American Medical Response (AMR) Ambulance continues to face a shortage of full-time paramedics, operating at about 50% capacity. During a virtual board meeting held Wednesday by the Ambulance Contracting Authority Board, officials with the ambulance service said they are currently discussing new programs that would entice more applicants to join AMR.
The shortage of paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) has been an ongoing national crisis that was brought to light even more during the COVID-19 outbreak. With 911 calls increasing and ambulance services continuing to remain short-staffed, the issue has led to slower response times in many areas.
Fortunately, that hasn’t been the case for AMR. According to Director of Operations Brian Short, his team has continued to make good time despite having a staff of 11 full-time and 20 part-time paramedics. Short said ideally, AMR would have at least 22 paramedics working full-time.
AMR responded to 91% of calls on time from May to June, with an average response time of six minutes and 12 seconds. According to Short, one of the issues that affected the on-time percentage is an outdated map that his paramedics are required to use.
Recently, AMR took 21 minutes to respond to a call 19 miles away. Short said the ambulance traveled “really, really fast” to arrive in 21 minutes, but that the data reflected they weren’t on time.
“The map is 15 years old and Owensboro-Daviess County has changed a lot since then,” Short said. “We may be asking to look into that to shift those times around.”
The staffing issues faced by AMR have caused the weekends to be incredibly light on first responders. Although AMR gets by with 20 part-time paramedics who sometimes fill in for the full-time workers, most of them work separate full-time jobs as firefighters and for EMS services in other counties. According to Short, many of them want their weekends off.
Therefore, much of the work is handled by AMR’s 11 full-time paramedics who often work overtime and pick up shifts to bridge the gap.
“Most of your bigger cities are facing the same issue with the shortage in paramedics. Any ambulance service nationwide would tell you that,” Short said.
AMR is currently in discussions to implement a sign-on bonus for new applicants, as well as a partnership with Owensboro Community & Technical College to increase the number of paramedics in the area.
However, Short noted that the partnership wouldn’t be a quick fix. A two-year degree in applied science is required for all paramedics and first responders, he said, making it more challenging to find applicants with the right credentials.
“The issue is affecting first responders in general — those working in dispatch, even police,” Short said. “There’s just not a good fix.”
