Dealing with rural EMS

[canuckemtp]

What has just happened with our service is that the Health authority has taken our district over so the money is equal in all services in the region.

[Guest]

Should more money be spent with on Rural EMS? I meet with leaders in EMS last week at a Rural EMS conference. Many states and nations are dealing with rural health issues....and the solutions seems to be a community paramedic

Yes you will have to spend more money in the rural areas. we have services here called type II with type I capabilities. what that means is that there is a medic available on an as needed basis 24/7. usually reached by pager or cell phone. but ill tell you that it is hard to keep these medics in the small areas for this. Pay is not enough and there is usually only one in on these services. when they leave town for vacation or to just go there is no ALS. and when they are home they are on call 24/7 as long as they are in the service area. If the area is lucky enough to have two or more medics it works much better. but still has major draw backs for the medics them selves.

[Jeep_911]

Out here for training we have an in-service where w spent 2-3 hours covering various different topics ECG's, meds etc...I am also lucky enough to be able to spent some of my hours on call at our local ER doing various work around the ER, X-rays lab (etc..) exposing me to specialties I would not normally be around or even familiar with. Local docs also allow us to assist with most of the procedures done.

Because we are so far out we are able to sit in once a week on the Telemedicine link and learn about the newest treatments or new research found by docs in the city. It's a live 2-3 hour "in class" type approach. It works out great. Learning lots and being exposed to quite a bit. Being so far out tho I wouldnt mind spending more time on EMS topics but thats what we get for being where we are.

[Guest DELETED]

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[pearson85emt]

Being in a Rural community and working as an EMT, I think more state money should be given to rural EMS. The system I vol. in doesn't charge a penny to anyone transported. The only charge the pt is subject to is if we intercept w/ an ALS unit. It would be nice to have more money to spend on our rig(s) and equipment. We may not have a large call volume, but we still have lives to save!

[firemedic37]

Hum, rural EMS? My service is a Paramedic Level service and run approx. 320 calls per year. Our paramedics use their skills when needed and it is more often then you may think when the nearest hospital is 30 - 45 min away. We still have cardiac arrests in the rural settings and traumas that requires intubation and advance skills, so yes we can keep our skills up. We have one full-time Administrator/Paramedic that works 5 am - 5 pm Monday thru Friday otherwise its volunteers and yes we operate at the Paramedic Level 24/7. We have thought about going to a full-time service with EMT/Paramedic staffing, but for now the staffing we have now works very well.

[xselerate]

Someone got permission for a ride-along? Wow!

Actually I've had EMT students from private schools do ride alongs on my unit in brooklyn out of station 43 when I was there. And I've seen the ride along requests in the station... I've laughed at them... Reasons for request: "I want to know what it feels like to save someone".... HAHA