Paramedic shortage feared in Post Falls
Emergency responders in Post Falls say additional senior care facilities planned for the area have them racing against time to bring in more paramedics.
“We expect about 500 beds to come to this area in the next year and a half,” said Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Ron Sampert. “That will create more response for us, and we’re already stretched out about as thin as we can get. We don’t have the wherewithal to hire additional personnel.”
Rescue workers responded to a record 3,516 calls in 2005, an 8 percent increase over 2004, and expect that trend to continue. That creates the need for more paramedics.
“It takes about three years to train a firefighter to be a paramedic,” Sampert said. “If I started today, it would be 2010 before they would be able to hit the street. And while they’re going to school, others have to fill in to take their place.”
Jennifer Baus, administrator of Guardian Angel Homes in Post Falls, said senior facilities rely on paramedics. “When in doubt, we always call,” she said. “They do a great job, and we need them.”
“Nurses work well in the controlled environment,” said Sampert, “but are not trained in emergency response.”
Sampert said many of the beds at the senior facilities will be filled by people new to the area. “People will want to move their loved ones here so that they can be better taken care of,” he said.
In Coeur d’Alene, Fire Chief Kenny Gabriel said he has already had to deal with an increased demand for paramedics. “We have what we need, but it’s been quite a process,” Gabriel said. “The training is quite a learning curve.”
Sampert said that his agency is giving firefighters the option to become paramedics. Hiring paramedics can be difficult, he said, because local paramedic-firefighters make about $40,000 a year, less than they could make in more populated areas. “There are paramedic-firefighters looking for jobs, but they are looking for high-paying jobs, and that’s not what we offer,” Sampert said. “We offer a quality of life, but don’t offer the pay that big cities do.”