Test educational activity post-deployment - CME

Abstract

This article considers how to reliably provide emergency medical services (EMS). EMS responses are critical functions of local governments, yet, in rural areas, many are staffed by licensed volunteers. As requests for emergency health services increase and the workforce decreases, transitioning to a paid workforce is critical to maintaining response capacity. This article discusses the need and mechanisms for more robustly funding rural EMS systems.

Funding, Not Fundraisers

A poster at the gas station announced a fun community event: The Annual Public Works Fundraiser was back again with games, food, and music. The community’s volunteer truck drivers spent the weekend putting on an event attended by almost everyone. They were excited to count the money and proudly announced how many roads would be repaired over the next year and that they could finally replace a 40-year-old dump truck.

But, in the United States, this isn’t how communities fund most government functions, and public works fundraisers don’t pay for roads and dump trucks. A lone exception is emergency medical services (EMS), as nearly every rural community uses volunteer staff1

• list item 1
• list item 2
• list item 3

and fundraisers to provide this critical service. Volunteers, who provide emergency response for free, donate additional time to raise funds to purchase the equipment they need to provide that lifesaving response. This funding model, started in the 1960s,2 has produced a crisis of collapsing EMS agencies today, as response times have lengthened,3 and sometimes no ambulance arrives at all.4 The volunteer EMS model has failed communities around the country, and local leaders are grappling with how to provide this essential service.