EMSA Working On Response Time, Shows Improvements On Staffing

It's no secret that the Emergency Medical Services Authority has struggled with their response time. Despite some issues, however, things are looking up for EMT’s. 

First responders told News 9 they aren’t where they want to be, but they are working in several different areas to get better. 

The agency dealing with pandemic burn out, hospital bed availability and staff out because of positive COVID-19 tests. 

“COVID-19 really decimated the EMS industry. Schools shut down, there were (sic) almost a 95% reduction in the new paramedics and EMT’s. That is going to take a lot of time to come back from,” said Adam Paluka, the Chief Public Affairs Officer for EMSA. 

These hurdles make it difficult to make the 10 minute and 59 second response time for priority one calls. 

“It’s no secret that response times are a big concern and EMSA is focused on improving the response time compliance in our western division,” he said. 

Back in 2021, News 9 reported that EMSA responded to 54% of calls on time in its Western Division. 

Recent data from June 2022 showed they responded to 58% of calls on time. 

“We can’t put a timeline on when everything is going to go back to normal, but we are seeing some improvements and some of the indicators and we are hoping that that will lead us where we need to go,” said Paluka. 

Staffing data from this spring shows a drop in the number of paramedics on staff, but EMSA has hired more EMTs and dispatchers. 

These are small Improvements they hope to build on. 

“We brought in IFT teams to help us with our interfacility transfer calls so that our EMT and paramedics can focus on calls within the 911 system," Paluka said. "We launched our first in-house EMT school for the first time ever in April. so we can homegrown our own EMT’s."

Paluka said they are also experiencing record-breaking call volumes this year which can also affect response times.