More EMTs Needed - Class: Sign up now for Feb. 5 sessio

The roster of Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) serving the Lind, Ritzville and Washtucna communities has been in a state of decline for some time. Last year, a concentrated effort to boost the ranks of EMTs, primarily in Lind and Washtucna, met with some success, but the roster of trained emergency medical personnel is still coming up short.

Emergency Medical Services Coordinator Roni Kinney hopes to remedy the matter next week when a new class for EMTs begins on Tuesday, Feb. 5. Depending on how well students perform in the class, they should complete it some time in May. Improved compensation and new perks for local EMTs will help with recruitment efforts, Kinney hopes.

Adams County Public Hospital District No. 2 has crews and ambulances staged in each of the three communities. They respond to medical emergencies day and night and frequently make trips to Spokane transporting patients to other hospitals when patients need advanced care.

January through November of 2012, crews responded to 450 calls for service. Crews from Ritzville handled 435 of those runs. The Lind EMTs responded to one of the 70 calls for service in Lind. Ritzville’s crews handled the rest. In Washtucna, EMTs based there were able to handle 14 of 25 calls originating there. Ritzville’s crews took the rest. Of the 450 calls for service, 107 were out-of-town medical transports.

Part of the challenge is these are not full time jobs. Instead the EMTs are basically volunteers with day jobs who opt to help their community.

They do receive standby pay when they agree to be on call in their respective communities. They are also paid an hourly wage when they are out on a call or taking part in a medical transport.

The new year did bring improvements in compensation. The hourly standby pay was increased from $1 to $2.50. The hourly rate while on a call has been increased from $14.93 to $15.38. On holidays EMTs will receive time-and-a-half. The compensation package now includes two perks as EMTs are entitled to four annual clinic visits and four basic lab procedures per year.

Kinney said a low number of EMTs in a given community makes it difficult to schedule individual EMTs to fill all of the time slots in a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week schedule. The personnel are asked to voluntarily sign up for 12-hour shifts.

For instance, in Washtucna, EMTs living there primarily respond to evening calls. Two EMTs: Jan Sullivan and Teffanie Stark, cover the 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. shift Monday through Friday. Brett Blankenship responds whenever he can during the day and on weekends.

Eli Lindsey passed the class held in Lind last year and has successfully passed his national certification. David Miller passed his class in October and is now waiting to complete and pass the required national certification before he can officially join the Washtucna ranks.

In Lind, there are some EMTs and potential EMTs who took last year’s class. Much of last year, only two active EMTs were available to respond and they often were not available at the same time. State law requires a minimum of two certified emergency personnel on an ambulance when it goes on a run, preferably two EMTs. One EMT and a certified Emergency Medical Responder can also team up.

Currently, Jason Sanger and Tina Schuler are able to respond to calls. Last year Sanger, after years of service, stepped down. He currently responds under certain circumstances, according to Kinney.

Jeremy McLellan completed last year’s class in Lind. He has been very active as a student, recently passed his national certification and is waiting to receive his state license.

Gary Demoss and Sherman Campbell passed the Lind class. They have not yet completed the national certification process.

With 70 calls for service in Lind in 11 months, the town needs a stronger EMT presence. Kinney noted that waiting for an ambulance to travel from Ritzville to Lind, results in a loss of critical minutes when a patient needs care.

Steps are being taken to ensure a Lind EMT gets to patients quickly even if the ambulance is coming from Ritzville.

“I’m considering creating a jump kit for Jeremy and having him be a first responder in Lind,” Kinney said. “He’s amazing in terms of patient care until we can get there.”

In Ritzville, the crew is shrinking a bit with retirements. Jim Preston ended his long tenure on Dec. 31. Chris Johnson is currently preparing to retire.

Kinney said the Ritzville crew, which handled 450 calls in 11 months, is down to 12. More EMTs are needed in the city in order to handle the work load and prevent burnout of the current team members.

A January question and answer session about the upcoming EMT class attracted two individuals.

Kinney said she has heard from as many as six potential students, all from Ritzville. She is hoping additional Lind and Washtucna residents sign up for the class in the next week.

A major roadblock is the cost of the class. The fee is $400 per student plus the cost of the book. If students successfully complete the class and effectively serve as EMTs, the hospital district will reimburse them.

Anyone interested in signing up to take the Feb. 5 EMT class should contact Roni Kinney at 659-1200.