Apical EMS Solutions partners with EMS agencies to build quality programs that actually work — combining rigorous chart review, actionable analytics, and independent investigation into a cohesive framework for continuous improvement.
Each engagement is designed to generate value beyond its immediate scope — chart review reveals the data, QI consulting builds the systems, and independent investigations protect the culture.
Ongoing retrospective chart review, clinical scoring, and performance reporting — delivered by U.S.-licensed paramedics with structured methodology.
Program design, analytics infrastructure, and targeted improvement initiatives built around your agency's specific performance gaps and accreditation goals.
Third-party investigations of adverse events, complaints, and systemic failures — conducted with independence, rigor, and a Just Culture framework.
Three service lines designed to work independently or together. Engagements are scoped to your agency's size and needs — contact us to discuss the right fit for your system.
Ongoing chart review and clinical performance reporting by U.S.-licensed paramedics. Recurring monthly engagement with defined deliverables.
Program design, analytics infrastructure, accreditation preparation, and targeted improvement projects. Project-based or monthly retainer.
Independent third-party investigations of adverse events and systemic failures. Complete independence from agency command structure.
Apical EMS Solutions is led by Daniel Garner, a nationally registered paramedic and U.S. Coast Guard veteran whose work in EMS spans over three decades. His Coast Guard service included assignment as a rescue swimmer. His civilian career has since moved between the operational and quality sides of the profession: front-line paramedic, clinical liaison for large-scale platform rollouts, and quality program leader for multi-state EMS operations. That range is deliberate. Quality work done well requires knowing what the job actually feels like at three in the morning, not just what it looks like in a protocol binder.
He is the author of Institutional Grace: Rethinking Accountability, Growth, and Redemption in Modern Organizations (Apical Press, 2026), with a foreword by Mike Taigman of FirstWatch. The book argues that accountability and grace are not opposites, and that organizations which treat human error as a failure of design rather than a failure of character learn faster, retain better, and deliver safer care. It is the intellectual foundation for how Apical approaches Just Culture investigations.
His peer-reviewed research on vital sign assessment in EMS non-transports, co-authored with colleagues and drawing on the NEMSIS 3.5 dataset, was published in Prehospital Emergency Care. When he recommends a quality metric or an investigative approach, it is grounded in the same evidence base your medical director reads.
"Systems that punish every error do not become safer; they become systems where errors are hidden."
Whether you're starting a QA program from scratch, preparing for accreditation, or navigating a critical incident — we can help. Let's start with a conversation about where your agency is and where it needs to go.