How EMS are working to come up with solutions
Emergency medical service providers nationwide are in crisis: struggling with funding, the rising costs of doing business and finding qualified workers to provide vital services.
Ambulance services are dealing with these issues in a variety of ways, like using data to run more efficiently, supporting community health programs and finding alternate sources of revenue.
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In addition to emergency medicine being high stress and low pay, fewer people are coming out of school to enter the work force.Many of those that do make it through training have no intention of ever stepping foot in an ambulance, Kelly said. They use EMT or paramedic training as a stepping stone to other health care careers, like nursing or physician's assistant school.Kiley Cribbs, coordinator for EMS and police training at Butler County Community College, said changes in the amount of training required for EMS jobs and increasing costs for education have likely resulted in a decrease in enrollment and an increase in the attrition rate in their EMT program.To become an EMT, a person must take a semester-long class, which equals about 175 to 200 hours of instruction.The training to become an EMT is more rigorous than it was 20 years ago, Cribbs said. What paramedics did then, EMTs are required to do now.
With all these issues, it can seem like an uphill battle for a service that most people deem to be a necessity.But local agencies are finding ways to stay sustainable. To keep a steady cash flow, ambulance services can answer non-emergency transport calls from hospitals to other health care facilities.To supplement their income and help out residents, most EMS offer subscription or membership services where the person pays a small annual fee, and it either gives them reduced out-of-pocket costs or no out-of-pocket costs.For some, keeping costs down includes looking at reviewing data and finances. Some EMS, like Portersville, keep building and equipment maintenance in-house when possible and rely on fundraising to fill the gaps.<em>This is the final half of a story on the struggles that EMS face. Read the first half <a href="http://www.butlereagle.com/article/20180430/NEWS20/704309859">here</a>.Read the full version of this part of the story in the Butler Eagle.</em>
