The first step in a medical emergency often is taken even before getting to the hospital.
It can begin with an ambulance staffed by professionals trained to offer the care that will stabilize a patient until more in-depth diagnostics and treatment can be provided. It is a vital journey that can be the difference not only between life and death but also life and long-term consequences or disability.
Having enough emergency medical technicians to perform that work is crucial to first response success. That makes it a real problem that there are shrinking numbers of ambulances and the people who staff them.
According to the state, in 2013, there were 1,645 emergency medical service providers statewide. In 2020, that number fell to 1,324.
The state has about 30,000 EMTs to serve a population of 12.8 million, but those numbers are dropping. They fell by 695 EMTs between 2018 and 2021, but that isn’t even an accurate depiction of how many people are doing the work. It is only the number of people licensed to do the job, whether they are actively doing so or not.
A partnership between the Alle-Kiski Health Foundation and Citizens EMS is addressing the need in a smart way. They are making it easier to get the job done.
Up to 20 students will receive free tuition to a 16-week training program hosted by the organizations through a state grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development.
It’s the kind of thing some nursing homes have done to fill their needs for certified nursing assistants. If you can’t find a qualified individual, take someone who isn’t certified and train them.
It’s a practical solution that acknowledges the market conditions and the unchanging population demands. It would be great if more vital services could find similar ways to solve their problems.
This is beneficial to the emergency medical services. It’s definitely beneficial to the trainees, who are getting a marketable skill that could have otherwise cost them up to $1,000 to acquire. It can also be a smart entry to a more expensive career field. Not sure if you’d like to go into nursing? Becoming an EMT this way could not only let you test the waters but do so by getting a paycheck and without paying tuition.
More than anything, this is beneficial to the people — the ones with the broken legs or chest pains or car crash injuries who will depend on someone staffing the ambulance when it’s called to help.
— The Tribune-Review (TNS)
