Rural ambulance services in Kansas are pushing back patient hospital transfers because of shortage of medical workers in the state.
The delays are being created so that areas aren't without ambulance workers when medical emergencies occur, The Kansas City Star reports. That's why state lawmakers are considering a relaxing certain guidelines when it comes to transporting patients.
Under the proposed measure, ambulance drivers wouldn't need medical training in order to transport stable patients in rural communities. While at least one person staffing the ambulance would need to be a medical professional such as a nurse or EMT, such a change would create more transport runs, which can take hours to make in some remote areas, according to the Star.
Some emergency medical service professionals, however, worry that loosening regulations could create health and safety risks for patients. The guidelines, they argue, are there for a reason.
"If you have somebody that's simply a driver and you still have two technicians in the back of the truck with the patient then, then I, I see absolutely no problems with it," said Pete Rogers, the EMS director for Phillips County, which has 84 certified volunteers serving a community of less than 5,400 people. "But I would be concerned if it was a non-certified person driving and only one technician in the back."
But it's a different story for Craig Sowards, the EMS director in Norton County. That area has six full-time volunteers and nine volunteers to cover ambulance emergencies for 5,400 residents, and he sees the change as a positive.
"I've been in EMS for 20 years running transfers — maybe once in 20 years I've had to have a driver come help," Sowards told the Star.
