By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Last Tuesday, the Northfield Hospital and Clinics Emergency Medical Services asked the Northfield City Council to approve a letter of support for a license change in the organization. The City of Dundas, Rice County, Dakota County, and the Southeastern Minnesota Emergency Medical Services have all previously signed letters of support for the change.
Currently, the Northfield EMS is licensed as a full-time Advanced Life Support organization; the main requirement is that the NH&C has at least one ambulance crew on duty at all times with a paramedic. The new license would be a full-time Basic Life Support License with a part-time Advanced Life Support license. Which would allow them some time to no longer have a paramedic on duty at all times.
However, EMS Chief Brian Edwards stressed that this is not going to result in a change of services, but it is meant to keep the organization in compliance with state statutes. Edwards said that “If they didn’t have a paramedic on duty for even 15 minutes, they would not be compliant with the license.”
“For us, we don’t intend to change the way we’re doing business. We still plan to. We’re still recruiting, hiring, training and staffing paramedics. I don’t really see this ever coming up as where we won’t have a paramedic on duty. But in the case that we don’t have one, we’ll still be in compliance with state.” – EMS Chief Brian Edwards on the KYMN Morning Show
Northfield is not the only community that has faced a license change in recent years. Nationwide, there is a shortage of paramedics and EMTs; Edwards says that we are “not unique.”
“We’re not unique in this regard, Every service that I know of across the state is short staffed Everyone that I talked to and this includes services that. pay better, have different retirement plans, have a different working environment.“
The license change now goes to the Minnesota Emergency Medical Services Regulatory Board for review, and Edwards expressed confidence that the change will be approved.
