Developing and implementing a training strategy to address the challenges of rural emergency medical services - methow valley home health agency is the parent corporation of aero methow rescue service

Aero methow rescue service (amrs) is the sole advanced life support emergency medical service (EMS) provider in the methow valley (okanogan county) located in north central washington state. Okanogan county is ranked among the lowest in washington state for health outcomes (36/39) and health factors (34/39) and is designated a rural medically underserved population (MUP). The closest critical access hospital is at least 45 miles away, but could exceed 70 miles, based on the size and remoteness of the response area. Amrs is staffed with part paid and part volunteer responders with a mix of paramedic, advanced and basic emergency medical technicians (aemt and EMT) and emergency medical responders (EMR). As the sole 24/7 healthcare provider in the valley, amrs plays a very central role in managing patient care which requires a well trained and equipped EMS organization. In this regard, this grant supports: 1) the development of a perpetual EMS recruiting/training program, with a goal of at least 5 new EMS volunteers trained at the emergency medical responder (EMR) level and 5 advancing to the EMT level; 2) conducting paramedic training for selected staff and volunteers (2-3 responders) to support the advanced life support (ALS) mission; 3) train 3 EMS responders as mental health first aid instructors who will directly support the training of our experienced EMS providers (20-30 staff & volunteers) beyond the traditional EMS curriculum to address both patient and EMS provider health and well-being; and 4) to support the purchase of a state-of-the-art simulation mannequin to develop EMS providers skills for the high acuity/low frequency emergency responses. Amrs is committed to the overarching goals of the quadruple aim which focuses on- improving patient health, increasing patient satisfaction, decreasing healthcare cost and improving responder wellbeing. In this regard, we highly value our EMS responders and are committed to not only providing training but also want to focus on providing for their mental health and overall wellness. This grant will enable amrs to achieve and sustain these goals for our community, patients and EMS providers.