1.  Pennsylvania has approximately 37,000 volunteer emergency responders. That number approached 300,000 in the 1970's. 


2. The significant drop in the number of volunteer emergency responders can be attributed to requiring the volunteers to raise funds to pay for their own training, purchase equipment and maintain facilities. Training also consumes a significant amount of time, especially in rural areas where training facilities may be a significant distance from home.  


3. Of Pennsylvania’s 2,462 fire companies, more than 90 percent are volunteer companies.


4. It costs more than $28,000 to equip one firefighter with the proper equipment. 


5. State fire officials estimate that volunteer firefighters save Pennsylvania communities about $10 billion annually.


6. A new ambulance can cost $80,000 to $150,000 or more, depending on how it’s equipped. Cardiac monitors in EMS vehicles that can send patient data to the hospital cost about $35,000 each, while special equipment for bariatric patients can run several thousand dollars. 


7. The number of individuals seeking to become certified as an EMT is far less than the more than 2,800 EMS providers who allowed their certification to expire last year, removing them from the commonwealth’s EMS workforce. Forty percent of expiring EMTs are under the age of 30.   (PA Department of Health)


8. Number of hours needed for certification: Emergency medical responder (EMR)/48-52 hours; Emergency medical technician (EMT)/150-200 hours; Advanced emergency medical technician (AEMT)/150-250 hours; Paramedic/1000 – 1200 hours.


9. While performing EMS services, EMTs are exposed to suicide completions and suicide attempts, which have been linked to independently increase risk of suicidal thoughts.   (University of Arizona College of Medicine) 


10. When an ambulance leaves the station, there is a cost. When emergency responders arrive on scene and treat a patient, there is a cost. But if the patient declines transport to a hospital, the ambulance company receives zero reimbursement for those costs.

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