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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 21 M A R C H 5 , 2 0 1 8 F O C U S H E A L T H C A R E Looming shortage e Maine Department of Labor projects a 6.6% increase in EMT and paramedic jobs in the 10 years to 2024, compared to 0.8% for all professions. Glenn Mills, chief economist at the MDOL's Center for Workforce Research, underscores that the vast majority of openings won't come from growth, but to replace those who retire or leave for other reasons. e MDOL will publish its next 10-year projection this spring. Most paid EMTs and paramedics work full time. One out of three in the country worked more than 40 hours a week in 2016, including nights and weekends. Volunteers have variable schedules and some may work just a few days a week. As a rural state, Maine relies heav- ily on volunteer emergency services, particularly in remote areas where there are fewer calls, while most ambulance services in southern Maine and the main population centers are paid and go on more calls. e state's nearly 275 emergency rescue services include small munici- pal fi re departments and a handful of private for-profi t companies. All are competing for a shrinking talent pool amid rising equipment costs and limi- tations on what they can pay workers because of what they're reimbursed by insurers or Medicare and MaineCare. Like hospitals and clinics, smaller services in rural areas are hit the hard- est, but all are struggling with recruit- ment and retention. "I don't know if there's a workforce crisis, but what I can say anecdotally at least, is retention is always an issue," says Shaun St. Germain, director at the Maine EMS, part of the Department of Public Safety that oversees licensing and monitors the EMS system. Eric Wellman, who heads SMCC's EMS department, says that most people who come into the profession leave after about fi ve years, some for fi nan- cial reasons if they're not in a job with a guaranteed pension. "EMS is also a physically intense working environment," adds Wellman, still a part-time paramedic in Cape Elizabeth. " e job itself can hurt you, and there's also a psychological toll." Bucking the high-turnover trend himself, he's been a paramedic for nearly 25 years going back to a program in high school he hadn't expected to take to. "I didn't like blood, I hated needles and I defi nitely didn't like vomit," he says. After encountering all three on his fi rst call and fi nding that "it wasn't ter- rible," he decided to continue and make a career out of it. "Once I started doing it, I stopped doing other activities. I just wanted to get good at it so I focused on it, EMS and fi refi ghting." He laments the fact that young people today are encouraged to be good at everything and concentrate on getting into four- year colleges, making it harder to run programs like SMCC's. It's had mixed success with a more recent EMT program targeting new Mainers, some of whom have been unable to land jobs without a driver's license or driving record. "It's interest- ing some of the barriers we came up against," Wellman says. Others see emergency services as an entry-level chance to work with patients before pursuing another health-related profession with higher pay, more pres- tige and regular hours. In Maine, the median wage for EMTs and paramedics in 2016 was $16.12 an hour, slightly above the U.S. median pay of $15.71. National data show that those employed by hospitals earn the most at $35,390 a year median pay, followed by local government excluding education and hospitals at $35,000 a year and ambu- lance services at $30,380 a year. Visit us at MartinsPoint.org P R I M A R Y A N D S P E C I A LT Y C A R E H E A LT H C A R E C E N T E R S We serve patients of all ages in southern Maine and New Hampshire and accept most major health insurance plans. M E D I C A R E G E N E R AT I O N S A D VA N TA G E We offer Medicare Advantage insurance plans for seniors in Maine and New Hampshire. T R I C A R E ® U S FA M I LY H E A LT H P L A N We offer a TRICARE Prime option for military families throughout the Northeast. People Caring for People ...providing the highest-quality CARE and COVERAGE to our community in Maine and beyond. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » PROJECTED JOB GROWTH, 2014–24 S O U R C E : Maine Department of Labor 2014 2024 EMTs/paramedics All other occupations +6.6% Projected increase (from 1,725 to 1,839 jobs) +0.8% Projected increase (from 661,444 to 666,763 jobs) Projected increase

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