EMT Shortage Hits Massachusetts Town

It's deja vu for Fire Chief James W. Dolan.

A depletion of hours when on-call emergency medical personnel are available is causing problems again in staffing the town's ambulance service, according to the chief.

On-call emergency medical technicians augment full- and part-time ambulance personnel.

In late 2003, Chief Dolan informed the Board of Selectmen that a shortage of EMTs was putting the future of the local ambulance service in jeopardy.

Since then, the staffing difficulty abated somewhat, but a recent decision by one on-call EMT to significantly cut back his availability has raised a red flag again.

"His availability is cut down to three days a week," said Chief Dolan, who preferred not to identify the person by name. "Before, he was scheduled all different days and times."

Hopefully, this schedule change will be just for the summer, but there is no guarantee, the chief said.

"We need more personnel," he said. "Either more on-call personnel to fill in the gaps or regular paid personnel that we definitely know are available."

This staffing problem has been experienced in many area towns. Fewer and fewer volunteers are available to serve as on-call EMTs, either because of time constraints or because they no longer work in town, the chief said.

"You gain one (EMT), lose one; gain two, lose two," Chief Dolan said. "That's the way it's been for the last 10 years."

The law requires that two EMTs be on board the ambulance before it can go to a call. Warren has two full-time EMTs, one part-time EMT and four on-call EMTs. The on-call people are available certain days of the week for specific periods of time. Losing a key utility on-call EMT really hurts, the chief said.

The on-call personnel come with constraints, he said. "They all work out of town."

Ideally, the chief said, the town should hire one or two full-time additional firefighter/EMTs to solve the problem for the long range.

"If we hit the lottery today, that would be the easiest thing to do to correct the problem," he said. Funding, however, always has been a problem.

Attempts to convince more residents to become EMTs have failed. "We have tried recruitment," the chief said, "but we're dealing with a set population of 5,000 in the town ... so we're really restricted. I think we've exhausted all those who are there and want to do it."

On-call EMTs average about 69 cents an hour to sit at home and be available, plus $25 per ambulance call on their shift.

"For the people I have now, money is not the issue," Chief Dolan said. "It's the time commitment."

Selectmen agreed Tuesday to form a committee to look into all available options to increase ambulance staffing.

"There may be available grants where you can hire one more full-time firefighter/EMT," Selectman Martin A. Nofio said at Tuesday's meeting.

The committee should be able to sit down and determine if hiring a full-time person would reduce overtime and stress, he said.

The chief promised to provide selectmen with a complete breakdown on the status of existing ambulance personnel and current and future staffing needs.

News stories provided by third parties are not edited by "Site Publication" staff. For suggestions and comments, please click the Contact link at the bottom of this page.