Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Ems topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sedgwick EMS seeks more EMTs, pilot of mobile integrated health and additional ambulances
Summary
EMS leaders asked the commission to add EMT positions, continue an EMT‑to‑paramedic pipeline, pilot community paramedic/mobile integrated health roles, and expand peak‑time ambulance capacity from about 21 toward 24–28 over coming years. Commissioners pressed for a comprehensive deployment plan and funding path.
Sedgwick County EMS asked commissioners for multiple operational investments aimed at keeping more ambulances in service, building a local paramedic pipeline and piloting mobile integrated health programs.
Chief Kevin Lanterman described three main elements: tuition and support to expand an EMT‑to‑paramedic pipeline (E2P); six additional EMT positions in the upcoming budget to increase frontline staffing; and two mobile integrated health / community paramedic positions to pilot treatment‑in‑place and follow‑up visits for high‑utilizers. Lanterman said the paramedic/EMT hybrid model has helped keep more trucks in service, but call volume growth means staff also want to test alternate deployment models to reduce the number of times ambulances must travel countywide to meet demand.
Staff presented operational numbers: 155 field provider slots on the staffing table (151 paramedic slots and 4 EMT slots), with roughly 121 paramedics and 21 EMTs currently filled plus recruits in training. Peak available ambulances were described as about 21 today; staff modeled a need to reach 24–28 ambulances over the next several years if call volume continues to rise. Commissioners asked whether adding only six EMT positions materially advances the multi‑year target and urged a clear strategic plan that ties hiring, vehicle purchases and deployment to measured reductions in status events and rural/urban response targets.
On funding, staff noted that some mobile or programmatic responses cannot be billed under current federal rules unless a transport happens: Medicare/Medicaid rules generally reimburse ambulance transports rather than treatment‑in‑place. Commissioners asked staff to explore billing options and partnership funding (for example, with hospitals) and to provide quantified return‑on‑investment scenarios before approving substantial recurring commitments.
