Prowers County Commissioners and LCC Foundation Seek Solutions for EMT Shortfall

Prowers County and rural agencies throughout Colorado are in significant need for EMTs.  Since most rural agencies do not have the funds to pay EMTs, they rely on volunteers to provide critical services to our region.  As area EMTs “age out” or move away and less residents volunteer, Prowers County ambulance services are facing substantial staffing shortages.

The Prowers County Commissioners are awarding a $100,000 grant in ARPA funds to the LCC Foundation to assist growing our available Prowers County EMT pool through increased outreach and scholarships.  The EMT Expansion grant will provide in $75,000 in scholarships.  The Commissioners, LCC’s Vice President for Academic Services and Student Services, Larry McLemore, Dean of Academics, Kyle Lasley, and LCC Foundation Executive Director, Anne-Marie Crampton discussed the need to reserve funds for additional instruction, marketing, program coordination and stipends for existing EMT’s to do outreach at high schools and in the community.  The commissioners were committed to making sure that all Prowers County agencies are assisted in this effort to incentivize local residents and existing volunteers to obtain their EMT Basic and Advanced credentials at no cost to themselves.  The Foundation will submit an executive summary and preliminary budget for the project.  The Foundation expects funds to be available for the next two-three years, especially as other resources including the State of Colorado’s CareForward funds come available.

Both the Basic and Advanced EMT programs are one semester each with Basic being 12 credits and Advanced at 13. They are usually run in the evenings and one Saturday a month.  Each cohort could accommodate up to 20 students with additional instructional assistance.  LCC usually runs a Basic cohort in the fall and an Advanced class in the Spring. The college will start with outreach this fall, with both a Basic and Advanced EMS cohort planned for Spring of 2023.

Because they are shorter certificates of study, they are not eligible for traditional State and Federal financial aid.  Over the past decade plus, the LCC Foundation has attempted to assist EMT students with partial scholarships from multiple sources.  With Prowers County’s grant funds, there may never be a better time for students to complete their EMT certificate/s.

More information is available at https://lamarcc.edu/academics/occupational-programs/allied-health/ or by contacting Morgan Clark, LCC’s Director of Nursing & Allied Health, at 719.336.1597 or morgan.clark@lamarcc.edu.
From Anne-Marie Crampton