Rural Health Research Gateway

Rural Emergency Medical Services: Workforce and Medical Direction

Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Phone: 919.966.5541
Lead researcher: Rebecca T. Slifkin, PhD
Contact: Victoria Freeman, DrPH, RN, 919.966.6168, victoria_freeman@unc.edu
Project funded: September 2005
Project completed:August 2007
Topics: Emergency medical services (EMS)
Workforce

This two year study will examine the status of medical direction for rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) systems, the nature of the challenges and impediments to obtaining adequate medical direction in rural areas and issues surrounding the recruitment and retention of paid and volunteer staff for rural EMS systems. Specific topics to be addressed include system characteristics that are associated with difficulty obtaining medical direction and the primary impediments to obtaining medical direction.

The study will be conducted in two parts. Part one will include a mailed survey of a national sample of EMS directors. Approximately 1,500 local EMS system directors will be selected randomly, stratified by location, from a master list of over 25,000 EMS systems maintained by the National Association of State EMS Directors. The survey will include approximately 30 questions (both closed and open ended) that focus on medical direction and recruitment and retention of EMT staff. Follow-up mailings and telephone calls will follow the initial mailing to ensure the best response rate possible. Survey data will be merged with other databases to assist in analyses across county demographic and geographic variables not captured elsewhere. Part two of this study will involve a secondary data analysis of the 1999 -2002 core Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographics Study (LEADS) survey data. Results from the primary and secondary data analysis will result in multiple working papers and policy briefs of relevance to the rural health policy community.

Publications

  • Becoming an Emergency Medical Technician: Urban-Rural Differences in Motivation and Job Satisfaction
    Author(s): P. Daniel Patterson, Victoria A Freeman, Charity G. Moore, Rebecca T. Slifkin
    Report Number: Working Paper No. 89
    Date: 03 / 2007
    This study uses cross-sectional data from the 2003 national Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographic Study (LEADS) Project to explore urban-rural differences in why EMTs enter the field, what is important in their jobs, and whether they are satisfied with their profession.
  • Challenges for Rural Emergency Medical Services: Medical Oversight
    Author(s): Victoria Freeman, DrPH; Rebecca Slifkin, PhD; Daniel Patterson, PhD
    Report Number: Findings Brief 85
    Date: 05 / 2008
    This Findings Brief examines the challenges faced by local rural EMS agencies in obtaining a medical director and ensuring medical oversight for EMS personnel, and also describes how the challenges faced in rural areas differ from those in urban ones. The data are from a national survey of 1,425 local EMS directors that was conducted in 2006-2007.
  • Issues in Staffing Emergency Medical Services: A National Survey of Local Rural and Urban EMS Directors
    Author(s): Victoria Freeman, DrPH; Rebecca Slifkin, PhD; Daniel Patterson, PhD
    Report Number: Final Report No. 93
    Date: 05 / 2008
    This report explores rural-urban differences in medical oversight and the recruitment and retention of emergency medical technicians (EMTs)and paramedics as reported by a survey of 1,425 local EMS directors.
  • Rural-Urban Differences in Characteristics of Local EMS Agencies
    Author(s): Victoria Freeman, DrPH; Rebecca Slifkin, PhD; Daniel Patterson, PhD
    Report Number: Findings Brief 84
    Date: 05 / 2008
    This Findings Brief describes the general characteristics of local rural EMS agencies and important ways that they differ from the characteristics of agencies located in urban areas. The data are from a national survey of 1,425 local EMS directors that was conducted in 2006-2007.