A member of congress is looking at providing rural EMS teams with some help. 

Congresswomen Cindy Axne has introduced the Supporting Our First Responders Act that would help with staffing shortages combined with the skyrocketing costs to help emergency medical services to stay operational. Axne explains that folks in rural areas deserve the same type of emergency medical services than anywhere else. 

“The number of EMS calls absolutely surged during the pandemic. And then the average response time in our rural counties rose to 10 minutes and 7 seconds, which is more than double what they should be, according to the National Fire Protection Association. These are issues that can affect, obviously, our family’s and their lives.”

Axne states that this would authorize $50 million per year for five years to establish a grant program under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which would allow public, private, and nonprofit EMS agencies that provide medical services to apply for grants. She notes that this bill would also authorize $5 million in technical assistance to assist EMS agencies with grant processes. For more information about the piece of legislation visit here.