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NCSL Podcast | Emergency Medicine in Rural America

Written by AAA Staff on November 27, 2023. Posted in Executive, Press.

Emergency Medicine in Rural America | OAS Episode 198

NOVEMBER 19TH, 2023 | 36:56 | E198

EPISODE SUMMARY

Two experts in emergency medical services joined the podcast to discuss a variety of challenges to providing care in rural areas, including long waits for ambulances and a serious workforce shortage. They also talked about the role of legislatures in addressing EMS needs.

EPISODE NOTES

Emergency medical services face significant challenges in rural America. Just one is the time it takes to summon an ambulance. While most people living in urban and suburban areas expect an ambulance to show up within minutes of making a 911 call, the situation is very different for about 4.5 million Americans who live in ambulance deserts, according to a nation study conducted by Maine Rural Health Research Center and the Rural Health Research & Policy Centers. Those folks can expect to wait 25 minutes or more for emergency services to arrive.

We sat down with two experts on the subject — Dia Gainor, executive director of National Association of State EMS Officials, and Davis Patterson, director of the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center at University of Washington—to discuss that and other challenges to EMS in rural areas. Other issues they discussed included the severe workforce challenges in staffing rural EMS services, the role of legislatures in addressing rural EMS needs and the promise of community paramedicine in addressing both emergency and nonemergency care in rural areas.

RESOURCES

Ambulance Deserts: Addressing Geographic Disparities in the Provision of Ambulance Services, Rural Health Research Gateway (May 2023)
Beyond 911: Expanding the Primary Care Role of First Responders through Community Paramedicine
Community Paramedicine: Connecting Patients to Care and Reducing Costs
EMS Legislative Database
The EMS and Community Paramedic Workforces Respond to COVID-19, WWAMI Rural Health Research Center (June 2023)
The National Association of State Emergency Medical Services Officials
State Actions To Address EMS Workforce Shortages
You might need an ambulance, but your state may not see it as ‘essential,’ Stateline (September 2023)
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center

SHOW CONTRIBUTORS

Dia Gainor

Davis Patterson

Ed Smith

NCSL EMS Legislative Database

Written by AAA Staff on May 24, 2023. Posted in State-Level Advocacy.

National Database of EMS Legislation Now Available

Up-to-date, real-time information about state-enacted EMS legislation at NCSL.org

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) have worked together to create an online resource called the EMS Legislative Database, which provides up-to-date, real-time information about enacted EMS legislation in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

The EMS Legislative Database offers a summary of key enacted EMS legislation in an easy-to-use resource allowing you to search legislation by year, state, topic, keyword, status or primary sponsor. New legislation is added weekly.

Visit Database

Searchable topics include:

Administration: EMS as an Essential Service, Quality Assurance and State EMS Office
Funding: Changes in Funding Structure, Fees, Service fees and Surcharges
Rules: Aeromedical Services, EMSC Activities, Good Samaritan Laws and Progress/Impacts to NEMSIS
Systems: STEMI, Stroke and Trauma
Workforce: Classification of EMS and 911 Providers, Interstate Compacts and Licensure of EMS Professionals

In 2022, at least 39 states and territories enacted 113 bills to address various challenges in the EMS community, including the supply of EMS clinicians, limited funding, violence against EMS clinicians, long ambulance offload times and supply chain delays.

For more information about the EMS Legislative Database, 2022 Legislation updates or the State EMS Bill Tracking Database visit www.ncsl.org or contact Annie Kitch with NCSL at annie.kitch@ncsl.org and Kate Elkins with the NHTSA Office of EMS at katherine.elkins@dot.gov.

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