This paper will examine how contemporary emergency service organizations are utilizing strategic planning to prepare for success and survival in times of unprecedented changes, including meeting the ever increasing service needs of the aging baby boomer generation. While the utilization of strategic planning has been growing within emergency service organizations, a number of new challenges are serving as catalysts for these organizations to transition from a traditional reactive approach to the proactive approach that has been utilized successfully in many other industries for a number of years. While there are certainly unique challenges that impact particular emergency service organizations, a number of challenges now confront the majority of these organizations. Meeting the emergency medical service needs of a community with an aging population is a major challenge that most communities are facing, particularly in light of reductions in funding, difficulty in recruiting and retaining personnel, and changing laws and regulations. The presentation will advocate the use of community risk reduction initiatives as part of the solution to addressing this mission-critical problem. While the primary focus of the presentation will be on strategic planning, it will also consider the role that supply chain management plays in service delivery that meets and, ideally, exceeds stakeholder expectations.