Paramedics wanted: County sees surge in calls to emergency medical services

The Hawaii County Fire Department is seeking paramedics to fill the positions of those who have been promoted, retired, or transferred to other positions within the department.

“It is my understanding that the shortage is actually nationwide,” Hawaii County Fire Chief Kazuo Todd said. “Even the state is short of paramedics right now.”

There are currently 13 vacant paramedic positions for HFD, according to Todd, but mitigations are in place to fill most of them.

“There are a total of 13 positions that are vacant. However, we have seven people (in training for) these positions and three who will complete their courses,” he said. “So technically all but three positions would be filled.”

With 16 ambulance units on the Big Island rotating on three shifts, HFD needs approximately 48 paramedics islandwide. To help expedite the training process, HFD is working with the county’s human resources department.

“We are in the process of working with HRD to create new job classifications to try to address some of the paramedic shortage issues,” Todd said. “In the past, you had to come in as a recruited firefighter and work your way up. Then years later, you could become a paramedic. But now we are looking to have the ability to directly hire paramedics.

For 2022, approximately 73% of HFD calls were related to emergency medical services, requiring the majority of HFD personnel to be certified emergency medical technicians.

“I don’t actually have a position known as an EMT in the department,” Todd said. “I have firefighter, driver and captain positions, and generally 97-98% of our department has at least an EMT certification.”

Calls for emergency medical services are increasing following the pandemic.

“I think people stopped calling 9-1-1 for some of the more minor issues, in part because they didn’t want to go to the hospital and were afraid of potentially getting sick,” said Todd. “But recently we’ve seen them come back up and catch up to what we expected.”

To help train additional EMTs, Hawaii Community College recently announced a stand-alone program outside of the traditional fire science associate’s degree program to receive an EMT certification.

“Enrollment in the FS program has always been around 100 students,” said associate professor of fire science Jack Minassian. “It would allow people to take the EMT courses without having to complete the FS program.”

HFD also provides work experience for students in HCC’s EMT program.

“As part of our students’ hands-on training, students travel alongside HFD ambulances and work at the Hilo Medical Center emergency room,” Minassian said. “Having so many staff embedded in the community with the knowledge to provide emergency medical care until the ambulance arrives could be the difference between life and death.”

After EMT certification, HFD conducts its own training program to help expedite the process for current firefighters to become paramedics.

“We currently have a paramedic course underway, and we plan to start another in August,” said Deputy Fire Chief Darwin Okinaka of HFD. “The more we can get, the better. Then at least we have relievers when people take time off.

Prerequisites for paramedics range from training courses to obtaining state and national licensure. Todd recommended that those interested contact HFD or their community college directly.

“I would start by contacting the local community college and getting your EMT credential, then discussing pathways to becoming a paramedic with them,” he said. “There are definitely opportunities such as the Fire Science degree and EMT or Paramedic certifications that will increase your chances of being hired in one of our departments whether at the state, federal or County.”

To learn more about EMT courses offered at HCC, contact Kenoa Counselor Dela Cruz at [email protected]

Email Grant Phillips at [email protected]