South Dakota is working on a plan to improve ambulance service in rural parts of the state

The South Dakota Department of Health is working on an Emergency Medical Services Agenda for 2040, which would include “strategic plans for the future,” said spokesman Daniel Bucheli.

“EMS needs to be recognized — increased engagement with informing/communicating with public officials on the role of EMS,” Bucheli said in an email. “We have worked on this extensively.”

The biggest need in South Dakota is developing a concerted effort to plan how EMS will be funded and staffed in the future, Becknell said.

“It’s not complex, but nothing will happen as long as local, county and state people want to just push the current system to its absolute limit. Each community will be different,” said John Becknell, an analyst for SafeTech Solutions, a consulting firm that studies and provides guidance to emergency medical services. “They can do it in a way that allows lots of local autonomy and does not do it in a manner of big government.”

Brian Hambek, director of the Spearfish Emergency Ambulance Service, is part of a task force that is studying state laws involving EMS. The group is also looking into possible opportunities to combine forces and for more sustainable methods of funding.

“This isn’t about raising tax dollars,” Hambek said. “This is about finding ways to financially sustain our services in a community.”

Online courses and traveling hands-on teams have made education and continuing training more accessible to EMS workers. An online course from the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine is cheaper than emergency medical technician certification in neighboring states. Participants pay $850 for the course and the textbook; it could cost up to $1,500 plus a $350 textbook in other states. Online attendance increased during the pandemic, with viewers tuning in from all over the country, and even as far as Antarctica, said Travis Spier, director of simulation and pre-hospital care at Sanford.

“We want to do anything we can do to increase the workforce,” Spier said. “It’s convenient, the cost is reasonable, they don’t have to drive every day. A lot of volunteers have full time jobs and can’t drive hours to get to a course after they have work.”

Corolla Lauck, a paramedic and program director of EMS for Children of South Dakota, said educating the public about preventing injury is important for emergency healthcare workers. EMS for Children of South Dakota educates emergency services and communities on the unique healthcare needs of children. Statewide, ambulance services can see up to 8,000 pediatric calls each year; however, rural services that could go years without a pediatric call don’t feel as comfortable treating or transporting a child.

Program coordinators for EMS for Children of South Dakota travel around the state to provide hands-on training on how to prevent common injuries such as bicycle or pedestrian crashes or accidental poisoning. Education and preparation can prevent injuries, Lauck said, and can therefore limit ambulance calls.

“Safety and prevention are vitally important to a community,” Lauck said. “Awareness helps EMS providers because we may not have to respond to something if people prepare.”