Amboy fire protection district EMS training - the amboy fire protection district (AFPD) will recruit and train five emergency medical technicians (EMTS) and five emergency medical responders (EMRS) to…

Amboy fire protection district EMS training - the amboy fire protection district (AFPD) will recruit and train five emergency medical technicians (EMTS) and five emergency medical responders (EMRS) to illinois and national certification levels. The certified personnel will close AFPD's service GAP of too few EMT and EMR personnel responding to ambulance alarms. This GAP is due to the recent expansion in AFPD's primary service area and its total population served. AFPD's recruitment and training program is meeting the emergency medical services needs of the people in rural LEE county illinois by expanding IT service where other rural EMS organizations are failing. The AFPD now provides emergency medical services (EMS) for 250 square miles of the 729 square miles that make-up LEE county, illinois. The population served is 6,995 with an increase of 50,000 during the summer when urban visitors enjoy its outdoor recreation areas, averaging about 550 EMS alarms per year. LEE county's population's average age is older than the state or national average population age. More than 50% of respondents to the 2022 community health needs assessment said they or someone in their household had a mental illness. The top health needs of county residents are behavioral health, obesity and physical inactivity, access to care and transportation, food insecurity, and tobacco and E-cigarette use, all of which can result in the need for emergency medical services. In this EMS recruitment and training grant project, AFPD plans to recruit and train five personnel to EMT certification level and five personnel to EMR certification level and equip these personnel members with personnel protective equipment and supplies. AFPD will set-up in-house training in the fire station IT came into ownership of with its recent service area expansion. This station is needed to house personnel and vehicles to serve its increased geographic area. Furthermore, AFPD will train its entire EMS department of fifty-one (51) personnel members with samhsa virtual technology transfer center's in mental and substance use disorders and care for such people in emergencies and with the use of naloxone opioid overdose antidote and the care of overdose patients. AFPD will provide motivational interviewing and recruitment in its training curriculum, and work with a film contractor to create rural community-specific training videos for recruitment, onboarding recruits, and training in substance abuse and other mental health illness care. AFPD will acquire and automatic chest compression device and other AED and cardiac monitor supplies for training in cardiac emergencies, including those caused by drug overdoses. AFPD will implement pediatric, child, and adult training simulation manikins for patient assessment and basic and advanced life support skills development, including airway management, CPR, and for continuing education credits for CPR and narcotic overdoses. This grant project maintains AFPD's capacity for all its personnel to complete continuing education requirements in in-service group trainings and self-study to maintain their EMS certifications and HR requirements, including but not limited to standard medical orders (SMOS), annual clinical recertification; OSHA bloodborne pathogens, patient lifting, hearing loss, sexual harassment, and hippa requirements. At the end of this grant project's year, AFPD will be fully staffed and situated to continue an in house training curriculum for all its personnel to meet their continuing education requirements and maintain their EMS certifications.