Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) are trained to quickly respond to emergency situations involving health issues, trauma injuries and accidents. These first responders, either professionals or volunteers, assist fire departments, ambulance services and rescue teams by stabilizing patients before transporting them to hospitals. EMTs are trained in basic life support techniques which include cardiopulmonary resuscitation, defibrillation, controlling bleeding, preventing shock, body immobilization to prevent spinal damage, and splinting bone fractures. Many rural communities without full-time EMT professionals rely on volunteer EMTs. These volunteers face unique challenges including low population densities and call volumes, ambiguous geographic boundaries, longer response and transport times, a lack of acute care facilities, and the need to communicate over remote areas.

Currently, there is a nationwide shortage of professional EMTs in some states such as Indiana and Wisconsin - and also in many American rural areas in nearly every state. This is due to low wages paid by health insurance companies which start new EMTs at $11 per hour, forcing many to work other jobs and serve as EMTs on evenings or weekends. Advocates claim these conditions are forcing many technicians into other occupations, causing the pool of future paramedics to shrink as well. This is because EMTs who once worked their way up to a being paramedics are no longer staying on the job.

Proposed Legislation: H.R.8538 - To allow certain governmental pension plans to include firefighters, emergency medical technicians, and paramedics, and for other purposes (116th Congress)
Prospective Sponsor: Rep. Patrick McHenry (NC)