofit corporation and a tax-exempt charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
Convened annually since 2005 — 22 forums through 2026
No institutional membership or dues structure
An advisory board and rotating chair provide direction
Knowledge resources at ircp.info
Curriculum resources at communityparamedic.org
IRCP 2026 — Regensburg
22nd Forum
October 5–7, 2026
Marinaforum, Regensburg, Germany
Hosted by the Bavarian Red Cross
Theme: Building a Shared Vision for Community Paramedicine
Patrons & partners
The organizations that sustain the IRCP
IRCP Patrons
Global Partners
- The Paramedic Foundation — administering organization
- The Paramedic Network
Common questions
About the IRCP
What is the International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine?
The International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine (IRCP) is an annual international meeting that brings together paramedic system leaders, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners from across the globe to advance community paramedicine and Second Generation Paramedic practice. Founded in 2005 and administered by The Paramedic Foundation, the IRCP has convened in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and continental Europe. The full IRCP meeting archive, spanning 20 years of presentations and working documents, is freely available at paramedicfoundation.org/resources/document-library.
When and where is the next IRCP meeting?
The next International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine is scheduled for 2026 in Regensburg, Germany. The IRCP meets annually and rotates between North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Contact info@paramedicfoundation.org for current registration and program information.
What is Second Generation Paramedic practice?
Second Generation Paramedic (G2P) practice refers to the expanded scope of paramedic-delivered care beyond the traditional emergency response and transport model. It includes community paramedicine, mobile integrated health, treat-in-place, transport to alternate destination, paramedicine in austere and remote environments, and paramedic practice in settings where conventional healthcare infrastructure does not exist. The G2P framework was developed through the IRCP and reflects international consensus that the paramedic profession has outgrown the definitional constraints of the 1966 emergency transport model.
Who runs the IRCP and how is it affiliated with The Paramedic Foundation?
The International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine is administered by The Paramedic Foundation (EIN 46-3271401, Duluth, MN). Gary Wingrove, TPF's Founding Board Member and President, co-founded the IRCP and continues to convene the meeting. Scott Willits, a TPF consultant SME, chairs the IRCP. The IRCP is not a membership organization. It is a convened international working meeting open to invited participants. The full IRCP meeting archive from 2005 to 2025 is preserved and freely accessible at paramedicfoundation.org/resources/document-library.
Join the IRCP Forum in Regensburg
The 22nd Forum of the IRCP brings together the global community paramedicine community October 5–7, 2026. Registration is open. Abstract submissions are welcome.