Tulsa City Council Considering Changes To Help With Paramedic Shortages

Staffing shortages are affecting EMSA's response times, which is why on Wednesday medical professionals pitched an idea to the Tulsa City Council that could help.

The proposal is to switch EMSA over to a two-tiered system which would both allow more ambulance crews to be hired and ease the burden on the city's overtaxed paramedics.

EMSA spokesman Adam Paluka says the pandemic sped up an already growing problem; There just aren't enough paramedics to go around.

“There has never been a more critical time when it comes to EMS staffing than the moment we are in right now,” he said.

Curtis Knoles is part of an independent oversight group that determines how to best care for Oklahoma patients. He helped pitch the two-tiered system to Tulsa City Councilors.

“It’s become more difficult to find paramedics and to find paramedics with experience. So how can we best get that paramedic to the right patient at the right time?” Knoles said.

Right now, EMSA runs entirely with Advanced Life Support units - that means an ambulance with one EMT and one Paramedic inside. The proposal would add Basic Life Support ambulances to the system.

“Which would be an ambulance staffed with two EMTs," Paluka said.

Those BLS units would only be sent to minor calls such as spider bites and small injuries.

“Lower-acuity calls that aren’t as life-threatening as some of the other calls," Paluka said.

That frees up the higher-trained paramedics to go on serious, life-threatening calls like heart attacks and gunshots.

“What we’re proposing today is to usher in a new era for EMSA," Paluka said.

The plan has already been approved by Oklahoma's Medical Control board - and EMSA is ready to implement it.

It only needs approval from both Oklahoma City and Tulsa's city councils.