EMS Live Podcast
Guests included committee members Dana Sechler and John Eich
>> Click for on-demand playback.
On Tuesday, October 11 EMS Live in Wisconsin podcast guests included Legislative Study Committee members Dana Sechler and John Eich.
The Legislative Study Committee on Volunteer Firefighter and EMT Shortages has been meeting every month since July, listening to testimony and receiving correspondence from industry experts, fire and EMS leaders and elected officials on the subject. According to committee member Dana Sechler, "Eighty percent of the time legislative action comes out of a Study Committee".
Wisconsin has been riding along as firefighter and EMT staffing shortages have grown year-over-year, and were foretold back when two state legislative study committees were convened in the 1990s to address the topic twenty years ago. Nothing was done either time - and actually the State's EMS Office shelved the Wisconsin EMS Advisory Board's recommendations. Just a couple years ago, Wisconsin had over 22,000 licensed First Responders, EMTs and Paramedics. As of July 2016, that number decreased to 16,500.
Committee member John Eich mentioned during the podcast, "We don't have volunteer police officers in Wisconsin, and fire and EMS are part of the public safety net too."
Door County Emergency Services Director Dan Williams, who also served as chairman of the Wisconsin EMS Advisory Board in the 1990s and 2000s, the same board that offered recommendations to the two Legislative Study Committees in the 1990s, testified before the current Study Committee in August. "We have to watch this very carefully. We have to be very, very careful it is the right legislation. This is a crucial problem - we have to get it right.", according to Williams. >> Click to review William's presentation and recommendations.
The committee recently met on Tuesday, October 18. Most of the discussion regarded testimony by a representative with the National Registry of EMTs, and reviewing in detail a memo authored by staff attorney Margit Kelly. The memo provided a highlight of ideas from previous committee discussions. >> Click to review Kelly's memo.
It seems the group is headed toward narrowing in on their recommendations based on what they've heard in testimony and various ideas or suggestions that have been offered. Four different sets of legislation have already been proposed by legislators.
>> Click for on-demand playback.
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