Wisconsin EMT shortage leaves rural responses uncertain

Glidden Ambulance provides emergency medical services
to four northern Wisconsin towns. (Photo by Danielle Kaeding,WPR)

Calling 911? You expect a quick-volley conversation and help to arrive. In many rural communities that depend on volunteers to staff ambulances, that help has been slow or non-existent, as The Rural Blog reported last week. In Wisconsin, the lack of emergency medical technicians is sobering. "A recent survey of ambulance services found staffing and financial challenges have left many on the brink of collapse, leaving them unable at times to respond to 911 calls," reports Danielle Kaeding of Wisconsin Public Radio. "Services in Wisconsin have long-relied on volunteers. . . . Over time, a lack of volunteers and inadequate funding have left some communities struggling to provide service." The survey was conducted in late 2022 by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health.

James Small, who manages the state's rural emergency medical services outreach program, "said 41 percent of the 218 services that responded didn’t have enough volunteers to respond to 911 calls at times within the last year. The survey found 21% of services only had a crew of two or three people to provide around-the-clock coverage — the bare minimum required in Wisconsin," Kaeding notes. Small told Kaeding, "That's putting them in a very, very precarious position as far as being able to continue responding to calls."

"Cari Broge, service director for Glidden Ambulance, said she has 10 volunteers that receive a stipend to respond to about 100 calls each year for four northern Wisconsin towns," Kaeding reports. "Two of those towns lost service for roughly half a year in 2021 when their previous provider ended its contract. Often, she said, only two people can respond to calls during the work day when it's most challenging to find volunteers." 

Alan DeYoung, executive director of the Wisconsin EMS Association, told Kaeding that the recent survey found 41% of services have six or fewer staff. Rural areas like northern Wisconsin have confronted greater challenges and longer response times, but urban and suburban departments aren’t immune. DeYoung told Kaeding, "Everybody is struggling with staffing. So as your department is unable to staff a 911 call, and you call mutual aid to another department, and they have the same staffing crisis happening, they're not able to go either." At its worst, the survey found 911 calls went unanswered by ambulance services in at least 10 communities.

"The Wisconsin EMS Association wants the state to devote more funding to the issue to help with attracting and retaining people to staff services," Kaeding adds. "Just under one-third or 29 percent said they don’t have adequate funding to operate through this year as communities have faced declining state aid . . . DeYoung noted that communities like Washburn (pop. 2, 000) have passed referendums to exceed their tax levy to address EMS staffing."

Small told Kaeding, "It's taken for granted that if something bad happens, I can just pick up my phone and dial 911, and something good will happen. And we're finding that we took it for granted for a long time because that was the case for a long time, and we're not in that place anymore."