Trends in demographic and employment characteristics of US emergency medical technicians and paramedics, 2011–2019

Abstract

Background Describing the US emergency medical services workforce is important to understand gaps in recruitment and retention and inform efforts to improve diversity. Our objective was to describe the characteristics and temporal trends of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics in the United States. Methods We performed a repeated cross‐sectional evaluation of US Census Bureau's American Community Survey 1‐year Public Use Microdata Sample data sets from 2011–2019. We included respondents working as an EMT or paramedic. Survey‐weighted descriptive statistics of demographic and employment characteristics were calculated. Trend analysis was conducted using joinpoint regression to estimate slope and annual percent change (APC). Results The total estimated number of EMTs and paramedics in the United States increased from 216,310 (95%CI 204,957–227,663) in 2011 to 289,830 (95%CI 276,918–302,743) in 2019 (APC 3.0%; 95%CI 1.4%, 4.7%). There was a slight increase in the proportion of females (2011, 31%; 2019, 35%). There was a significant decrease in proportion of non‐Hispanic whites (2011, 80%; 2019, 72%; APC −1.5%; 95%CI −2.0%, −0.9%) with concurrent increases in other racial/ethnic groups (e.g., Hispanics, 2011, 10%; 2019, 13%). About half worked >40 hours per week, with little change over time. Between 15% and 18% lived and worked in different states, and about 40% traveled ≥30 minutes to their workplace. Conclusions The number of EMTs and paramedics actively working in EMS as their primary paid occupation has increased over time. However, there have been only modest changes in their demographic diversity.

Women’s Participation in Leadership Roles in a Single Canadian Paramedic Service

“…Although we found a larger proportion of women paramedics than has been reported in similar estimates in the US [2][3][4]10 or among public safety personnel in Canada 5 , our analysis points to an underrepresentation in leadership positions. Despite women making up 40% of the active-duty paramedic workforce and being more likely to hold an undergraduate (50% vs. 35%), professional (1.7% vs. 0.5%), or graduate (2% vs. 1%) degree, women's participation in supervisory and management roles was considerably less than that of men.…”

“…In contrast to recent investigations in the United States 3,10 , detailed demographic data on the paramedic workforce in Canada is sparse. Therefore, as part of a larger mental health study, our objective was to describe the demography of a single paramedic service and assess women's participation in leadership roles.…”

“…Recent studies on the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) workforce in the United States (US) have shown that although the proportion of women and racial or ethnic minorities is increasing 3 , participation in leadership roles remains low 2 -pointing to a 'leaky pipeline' effect. Focusing on gender specifically, women are estimated to make up less than 25% of EMS personnel providing care in the US 4 .…”

Emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians' views on EMS‐delivered interventions to promote secure firearm storage practices

“…First, we recruited a convenience sample of EMS clinicians in the United States. Although the sample demographic characteristics generally resemble EMS clinicians more broadly (Cash et al, 2022), this was not a representative sample, and findings may not generalize to the EMS community at large. Second, we only examined EMS clinicians' views on the topic of EMS‐delivered LMSC, without considering other stakeholders' perspectives, such as patients, patient's families, and other health care providers who may be in the chain of care for patients seen in the prehospital setting (e.g., emergency department clinicians)—all of these perspectives are important to consider in determining if EMS clinicians are suitable messengers of LMSC.…”

Evaluating changes in the emergency medical services workforce: A preliminary multistate study

“…This large inconsistency in turnover rates, in part due to heterogenous workforce definitions, suggests the need for a clearly defined comprehensive evaluation of the EMS workforce using consistent, transparent, and reproducible measures. 13 Understanding the extent of turnover may also estimate the cost of turnover to EMS systems, both financially and in terms of consistency of operations. The loss of EMS clinicians in the mid‐ to late stage of a career may result in a potentially inexperienced workforce that could have implications for patient care.…”