BUTLER COUNTY, Pa. — Staffing issues and EMS shortages are being felt nationwide, including in Butler County communities. But now, a new program through the Butler County Community College could help to fill those holes fast.
County commissioners voted to approve a new EMS academy Wednesday, an agreement with the college that will help to get EMTs into the field faster but with the same amount of training or more.
“They’re actually, in the academy, they’re getting about 20 more hours because we’ve added the empowerment class to help employability,” said Tom Buttyan, coordinator of EMS and police training for Butler County Community College. “We’re going to condense everything down, they’ll come here four days a week – and the fifth day will be either clinical at the hospital, at Independence Health System in Butler…or they’re going to be with one of the nine EMS services in Butler County.”
Butler County is short about 125 EMTs – information provided to commissioners by the local ambulance companies. The county has been working to address the needs of communities for months, approving a proposal for extra response and assistance last September.
“Knowing the response times and knowing that people have had to wait some considerably long times for an ambulance – that’s frightening for anyone,” said Leslie Osche, chairman for the Butler County Board of Commissioners
The academy will run for eight weeks and will be offered twice a year, accepting 12 students at a time.
“To have the comfort of knowing that we’re going to be able to get more EMTs into the field faster is wonderful,” Osche said.
At the end of training, they’ll start working for one of the ambulance services in Butler County. Commissioners said the program will be paid for using American Rescue Plan money and will not only be *free for those who enroll – students will make $13/hour.
Officials are hoping to have the academy up and running by June.
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