DERAMUS: EMS ‘FACING A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT CRISIS’ WITH STAFFING, FLEET ISSUES

Josh Blaschke June 16, 2021

676

A report shown by EMS Director Kevin Deramus to Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday shows the amount of times all units have been out on call, both with and without pending 911 calls.

Washington County EMS Director Kevin Deramus says his department is “facing a pretty significant crisis” due to issues with hiring more staff and updating the department’s fleet.

During his monthly report to Washington County Commissioners on Tuesday, Deramus explained that EMS departments across the state are having trouble bringing in new paramedics, as many clinical schools are still feeling the effects of COVID-19.

This problem is exacerbated when paired with data presented by Deramus that shows, through five months, the department has already exceeded the number of times last year that all units were out on call with no pending 911 calls. Deramus said those occurrences, referred to as Level 2 alerts, totaled 44 in 2020 and were already the highest in almost a decade; so far this year, according to Deramus, there have been 65 Level 2 alerts. Level 1 alerts – when the department receives a 911 call with no units available – totaled five in 2020, and there have been three so far this year.

Last month, Deramus said the department has had to hire and train more emergency medical technicians as paramedics to help solve the staffing issue.

Deramus also said the department is having problems refreshing its fleet. He said while the commissioners court has helped the department make strides with reducing its number of high-mileage vehicles, it is still waiting on two chassis ordered in September 2020. He said this issue is not just affecting Washington County, as ambulance manufacturers have had to shut their factories down because they cannot acquire chassis to put ambulance boxes on.

Some commissioners blamed the U.S. government’s response to the pandemic, with Commissioner Kirk Hanath saying, “You can’t shut everything down and not expect to mess up the supply chain.” Commissioner Joy Fuchs said the general public does not always see the big picture, and that while it may have sounded good initially to shut everything down in order to keep people safe, the extent of the response has led to further problems.

What’s your Reaction?