Staffing issues put one-third of rural ambulance services in jeopardy, National Rural Health Association says

A Tri-State ambulance (Image from WEAU-TV)

One-third of rural emergency medical services are so short-staffed that they are in "immediate operational jeopardy," posing risks to rural residents who rely on them as a health-care safety net, says a policy brief from the National Rural Health Association.

"Dwindling population, losses in the volunteer workforce, and decreased reimbursement threaten continued access to these services," says the the brief by Nikki King, Marcus Pigman, Sarah Huling and Brian Hanson.

"One of the largest contributing factors to the disparity in mortality rate from traumas, such as overdose, for rural residents (discussed above) is travel time and distance to trauma centers," they write. "Rural residents are significantly more likely than non-rural residents to die following traumatic injury."

Hayley Spitler of WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wis., cited the brief in a story that featured Kent Stein, operations manger of Tri-State Ambulance. "We're experiencing the same thing that companies are experiencing nationwide, both volunteer and professional companies. We sometimes can run into a challenge finding EMTs and medics out of school."