States try to fill EMT and paramedic shortages; filling rural crews, which are often volunteer, is a bigger challenge

A Teton County EMS volunteer heads into a hospital in Choteau,
 Montana, pop. 1,700. (Photo by Aaron Bolton for Kaiser Health News)

A tractor accident, an arm broken in a grocery slip-and-fall, an unfortunate meeting with a hornet's nest -- or a heart attack. Call 911! What if there isn't anyone to respond?

As the nationwide EMT and paramedic shortage deepens, states are taking a combined approach to meet current staffing gaps and train new employees, reports Marsha Mercer of Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts.  Dia Gainor, executive director of the National Association of State EMS Officials, told Mercer, “The public doesn’t see where there’s no one in the station, and volunteer services are trying to muster a crew."

Mercer reports, "Workforce challenges are particularly acute in rural areas that rely on volunteers to respond to 911 ambulance calls. . . . States also are studying how to maintain EMS systems. A commission in Maine, the country's second most rural state, recommended the state spend $70 million annually for five years to avert an emergency medical crisis that stems in part from a lack of volunteers. . . . A federal study projected a need for 40,000 more full-time emergency medical personnel from 2016 to 2030."

In response to growing personnel shortages, some states are expanding their eligible workforces. "At least six states have lowered the minimum age for EMT training to 16 or 17, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures," Mercer reports. "In rural Louisiana, many EMS agencies and fire departments will hire people over the age of 18, according to the state EMS report. New Jersey, for example, allows 16-year-olds to enroll in training with parental consent."

Kelly Grayson, a critical care paramedic and owner of the consulting business MEDIC Training Solutions, told Stateline, “Getting high school kids into the training program hasn’t alleviated the shortage, but it’s a start. The idea is to start them young and keep them in EMS for a longer period of time.”  Stateline notes: "Last year, the turnover rate for full-time emergency medical technicians, was 36% and for full-time paramedics, it was 27%, according to an American Ambulance Association survey. More than one-third of new hires don’t last through their first year, the survey found."