Office of EMS to Address Retention Issues
Fall, 2004 -- The Virginia Office of EMS (OEMS) and the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads (VAVRS) in conjunction with the Western Virginia EMS Council are excited to announce a major project to address the retention issues facing many EMS agencies in our state.
An aging population requires and consumes more emergency medical and critical care services. The pool of volunteer and career EMS personnel is aging and the pool of potential EMS personnel is decreasing. Attracting and retaining volunteer EMS personnel is becoming more difficult as volunteers have less time to devote to public service. Career EMS personnel are moving on to other health care professions for better pay, benefits, and advancement.
OEMS and VAVRS are working with the Western Virginia EMS Council in Roanoke and Renaissance Resources, a Richmond based business consulting firm, to develop strategies and identify solutions to enhance the retention of volunteer and career EMS personnel.
The Retention Project objective is to develop a self-help tool kit for local EMS agencies to use in improving the retention of both volunteer and career EMS personnel. The tool kit will have structured, interactive learning experiences designed to optimize the productivity and retention of EMS personnel through their life cycle of service.
The project will be conducted in two phases:
1. Research will be conducted to gather demographic information on the pool of EMS personnel; identify and study successful EMS retention efforts and strategies; and identify measures of success for EMS agency retention efforts. Several focus group meetings will be conducted and EMS personnel interviewed to confirm the need for improved retention efforts, test potential tools for the kit and clarify the best method to deliver the tool kit.
2. A “tool kit” will be developed and
distributed to all EMS agencies.
The Office of EMS requests your assistance in getting the word out to your constituents about this important project. We request you create a personalized message endorsing this project, cascade OEMS messages to your constituents, and post messages about the retention project on your regional EMS Council Web site.
We further request your willingness to assist the
Renaissance Resources consultants, Al Hinkle and Sara Gaba, if one of
them contacts you for assistance with this project.
Lastly, we ask that you cascade all updates on this project to your constituents and post updates on your regional EMS Council Web sites. Updates on the Retention Project will be made in December, March and June.
Within the next week, information and quarterly project updates will be posted on the Office of EMS Web page. To follow the progress of this project, refer to the “Volunteer and Career EMS Personnel Retention Project” link under EMS News.P. Scott Winston, Assistant Director
Virginia Department of Health
Office of EMS
109 Governor Street, Suite UB-55
Richmond, VA 23219
1-800-523-6019 (Toll free in VA)
804-864-7606
804-864-7580 (fax)
Email:
Scott.Winston@vdh.virginia.gov