EMS World Expo Recap: Volunteer EMS Session Creates a Platform for Open Dialogue

At EMS World Expo 2016 in New Orleans, LA, Nancy Magee, of Medic Training Solutions, gave one of the most engaging presentations I’ve ever attended.

Magee was presenting on issues within volunteer EMS and providing recommendations around how it could be redesigned to keep agencies in operation. She started with a well cultivated summary of the history of EMS and the role volunteers have played, highlighting some of the more recently publicized instances in which communities had no emergency services because of a lack of volunteers.

From the audience there was a recognition that, much like EMS as a whole, there is limited data on volunteer EMS providers or agencies in the United States. There was also a general consensus that most volunteer organizations are located in smaller population centers and have to cover larger geographic areas than their paid counterparts.

There was also a recognition from attendees that almost no one understands how much their organizations cost to operate versus the value they provide to their communities. Magee argued that the value of a volunteer hour is approximately $23, and that such a number must be presented to community leaders when explaining the cost of services. Cultivating a relationship with those in positions of power and educating them on the full breadth of what a volunteer agency provides are two ways to make sure any decisions respect the true benefit of volunteer EMS.

Magee also argued that, if necessary, this means supplementing volunteers with paid employees who are paid what they are worth so they are less likely to leave to serve in another community. This was a conversation point that quickly divulged into a larger debate over the lack of respect and recognition EMS providers receive from their public safety and healthcare counterparts.

One of the biggest problems discussed by Magee was volunteer attrition. Many attendees were quick to offer up ideas such as lack of time, inter-agency drama, and the time and cost required to train as reasons for this, recognizing that different regions offer a different level of support for volunteers that further perpetuates the problem. Impressively, Magee made sure to point out that volunteer EMS had, to some effect, created their own problem by recruiting volunteers with the excitement of the “lights and sirens,” though the reality is that most calls are significantly less glamorous.

The most surprising recommendation of the session was to tap the retiree demographic for volunteers, something few agencies do. Magee stressed that most have the time needed and rarely have the same economic restrictions of younger volunteers, even playing a video from Cypress Creek EMS showcasing one such volunteer.

Magee ended her presentation by highlighting the importance of continuous education on the part of organizational leadership. Advocating for conference attendance both from the perspective of classroom sessions and from the perspective that the networking opportunities during a conference were unlike any that could occur in other situations.

For information on next year’s EMS World Expo, scheduled for November 16–20 in Las Vegas, NV, visit EMSWorldExpo.com.

Catherine R. Counts is a doctoral candidate in the department of Global Health Management and Policy at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine where she also previously earned her Master of Health Administration. Counts has research interests in domestic health care policy, quality and patient safety, organizational culture and prehospital emergency medicine. Follow her on Twitter at @CatherineCounts.