The purpose of Washington County Ambulance District’s EMS Training Program is to
recruit and train emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in rural Missouri. The goal, in partnership with the Missouri Emergency Medical Services Association, Mineral Area College, Washington County Health Department and Washington Community Partnership is to increase capacity of Missouri EMS agencies to provide life saving services through certification and continuing education. The funding request will fund Year 1 of a two-year project. WCAD and its partners will provide training on life-saving skill and provide life saving devices to first responders including EMS, fire, highway patrol, law enforcement and park rangers, across three counties. More than 500 individuals will receive training annually and continuing education will be provided to another 250. Funds will be leveraged to further support education and training to meeting EMS certifications and licensure for an additional 150 individuals (e.g., EMTs, paramedics, etc.). The goal of the project is to provide EMS personnel and first responders in Dent, Reynolds and Washington Counties in Missouri with lifesaving training, including training in the use of lifesaving devices, with an emphasis on addressing substance use disorder (SUD) and co-occurring SUD and mental disorders (COD). WCAD will leverage its existing training programs through Mineral Area College to ensure EMS personnel receive ongoing training and education on mental and SUD trauma-informed, recovery-based care in emergency situations. Objectives to be undertaken during the two year perioid to meet this goal include conducting courses that qualify up to 150 graduates to serve in an EMS agency, leveraging existing programs and resources; providing initial training on lifesaving devices for a minimum of 1,000 first responders, to include EMS, fire fighters, law enforcement, highway patrol, and park rangers, implementing an inventory and tracking system for placement and monitoring of life-saving devices throughout the three-county service area to aid dispatch and first responders in accessing devices; conducting continuing education on lifesaving skills and devices for a minimum of 500 first responders, to include EMS, fire fighters, law enforcement, highway patrol and park rangers; and placing 200 life-saving AEDs in accessible locations in each county, including first response vehicles.