LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Noah Gunn has his EMT certification like the other firefighters at Anchorage Middletown Fire and EMS.
"Like, you save someone from a burning building. I think it's awesome to bring them out, set them on an ambulance and you know exactly what to do," he said.
Gunn is one of 12 turning up their career of care at the department, now studying to be a paramedic.
"What I'm most excited for? Just being able to take full responsibility of the patient and provide the best care I can," the firefighter said. "I think EMS is just gonna keep on expanding in the fire service, because our fire prevention teams, they're awesome and we're seeing less fires. And I think we're gonna see more EMS calls."
However, the emergency medical profession in Kentucky is on life support.
"I say shortage, we use that term a lot. It truly is a crisis. We have services that are gonna shut down if we can't find a solution," Kentucky Board Chairman of EMS John Holder said last month, testifying before state lawmakers.
Holder explained wages are the number one reason people leave the job and that Kentucky loses one in five EMTs every year.
It's difficult for EMS to make money, Holder said, because Medicaid and Medicare only pay out when patients are taken to the hospital.
In Louisville, a recent union contract brought starting pay for EMTs up to $21.64, an increase of over $3 an hour. Paramedics start out at $27.12. They're in higher demand because most emergency runs in the state require advanced support EMTs aren't trained to give.
At the completion of the course, the Anchorage Middletown department will have almost 1 in every 3 firefighters prepared to make those runs.
"If you ask a lot of old paramedics, they didn't get paid for stuff like this," the paramedic in training said. "They had to go on their own time for clinicals, ride time, all that. We are getting paid for this."
Across the state, the EMS board reported the cost of training as the number one barrier for EMTs like Gunn making the jump to paramedicine.
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