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Sedgwick County EMS seeks more recruits, ambulances and safety tech amid rising call volume
Summary
Deputy Chief Brian Nicholas outlined eight decision packages for EMS for 2026, including expansion of an EMT‑to‑paramedic education program, mobile integrated health FTEs, a medication‑tracking system, one ambulance and a body‑worn camera pilot; he said revenue has strengthened but staffing remains short of ideal paramedic mix.
Brian Nicholas, deputy chief of Sedgwick County EMS, presented the department’s 2026 decision packages and said staffing has improved but the mix of paramedics and EMTs is not yet ideal.
Nicholas said EMS is staffed at about 91% overall but remains understrength in paramedics: the department reported 31 open paramedic positions supplemented by 17 EMT underfills and six ETP (education/training program) slots. He highlighted the EMT‑to‑paramedic “ETP” program started in 2022, which has produced 21 graduates who remain with the agency; the department seeks to expand current enrollees from six to ten slots and add six full‑time EMT positions to create a sustained pipeline.
Nicholas presented eight decision packages the department requests for 2026 and described the purpose of each: expand the ETP pipeline (+4 education slots), add six full‑time EMT positions (to support the pipeline), two FTEs for a paramedic mobile integrated‑health (MIH) team (or one if reconfigured), a controlled‑medication management system with RFID tracking, one additional ambulance (fleet expansion), an SUV for MIH staff, a body‑worn camera system (initial pilot and data-storage ongoing costs), and training mannequins for critical‑care skills.
He argued the MIH program would target high‑utilizer patients (278 people had 10+ transports in 2024; 70 patients had 20+ transports) to align patients with appropriate services and reduce repeated ambulance use. On body‑worn cameras, Nicholas said the department has run a three‑month trial on three ambulances and one supervisor vehicle and cited benefits for transparency, quality assurance and safety; he noted recurring data‑storage costs estimated at about $243,000 per year.
Nicholas emphasized EMS’s strong billing revenue stream and that the taxpayer burden has fallen in recent years as receipts increased; he also warned of threats such as pharmacy supply chain pressures and potential Medicaid/Medicare reimbursement variability. Commissioners asked about status‑event reporting, unit availability (status 0/1/2/3), and the duration of status events; staff said a CAD interface project is in process to capture finer duration data.
Nicholas concluded by standing for questions and noting EMS plans to seek at least one ambulance for fleet expansion with an ongoing plan to add capacity as call volume grows.
