Northwest Arkansas Paramedics In Short Supply

(AP) — A mock-up of an ambulance filled one corner of the classroom and simulated hospital rooms took up the opposite wall, but Grant Wilson's students one recent morning were focused on the 3-inch-thick books in front of them simply labeled "Paramedic Textbook." The situation is so urgent many departments nonetheless cover the cost of training their EMTs into paramedics -- often between $7,000 and $8,000 at NWACC -- while also continuing to pay EMTs' salaries while they're taking the course and paying other EMTs to fill in for them in the meantime. "The last few (paramedics) we've hired have either been from Missouri or Oklahoma," said Chief Stephen Sims of the Bella Vista Fire Department, which, like most ambulance services in the area, employs people trained as both firefighters and EMTs or paramedics. In Gravette, where a fire department with eight positions provides ambulance service to Benton County's northwest corner, paramedic and captain David Orr occasionally has worked shifts more than 80 hours long in the past two months to fill an empty paramedic position. "After you've been here two or three days it starts to wear on you pretty hard," Orr said, adding his girlfriend's youngest child, a toddler, forgot who he was after one long shift. Orr recalled one from someone with insomnia, another for a mild fever -- wear him down the most, and he must go to every one while on duty. Departments across the state have complained of the shortage, mostly in rural areas, said Greg Brown, chief of the Arkansas Health Department's emergency medical services branch. Scattered reports around the country from The Associated Press and other news outlets have described localized shortages as well. Some paramedics go on to work at hospital emergency rooms instead of ambulances even without becoming nurses because of better pay or other reasons, Brown and other officials said. Becky Stewart, chief for Central EMS, sai

BING NEWS:
  • Ambulance company sponsors next-gen paramedics to fill the gap amid shortage
    As a paramedic shortage plagues the Portland metro area, a new graduating class of them are on their way to join the American Medical Response fleet and hopefully chip away at those slow ambulance ...
    04/23/2024 - 11:40 am | View Link
  • More

 

Welcome to Wopular!

Welcome to Wopular

Wopular is an online newspaper rack, giving you a summary view of the top headlines from the top news sites.

Senh Duong (Founder)
Wopular, MWB, RottenTomatoes

Subscribe to Wopular's RSS Fan Wopular on Facebook Follow Wopular on Twitter Follow Wopular on Google Plus

MoviesWithButter : Our Sister Site

More World News