First 8 earn EMT certification through BC3 EMS Academy formed to counter shortage
Eight Butler County residents have become certified emergency medical technicians through an inaugural and accelerated Butler County Community College EMS Academy formed to confront what a county commissioner calls a shortage of the first-responders so severe that response times to crises are exacerbated.
In exchange for having attended the eight-week academy free and receiving $520 weekly stipends, the new EMTs are committed to work full time for one year for a licensed ambulance service based in Butler County.
“A shortage of EMTs is a life-or-death situation,” said Kevin Boozel, who with fellow Butler County Commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer chose BC3 in December to establish the academy financed by American Rescue Plan Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
Nine licensed ambulance services are based in Butler County, Boozel said. A shortage of about 125 EMTs has prolonged response times and prompted the county’s decision to create an academy, Boozel said.
“What we are talking about is an acceptable time line for an ambulance to arrive at your emergency,” said Boozel, of Harrisville. “In a rural area like where I live, I don’t expect an ambulance on every corner. … But I don’t think that anyone would agree that 40 minutes, 45 minutes, 55 minutes is an acceptable wait time for an emergency. And that is what we are seeing over and over again.”
According to the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, an agency that assists the state Legislature, a county is considered to be rural if it has fewer than 291 residents per square mile. Butler County has 233 residents per square mile.
Licensed ambulance services outside of Butler County also respond to calls within the county, according to Steve Bicehouse, director of Butler County emergency services.
“We figured those eight new EMTs will put in about 16,000 hours in one year,” Bicehouse said. “We want to continue the program and see it succeed. Having more than 100 full-time positions empty is concerning, but eight is a start.”
The first students to earn EMT certification through BC3’s EMS Academy range in age from 19 to 51.
The new first responders are Zachary Broome, 24, of Butler, and Victoria Donaldson, 19, Sarver, who hope to serve with Karns City Regional Ambulance Service, Petrolia.
Paige Duke, 20, Renfrew, intends to work with Harmony EMS; Patrick Kresh, 25, Butler Township, Quality EMS in Mars, Saxonburg EMS or Karns City Regional Ambulance Service; Alyssa Magill, 19, Butler, Slippery Rock EMS; Ian Manuel, 29, West Sunbury, and Benjamin Shumway, 24, Slippery Rock, Butler Ambulance Service, Butler; and Kristin Radovich, 51, Sarver, Saxonburg EMS or Butler Ambulance Service.
The BC3 EMS Academy is offered through the college’s Workforce Development division. The second academy will begin Sept. 23. Two academies will be held in 2025 and two in 2026.
“We are helping to feed a pipeline of the very needed EMTs in our county,” said Lisa Campbell, dean of BC3’s Workforce Development division. “The more EMTs we have to serve our county will allow for our agencies to have more adequate response times.”
Tom Buttyan is coordinator of BC3’s Workforce Development EMS and police training programs and of the EMS Academy.
The academy’s 224 hours of training include mandatory eight-hour ride-along shifts with a licensed ambulance service that assists Butler County communities on weekends, or clinical experiences in the emergency department of Independence Health Care-Butler Memorial Hospital on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays, Buttyan said.
“They were out in the field and saw all the things they were learning about in real time,” Buttyan said. “They learned how to identify, respond and watch how it was resolved.
“I’m very proud of the students’ accomplishments. This helps the community with the staffing crisis that we are hearing about. It takes some of the burden off the already certified folks by having an infusion of new EMTs.”
Donaldson earned an associate degree in criminology from BC3 in May. She responded during ride-alongs to about 30 calls, some for a stroke, some for chest pain, and observed the effect of the scarcity of the first-responders.
“Some of the EMTs I was with during ride-alongs said they were on the last eight hours of a 72-hour shift,” Donaldson said. “It’s crazy how much they have to work because there is a shortage.”
Kresh responded to about 10 calls, including one for a woman in her 70s who fell and possibly broke her hip, and also said that a prolonged response time could be the difference between life and death.
“It is noticeable that response times are getting longer,” Kresh said. “Cardiac arrest is a perfect example of what could happen. Because if it takes an EMT or a paramedic nine minutes to get from the station to your house, chances of resuscitation are slim to none.”
BC3 has been providing emergency medical services training since 1973. Its EMS training programs are accredited by the state Department of Health. The college also offers a separate 16-week hybrid EMT certification program that costs $802, Buttyan said.
Bill Foley is coordinator of news and media content at Butler County Community College.
