McLean EMS looking to increase staff

Jan. 9—McLean County EMS is looking to hire more full-time employees to become fully staffed again.

Douglas Edwards, an advanced EMT educator for McLean County EMS, said they have two ambulances in the county — one 24-hour truck and one 16-hour truck.

"I've been doing this for 26 years in several places and there's always been an EMT and paramedic shortage," he said. "This has always been an issue and it's not anything new. But when COVID hit, we had several people out who didn't return."

Edwards said paramedics were working double shifts for 48 hours straight and advance ETMs were covering.

"We never had a truck off the road," he said. "Some vacations were canceled, but we maintained both trucks."

Being a rural agriculture community like McLean County, Edwards said several of the EMTS and paramedics work two or three other jobs.

"It's been like that everywhere I've worked," he said. "Since COVID kind of stopped, we were pretty well-staffed and were even at fully-staffed until about two weeks ago."

Edwards said EMS lost three paramedics to different agencies.

"We still have paramedics but we want to make sure we keep our staff up," he said. "We're looking to fill those spots. Everyone is always hiring and always looking for medics."

Edwards said it's normal for EMS employees to move on to new agencies and roles.

"People move on and find a new job," he said. "Some want to experience a higher call volume. We've never held anyone back from wanting to better themselves."

While McLean County EMS has been able to keep both trucks on the road with enough staff to cover them, there are issues that could arise if one truck was unable to be active.

"If we had to go down to one truck and two calls went out at the same time, we would have to rely on ambulance agencies in places like Daviess County, Webster County and Madisonville," Edwards said. "That would delay treatment for a patient."

Edwards said most agencies have what is called "mutual aid" in place and allows for different county and city EMS' to assist in surrounding areas.

"We've made several runs to Daviess County, Webster County, Madisonville and even all the way out to Dawson Springs," he said. "Sometimes they are fully-staffed but the call volume is higher than what they can cover. Sometimes they're just short-staffed."

Luckily in McLean County, though, that doesn't happen very often, according to Edwards.

Edwards said he has been in the state for eight years and prior to that, Kentuckians were able to take paramedic courses through EMS agencies because of Training and Educational Institutions (TEI). However, those guidelines changed to only offer paramedic courses through colleges and universities.

"I wasn't here when that took place, but I've heard from others that when that was taken from local agencies, it hurt the amount of paramedics being put out," he said. "The colleges and universities can only take 30 a year and the course is two years long."

McLean County EMS is continuing to offer courses for those who are interested in becoming EMTs or advancing their skills.

A class of eight EMTs recently completed their advanced EMT course, four of which were already employed by McLean County EMS.

"They will have to sign up with the national registry and take the exam," Edwards said. "They will know that day or the next day if they passed and then become advanced EMTs. There was one from Daviess County, one from Bowling Green, one from Muhlenberg County and one from Owensboro Fire Department."

Beginning this month, McLean County EMS will be offering an EMT course.

"This is for anyone who is wanting to be in the field or interested in it," Edwards said. "They will go in and take the class and then sign up with the national registry to become an EMT."

As of Tuesday, 11 people have signed up for the course, and Edwards said they are expecting six more to register that are with the Sacramento Fire Department.

Prerequisites for the class include a high school diploma, current healthcare provider CPR certification (may be taken during the class for an extra fee) and must be able to pass a background check. The cost is $800 for McLean County firefighters and $1,000 for other students. Price includes the textbook, workbook, instructor pay and insurance coverage for each students.

The deadline to sign up for the course is Jan. 13. For more information of the course, contact Edwards at 270-499-3791 or email mcems.education@outlook.com. The course will take approximately five months and the specific start date is to be determined, but will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays.