The timing of two separate stories, which run as relateds to this article, made me think about the feast and famine nature of EMS.
More times than not, I’ve heard providers say that it’s either impossible to find jobs or impossible to find qualified applicants.
Why is that? I suppose that our industry reflects many others — people will go to where it’s desirable to work with a number of factors coming into play including weather, pay, family connections or a combination of any of these influences.
This will leave some areas with an excess of qualified applications, or a severe lack of them.
Rural areas seem particularly hard hit. Career positions are hard to come by; being a volunteer and keeping up with current practices, continuing education and equipment can make it nearly impossible to maintain that level of commitment.
Yet the area doesn’t contain enough financial strength to maintain a paid service.
Another factor is reflected in this op-ed piece. Dr. Hawkins laments how poorly paid EMS providers are in his local area. That’s not an unusual situation, sadly.
The staffing issues we face are multivariate and no single solution exists.What would you suggest we could do to help alleviate staffing shortages?
