VALE – The Vale Fire & Ambulance Department needs more emergency medical technicians.
So does Treasure Valley Paramedics in Ontario.
Both agencies are grappling with a nationwide problem to find and train more of the specialized medical responders. A program at Treasure Valley Community College may help.
The EMT Basic Course, offered through the college’s Center for Business, Workforce & Community Learning, will kick off Sept. 23 with the aim of producing a crop of new front-line medical providers.
“It is a six-month course,” said Sheryl Romans, a TVCC program manager.
Romans said there is still openings for the class.
That’s potentially good news for local and regional emergency service agencies and an indication of the level of interest in the profession. Romans said the college expanded the size of the class.
“We prefer 15 but because of the shortage we increased it to 20,” said Romans.
Students in the EMT Basic Course must successfully finish 164 hours of classroom instruction and 10 patient contacts under the supervision of a course instructor.
Once students successfully complete the course, they can take the National Registry EMT exam and then apply for a state license. The registry acts as the nation’s emergency medical services certification organization.
The college EMT class is a 10-credit course and costs $1,380.
Romans said there is “absolutely” a shortage of trained EMTs.
One goal of the course, she said, is to feed qualified people into local emergency service agencies.
“By keeping the people trained here locally, the hope is they will stay local,” said Romans.
The shortage of EMTs locally is acute, said Wally Whitaker, a spokesperson for the Vale Fire & Ambulance.
“There’s always been a shortage of EMTs. But we also need more people in general,” he said.
While a shortage of EMTs at the Vale agency doesn’t translate into a health care emergency, it does mean longer work hours for those already on the staff. The shortage also creates a balancing act for leaders at the Vale agency.
“If we have two emergency calls at once, we need at least two EMTs and if there are only three available and two are one ambulance, that can create a challenge,” he said.
Another problem, he said, is some of the agency’s EMTs are part-time firefighters with full time jobs who may not be available.
He said several EMTs who volunteer for the agency are deployed to wildfires burning across the state.
Whitaker said the Vale Fire consists of 20 people, including seven full-time firefighters. Of those, seven are EMTs. He said the agency needs 15.
Heather Land, vice president and chief financial officer for Treasure Valley Paramedics, said the national health care system has been short of EMTs “for a while.”
“There are shortages everywhere. It is a huge problem,” she said.
Land said there are three levels of EMTs – basic, intermediate and advanced. The next level is paramedic.
Land said her agency needs people at all of those levels.
Without more EMTs and paramedics, those who are already on staff work more hours, said Land.
“Overtime is high and you have to try not to burn out the people you do have,” said Land.
Land said Treasure Valley Paramedics employs between 28 and 30 people, including 20 full time.
She said she needs eight to 10 more trained EMTs.
“If could run three paramedics that would be great too,” she said.
Whitaker said he believes the TVCC EMT program is beneficial.
“We have a couple people signed up for it,” he said.
The college will also offer a paramedic class this fall, said Romans.
The first-year program is a joint effort between the college and Chemeketa Community College in Salem.
“It is a Chemeketa class but they are allowing it to be facilitated here and helping with it,” said Romans.
She said three people – with the possibility of a fourth – have signed up for the paramedic class.
For more information on the EMT class contact Romans at 541-881-5757
To find out more about the paramedic program, contact Chris Arbuckle, program director and chair of the EMS Department at Chemeketa Community College.
News tip? Contact reporter Pat Caldwell at [email protected]
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