COVID & Future of EMS

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When the dust settles on all of this, how will it effect staffing, etc?

I’m sure we’ve all read the numbers projecting future demand for EMS workers...

Now, after COVID, do you see that demand increasing, decreasing or remaining the same?

Also, how do you see this affecting staffing and new hires?
Will this scare off more people from getting into the field or will it create a boom similar to military enlistment after 9/11?


Thoughts?
 
For at least my area I do not see staffing levels changing anytime soon. Yes we are still low on call volume but as the county and may state start to open back up that volume will return to normal.

I do expect to see a little bump in people wanting to join some sort of first responder or healthcare system. I know there are already people out there who were laid off from their old job and have been hired at a job that is labeled as essential.
 
I foresee hundreds...no THOUSANDS of people lining up to work IFT and be hailed as HEROS...
 
I see lots of admin positions becoming telework.

You will see a spate of consolidation, as companies that are financially stable gobble up the ones who aren't.

Overall, the daily function of the business won't change much. You still need to staff trucks to transport people to and fro.
 
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I see lots of EMS agencies revamping their disaster recovery plans, to incorporate pandemics, loss of 1/4 of their workforce due to infections, loss of normal supply chains, and increase risk of employment acquired illnesses. I see the work from home option becoming more prevalent for positions that don't need to be in the office 40 hours a week, but can be accomplished remotely.

But in the end, the public and the politicians have the memory of the current news cycle, so in a year or so, our budgets will be tightened, we will be expected to do more with less, and we won't be given the resources we need to do the job in the worst-case scenario, and will continue to need other agencies to "stop the clock."
 
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DrParasite said:
I see lots of EMS agencies revamping their disaster recovery plans, to incorporate pandemics, loss of 1/4 of their workforce due to infections, loss of normal supply chains, and increase risk of employment acquired illnesses. I see the work from home option becoming more prevalent for positions that don't need to be in the office 40 hours a week, but can be accomplished remotely.

But in the end, the public and the politicians have the memory of the current news cycle, so in a year or so, our budgets will be tightened, we will be expected to do more with less, and we won't be given the resources we need to do the job in the worst-case scenario, and will continue to need other agencies to "stop the clock."
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Cynic. But history has already proven what you say as correct. We must also take include the 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality and the selfish, self centered people who are quite willing to go along with 'acceptable collateral damage' as long as it isn't in their back yards. Then they start singing a very different tune.
What is heart sickening is members medical profession are part of that acceptable collateral damage. Self gratification above all else! Reopen the country!
 
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RedBlanketRunner said:
Cynic. But history has already proven what you say as correct.
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I guess that makes me more of a realist than a cynic, esp if history has my back
RedBlanketRunner said:
We must also take include the 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality and the selfish, self centered people who are quite willing to go along with 'acceptable collateral damage' as long as it isn't in their back yards. Then they start singing a very different tune.
What is heart sickening is members medical profession are part of that acceptable collateral damage. Self gratification above all else! Reopen the country!
Click to expand...
you know, no one mentioned politics in this thread before you did. and once you did, your TDS, was on full display.

We do need to open this country up. Maybe doing it so soon is a tad aggressive for your takes, but there needs to be a plan and some objective criteria for when we can reopen. We do need to restart the economy. We can't just self quarantine for the next few years (and remember, essential services haven't been able to), and mooch off the government. The public needs to understand that people die.... every day. every single day. in every community. especially if they have preexisting conditions. or if they are old. or if they are in close proximity to others (SNFs, jails, etc). it has nothing to do with self-gratification; it has to do with reality, and how "flattening the curve" was never going to reduce the spread of the pandemic, but rather to allow the healthcare system to handle the sick people. but make no mistake, people are still going to die. Death, like taxes, are inevitable.

Do I hope EMS workers get the public recognition (and financial support) that is often forgotten about, unless you need them? yes. do I hope our funding increases, as does the funding for public health? definitely. but that money has to come from somewhere, and with several states out of money and asking the federal government to bail them out due to their poor fiscal planning.... well, the money has to come from somewhere, and the only way to fix the problem (instead of passing the burden onto someone else) is to restart the economy, make sure people can pay their bills, their mortgages, and afford to feed their kids.
 
RedBlanketRunner said:
Cynic. But history has already proven what you say as correct. We must also take include the 'out of sight, out of mind' mentality and the selfish, self centered people who are quite willing to go along with 'acceptable collateral damage' as long as it isn't in their back yards. Then they start singing a very different tune.
What is heart sickening is members medical profession are part of that acceptable collateral damage. Self gratification above all else! Reopen the country!
Click to expand...

Some of us healthcare workers also understand that the public health impact of a collapsed economy will be far worse than that of Covid.
 
The way I took RedBlanketRunner's comment is that there are multiple considerations about how much to re-open and how quickly to do so; that it isn't a no-brainer to reopen the whole country right now.
 
mgr22 said:
The way I took RedBlanketRunner's comment is that there are multiple considerations about how much to re-open and how quickly to do so; that it isn't a no-brainer to reopen the whole country right now.
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The CDC has spent nearly a month writing and rewriting a very carefully worked out roadmap to reopening. It was even sent back to them to have the religious 'tree' aspect removed which they did. The entire plan has now been shelved by the White House with an assortment of exceptions that are being fast tracked without following the plan.
IMHO this is simply playing fast and loose with public health in general, but specifically it is shoving the medical profession directly into the line of fire. It's not like there is a plan B if care centers get overwhelmed which is going to hurt everyone. Why not simply follow the plan the CDC experts carefully worked out?
 
Not if you don’t have good insurance. People won’t want to wait an hour for a chat. 911 and transport.
 
I think telemedicine as a deterrent to 911 will fade right back into obscurity. I had a a conversation with a practice manager the other day and she told me they can't wait to get rid of the telemedicine and get back to seeing patinets. She said the liability is huge and they're still sending most of the patinets to the ED or having them come in. She said it's been nothing but a collosal waste of time.

My kiddo had what looked like an ear infection the other day. Out pediatrician offered a telemedicine consult. They said, "well we can't really tell. We can either give you a script without really knowing what's going on or you can just come in."


Interesting.
 
That’s the fail of telemedicine.

When I was running our campus student health clinic, the district wanted to explore third party contracts using telemedicine two to three days a week. I said no for our campus, the other one went with an outside contract. Two days, the clinic has staff for six hours, the rest is all telemedicine and has been an epic FAIL.
If I were a student, I would sue for the lack of care that is required and not provided...

Its not the Be All, End All, best practice. It’s narrowly focused and only works inside that focus.
 
It seems that the EMS as a whole, and not just in one country, needs to be re-examined as objectively as possible. Establishing a world wide standard is certainly one goal worth looking into. Many countries have skills and abilities other countries could learn from and utilize. Way too much difference in pre-hospital care from one location to the next.

Another aspect that desperately needs revisiting is personal protection. Again, standards need to be established universally that are proven effective. A lot of us field medics know of responders that contracted Hep C. Way too common. HIV contraction another.
Basically, it shouldn't be a mad scramble for PPEs and rewriting protocols and P&Ps when an epidemic comes down. The EMS needs to get ahead of the game and stay there at the cutting edge. We owe it to ourselves as well as the public we serve.
 
DrParasite said:
I see lots of EMS agencies revamping their disaster recovery plans, to incorporate pandemics, loss of 1/4 of their workforce due to infections, loss of normal supply chains, and increase risk of employment acquired illnesses. I see the work from home option becoming more prevalent for positions that don't need to be in the office 40 hours a week, but can be accomplished remotely.

But in the end, the public and the politicians have the memory of the current news cycle, so in a year or so, our budgets will be tightened, we will be expected to do more with less, and we won't be given the resources we need to do the job in the worst-case scenario, and will continue to need other agencies to "stop the clock."
Click to expand...

Optimist. 🤞
 
I see EMS agencies revamping their pandemic plans as long as that 10 million in grant money is out there. Then it'll go away, just like it did one the bloom was of the 9/11 rose.

When was the last time you you saw a fresh supply of 2-PAM auto injectors?
 
Long-term, I think that there is going to be an increased focus on respiratory protection.

Nothing else really changes.
 
MMiz said:
I think the rapid advancement of telemedicine as a result of COVID-19 will have a profound impact on all of the non-emergent transports we see in EMS.
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Honestly not sure there.

I think it’ll help with some, but there will still be a lot of dumb stuff we move around :)
 
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