Calling 911? You expect a quick-volley conversation and help to arrive. In many rural communities that depend on volunteers to staff ambulances, that help has been slow or non-existent, as The Rural Blog reported last week. In Wisconsin, the lack of emergency medical technicians is sobering. "A recent survey of ambulance services found staffing and financial challenges have left many on the brink of collapse, leaving them unable at times to respond to 911 calls," reports Danielle Kaeding of Wisconsin Public Radio. "Services in Wisconsin have long-relied on volunteers. . . . Over time, a lack of volunteers and inadequate funding have left some communities struggling to provide service." The survey was conducted in late 2022 by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health.

James Small, who manages the state's rural emergency medical services outreach program, "said 41 percent of the 218 services that responded didn’t have enough volunteers to respond to 911 calls at times within the last year. The survey found 21% of services only had a crew of two or three people to provide around-the-clock coverage — the bare minimum required in Wisconsin," Kaeding notes. Small told Kaeding, "That's putting them in a very, very precarious position as far as being able to continue responding to calls."

Alan DeYoung, executive director of the Wisconsin EMS Association, told Kaeding that the recent survey found 41% of services have six or fewer staff. Rural areas like northern Wisconsin have confronted greater challenges and longer response times, but urban and suburban departments aren’t immune. DeYoung told Kaeding, "Everybody is struggling with staffing. So as your department is unable to staff a 911 call, and you call mutual aid to another department, and they have the same staffing crisis happening, they're not able to go either." At its worst, the survey found 911 calls went unanswered by ambulance services in at least 10 communities.

Read the full article about rural first responder shortages by Heather Close at The Rural Blog.