Advocates and caregiver press Pennsylvania committee to require dementia training for EMS; ambulance group urges regulation instead

HARRISBURG — The House Aging & Older Adult Services Committee heard divided testimony on HB 2435 as advocates and a caregiver urged lawmakers to require baseline dementia-care training for emergency medical services personnel while the Ambulance Association of Pennsylvania recommended relying on existing national standards and Department of Health regulation.

Chairwoman Representative Maureen Madden opened the hearing by noting last session’s bipartisan Act 111 of 2024 and introducing HB 2435, which she and Rep. Kyle Mullins sponsored to establish initial and continuing dementia-care training for EMS. "As this population continues to grow," Madden said, "we cannot afford to risk a poor encounter with our first responders system here in the Commonwealth."

Michael Galvan, director of government relations for the Alzheimer’s Association in Pennsylvania, testified in support of the bill. He said EMS already encounters people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias frequently and that HB 2435 would "codify into law" critical training topics so they remain part of required education. Galvan cited Commonwealth figures he gave in testimony ("more than 282,000 Pennsylvanians aged 65 or older" living with Alzheimer’s or related dementias), said dementia patients have high emergency-department use as he reported it, and said Pennsylvania’s Medicaid…