Wisconsin Ambulance Services Suffering from Staffing and Financial Challenges

Thursday, February 16th, 2023 -- 11:01 AM

(By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio) A recent survey of ambulance services in Wisconsin found staffing and financial challenges have left many on the brink of collapse, leaving them unable at times to respond to 911 calls.

According to Danielle Kaeding with Wisconsin Public Radio, ambulance services in Wisconsin have long-relied on volunteers, and Wisconsin towns are mandated to provide emergency services unless it’s provided elsewhere.

Over time, a lack of volunteers and inadequate funding have left some communities struggling to provide service. The Wisconsin Office of Rural Health surveyed the state’s ambulance services in late 2022, according to James Small, its rural EMS outreach program manager.

Small said 41 percent of the 218 services that responded didn’t have enough volunteers to respond to 911 calls at times within the last year. The survey found 21 percent of services only had a crew of two or three people to provide around-the-clock coverage, the bare minimum required in Wisconsin.

"That's putting them in a very, very precarious position as far as being able to continue responding to calls," Small said. Small said survey responses represent about 60 percent of the state’s ambulance services among Wisconsin’s roughly 800 emergency medical services providers.

The state has a mix of service models, some are staffed by paid EMS workers, some with a combination of volunteers and paid on-call staff and some solely by volunteers.

Cari Broge, service director for Glidden Ambulance, said she has 10 volunteers that receive a stipend to respond to about 100 calls each year for four northern Wisconsin towns in Ashland County.

Two of those towns lost service for roughly half a year in 2021 when their previous provider ended its contract. Often, she said, only two people are able to respond to calls during the work day when it's most challenging to find volunteers.

"There are times when there just is not anybody available," Broge said. "It's not a huge number by any means, but it does happen." On average, she said there are a couple of times each year when no one is available and a neighboring service is called to respond.

Of services surveyed, 78 percent called a neighboring agency to respond to 911 calls at least once in the previous 12 months due to low staffing. Staffing levels among services are the worst they’ve ever been, said Alan DeYoung, executive director of the Wisconsin EMS Association.

He noted the recent survey found 41 percent of services have six or fewer staff. Rural areas like northern Wisconsin have confronted greater challenges and longer response times, but urban and suburban departments aren’t immune.

"Everybody is struggling with staffing," DeYoung said. "So as your department is unable to staff a 911 call, and you call mutual aid to another department, and they have the same staffing crisis happening, they're not able to go either."

At its worst, the survey found 911 calls went unanswered by ambulance services in at least 10 communities. The Wisconsin EMS Association wants the state to devote more funding to the issue to help with attracting and retaining people to staff services.

Just under one-third or 29 percent said they don’t have adequate funding to operate through this year as communities have faced declining state aid.

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