LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A national shortage of EMTs and paramedics presents a persisting problem in the Commonwealth. The lack of emergency health workers results in fewer people answering calls and longer response times to medical emergencies.
Paramedic supervisor Matthew Davidson sees the need for more EMTs within his position at UK HealthCare.
“We feel it every day,” Davidson said. “Here at the UK, I mean currently, we're down eight EMT positions, so we are hurting for EMTs, and we are not the only ones. It's pretty ubiquitous as far as Kentucky EMS goes and nationally.”
To combat this shortage, UK HealthCare will begin a class to teach and train EMTs. For 16 weeks from March to June, courses will be on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5 to 8:30 p.m. weekly, and every third Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Saturday sessions will act as a skills day for students to practice the things EMTs do in the field. Students will also have some clinical time in the ER, and they will have opportunities to ride and learn with EMS crews on call.
“The ride-alongs can definitely be an eye-opening thing for people,” Davidson said, “because it's their first taste of really getting in and going to 911 calls and things like that. You see a lot of things that most people don't see.”
The classroom sessions will take place at the UK HealthCare Turfland campus. For the first year of the program, UK will accept 15 applicants.
To encourage more people to apply, UK promised to cover the cost of educational materials. Additionally, the program plans to pay the students $15 an hour for their time in training.
“We just want to give people incentive to enter into the field. If we can get people in and fill in those gaps, it's a small amount to pay to fill in our EMT slots and make sure that we're staffed well and that other EMS services can be staffed well as well.”
To apply, applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a GED or a high school diploma.
Davidson refrained from putting any age or demographic limitations on applicants. Instead, he looks for applicants interested in future work as an EMT.
“We just want people that are going to come and take the certification course and actually use the certification. We really don't want to bring people in and pay for the class and pay for their time for them to just get the certification and go back to doing something else in another career. We just want them to be dedicated to EMS when they get out.”
The deadline to apply for the first class is Friday, February 16. Click here to apply.
If the program draws enough interest this time around, Davidson is hopeful that UK HealthCare will consider adding more classes and even increasing the class size.
