Rurally Speaking: Are the Days of Rural Volunteer EMS Personnel Numbered?

Carl Haddon is an instructor for On Scene Training Associates.  Carl J. Haddon started his fire service career in 1983 in Southern California. Since the early 1980s he has also served as a fire/safety director for numerous racing organizations, including Penske Motorsports, NASCAR, USAC and Mickey Thompson Racing.  Carl also does consulting work for several fire service equipment manufacturers.For the past 10 years Carl served as Asst. Chief and Fire Commissioner for North Fork F.D. in Idaho. He presently serves as a S.O.C. Rescue Specialist / Trainer for the State of Idaho, and is assigned to the Salmon (River) Task Force. As a level 2 instructor, Carl has taught fire / rescue programs and done emergency planning across the U.S., China, and the South Pacific. He has been an FDIC instructor since 2012, and is a monthly columnist for Fire Apparatus Magazine (To the Rescue & Rurally Speaking), and is a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Magazine editorial advisory board

Carl Haddon's most recent article written for www.fireapparatusmagazine.com is entitled Rurally Speaking: Are the Days of Rural Volunteer EMS Personnel Numbered?. The following is an excerpt from this article.

In rural areas of the country, more people die from their illnesses or injuries as a result of no or not enough prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) care, than they do from improper emergency care. Is your state, county, or local authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) over EMS making it virtually impossible for your volunteers to get or maintain EMS certification?

Remember when holding certification for EMS meant attending a class for so many weeks, taking a final exam, taking a practical exam, and voila—you got a card? Remember when recertification meant simply maintaining continuing education units (CEUs) or a recertification class? This is no longer the case in many parts of the country. Consequently, the changes and the incessant new hoops to jump through are killing the EMS sector of volunteers across much of rural America. Isn’t recruiting volunteers difficult enough already? Read the full article here