1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Confession of an EMS Newbie’s 2011 EMSWorld Essay Contest (the “Contest”) is open to all legal residents of the United States or Canada, who are EMS Students or have held a valid EMS Certification (EMT-B, EMT-I, or EMT-P) for less than two years. Void wherever taxed, prohibited or restricted by law. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations and shall be governed by Texas law. All entrants must be Eighteen (18) years of age or older at the time of entry. By entering the Contest, entrants: (i) agree to accept and be bound by all terms of these Official Rules and Regulations (“Official Rules”), and (ii) agree that Texas courts have jurisdiction over any dispute or litigation arising from or relating to the Contest and that venue shall only be Houston TX.

2. HOW TO ENTER: From May 1, 2011 through June 1, 2011 (the “Promotional Period”), Confessions of an EMS Newbie (the “Sponsor”) will conduct a national contest focusing on the theme “EMS and the Social Media Revolution.” To enter, participants must visit http://www.emsnewbie.com/VegasBaby (the “Website”), during the Promotional Period and submit an original electronic typewritten essay of no more than Six Hundred (600) words in length (the “Submission”), which relates to the theme “EMS and the Social Media Revolution.” (the “Topic”). Physical copies mailed in though postage will not be accepted. All entries must be submitted in the name of an individual person and prizes will only be awarded to the person whose name is associated with each winning entry, regardless of other circumstances. Submissions must be the entrants’ original, previously unpublished work and all entries (including Submissions) become the property of Sponsors, will not be acknowledged or returned and may be used by Sponsors in any manner or media in perpetuity without compensation. Submissions must be written in English and Submissions on any topic other than the chosen Topic shall be disqualified. Any plagiarism and/or failure to properly identify non-original material by an entrant will result in such entrant’s disqualification. Submissions containing quotations or copyrighted materials which are not properly identified will also be disqualified. All words in the Submission except the title, bibliography and/or footnotes shall be counted towards the Six Hundred (600) word limit. Submissions that Sponsors and/or the judges deem, in their sole discretion, to be inappropriate or obscene will be void. Limit one (1) entry per person. Multiple entries from any person and/or duplicate entries will be deemed void.

Sponsors are not responsible for misdirected, inaccurate, incomplete, lost, late, delayed, undelivered, damaged or illegible entries, and all such entries will be void. Sponsors are also not responsible for technical, hardware, or software failures of any kind, or other errors or problems which may occur in connection with or relating to the Contest, whether computer, network, technical, mechanical, typographical, printing, human or otherwise, including, without limitation, errors or problems which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of entries, the announcement of the prizes, in any Contest-related materials or that may limit prize fulfillment or a participant’s ability to enter the Contest. Sponsors reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, modify or prematurely conclude the Contest should any computer virus, malfunction, fraud, tampering, unauthorized intervention or other cause beyond their control corrupt the administration, security or proper operation of the Contest. If the Contest is cancelled, Sponsors may, in their sole discretion, judge all eligible entries received up to time of such action using the judging procedures outlined below to determine either the Semi-Finalists and/or Winners. False or deceptive entries or acts will render the entrant ineligible and Sponsors reserve the right to disqualify any entrant (and void his/her entry) who attempts to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest by tampering with any Website mechanism, acts in a disruptive manner or violates these Official Rules. Any attempt by an individual to deliberately damage or undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be in violation of criminal and civil laws. Should such an attempt be made, Sponsors reserve the right to seek remedies and damages (including attorneys’ fees) from any such person(s) to the fullest extent of the law, including criminal prosecution.

3. JUDGING: Nine (9) Semi-Finalists (the “Semi-Finalists”) will be selected by a panel of EMS providers and educators, selected by EMS Newbie Staff (the “Judges”) after June 1, 2011 from all eligible entries received by the dates specified above, based equally upon the following criteria: originality, creativity, eloquence of writing style, structure (how well thought out the Submission is) and relevance to the Topic/Theme. The decisions of the Judges will be final and binding on all participants. Sponsors reserve the right to choose fewer than Nine (9) Semi-Finalists if, in their sole discretion, they do not receive a sufficient number of eligible and/or qualified entries. On or around June 1, 2001, Semi-Finalist entries will then be judged by a panel of experts to determine the top One (1) Semi-Finalist entry to be named as the winner (the “Winner”), based upon the same criteria listed above. In the event of a tie in either round of judging, an additional “tie-breaker” judge will determine the Semi-Finalist(s) and/or Winner(s) from among all such tied entries using the judging criteria above. The decisions of the Sponsors and judges will be final and binding on all matters.

4. WINNER NOTIFICATION: Potential Winners will be notified by Sponsors within approximately two (2) days of determination by e-mail address provided with his/her submission. Winners must also meet all eligibility requirements. Potential Winners may each be required to provide proof of identity, address and birth date, as well as execute and return an affidavit of eligibility, tax acknowledgment form, liability release and, except where prohibited by law, publicity release within three (3) days of date of issuance either via facsimile or US registered mail in order to claim the prize. If any potential Winner fails to do so or if: (i) any prize notification is returned as undeliverable, (ii) a potential Winner declines his or her prize, or (iii) a potential Winner is determined to be ineligible for reason, such potential Winner will be disqualified and, at Sponsors’ sole discretion, a runner-up will be notified.

5. PRIZES: One (1) Winner will receive a airfare, lodging and conference admission or the EMSWorld Expo in Las Vegas Aug. 29 – Sept. 2, 2011. No compensation or substitution will be provided. All prize details are at Sponsors’ discretion. Additional prizes may be announced during the Promotional Period.

6. GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS: By entering this Contest, entrants: (i) agree to be bound by the decisions of Sponsors and judges which are final and binding in all matters; (ii) grant Sponsors and their designees the right, unless prohibited by law, to use their names, cities and states of residence, voices, pictures and likenesses, without compensation, notification or permission, for the purpose of advertising and publicity in any and all media, now or after known, throughout the world in perpetuity; and (iii) grant Sponsors a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to to display, copy, reproduce, exhibit, publicly perform, broadcast, rebroadcast, transmit, retransmit, distribute through any electronic means (including analog and digital) or other means, and electronically or otherwise publish any or all of the Submissions, including any part of them, and to include them in compilations for publication, by any and all means and media now known or not yet known or invented; to modify, adapt, change or otherwise alter the Submissions; and the right to sublicense to any other person or company any of the licensed rights in the Submissions, or any part of them, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. entrants acknowledges that entrant will not have any right, title, or interest in any other materials with which Submissions may be combined or into which all or any portion of Submissions may be incorporated. Sponsors, expressly disclaim any responsibility and entrants agree to release, indemnify and hold Sponsors harmless for liability, damages or claims for injury or loss to any person or property (including death) relating to, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, participation in this Contest, the acceptance and/or subsequent use or misuse of any of the prizes awarded, claims based on publicity rights, defamation or invasion of privacy. Sponsors are not responsible for any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the downloading of any material from the Website, regardless of whether the material was prepared by Sponsors or a third party, and regardless of whether the material is connected to the Website by a hypertext link. Sponsors further assume no liability either for the cancellation, modification or premature conclusion of the Contest for any reason or through the acts or defaults of any company or person providing any prize. All such losses or expenses must be borne by the affected participants, entrants and/or Winners.

8. SPONSORS: This Contest is sponsored by Confessions of an EMS Newbie, a production of Distinctions for Life LLC, 1111 Hutchins St, Houston, TX 77003. Additional Sponsors may be added during the Promotional Period.