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Rural EMS ‘at a critical point’

Southwest Minn. agencies struggling to find enough EMTs to cover shifts

Photo by Deb Gau Members of area ambulance services say it’s hard to find new recruits to be emergency medical technicians. Sara Hubbard, an EMT with the Cottonwood Ambulance, said sometimes staffing can be a little tight, although the ambulance continues to serve a wide area in Lyon and Yellow Medicine County. Cottonwood Ambulance has recently started reaching out to Lakeview high school students, looking for young people interested in EMT training.

They make a life-saving difference for their communities. But ambulance services across southwest Minnesota say it’s hard to find and keep new emergency medical technicians.

“In general, the industry is short of people everywhere,” said Dane Meyer, director of the Cottonwood Ambulance. “It’s not something that’s new by any means, but it just seems to be getting closer to home.”

“It is at a very critical point,” said Wabasso Ambulance director John Krohn. While just about every ambulance or first responder service in the region is looking for recruits, Krohn said the need is being felt hardest in smaller rural communities.

The Wabasso Ambulance service currently has 16 people, but not all are EMTs, Krohn said. More EMTs are needed, he said.

Thin EMT ranks is not just a local issue. The Minnesota Center For Rural Policy and Development reported EMS should be funded like other essential services like fire departments and law enforcement.

“The current funding system is designed for urban agencies, based on call volume,” read the report. “The funding formula could use population, average age and number of Medicare and Medicaid clients to create a more accurate financial picture.”

“We’d love to have a lot more EMTs. We’ve got 15 people now,” said Sleepy Eye Ambulance coordinator Shari Hittesdorf. “One person drives here from Mapleton twice a month to do a couple shifts. There are people retired from full-time jobs that give us a few hours. Sometimes, its the time commitment that turns people off.”

Hittesdorf said calls were up since the COVID-19 pandemic began, making the job more challenging.

“Last year, we did 75 more runs that we did the year before. Sometimes, we help Springfield and New Ulm with mutual aid calls,” Hittesdorf added.

Meyer said the Cottonwood Ambulance currently has 13 members, which includes three paramedics, one emergency medical responder and nine EMTs. It’s a smaller number of members than the service has had in the past, he said.

“We cover a large area, from Echo to about 13 miles west of Cottonwood,” Meyer said. Cottonwood Ambulance is also able to provide a part-time advanced life support (ALS) service to transport patients with more urgent medical needs. However, it’s not always easy to cover service needs, he said.

“Daytime hours seem to be the challenge in Cottonwood,” he said.

If a person works in another community, it can be harder to also serve as an EMT.

The training needed to be certified as an EMT, and the nature of the work, were two challenges for recruiting new emergency medical works, ambulance service leaders said.

“I think for a lot of people it’s the time,” Krohn said. “It is a large commitment.”

Meyer said becoming an EMT involves about 150 hours of education, as well as a certification exam.

Rural ambulance services rely on volunteerism, said Ivanhoe Ambulance co-director Becky Paluch. The Ivanhoe Ambulance service has six members. Ambulance service members are on call for 12-hour shifts, and cover a service area that stretches from central Lincoln County into Lyon County, Paluch said.

“It’s a lot of personal sacrifice,” Paluch said. It’s not always easy to find people able to make the commitment.

“Everyone has a lot of things going on, whether it’s a full-time job or family,” she said.

Paluch said the Ivanhoe Ambulance currently has three people going through the process of becoming EMTs.

Both legislators and area ambulance services are working to address EMS staff shortages. Sen. Tina Smith’s EMS Staffing and Support Act would provide $500 million for Health Resources and Services Administration grants to fund rural EMS needs like recruitment, retention and retraining these essential workers.

In addition, it would provide training or reimbursement for training; establish apprenticeship programs; buy new equipment, vehicles and medical supplies; support EMS personnel well-being, create paramedicine initiatives and improve regional coordination.

At the local level, ambulance services are getting creative about recruiting.

Springfield Ambulance Coordinator Paula Thomas said she and her crew recently went door to door, handing out fliers for an ambulance meeting in Springfield.

“We have eight on staff now. We have day 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts open,” Thomas said. “We work two-person crews but would like three-person crews. I’ve been working a lot of extra shifts.”

She said the ambulance service plans to offer a free 40-hour emergency responder class for anyone who wants to get certified, plus a free CPR class for the public.

“It would be great to have a lot of people at our meeting,” said Thomas.

In Cottonwood, the ambulance service is working with the Lakeview School District to reach out to high school seniors and juniors about becoming EMTs, Meyer said. Their first meetings with students found six who were interested in emergency medical services.

Sara Hubbard, an EMT with Cottonwood Ambulance, said that was exciting to hear. “We didn’t know what the response would be,” she said.

It was important to be able to have future generations of EMTs, and to give them the support they need to prepare for the job, Hubbard said.

Starting at $4.38/week.

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