Rural Emergency Medical Services Training Grant (R-EMS)

For program and eligibility questions:
Angela Caldwell
240.276.2586
REMS-Training@samhsa.hhs.gov

For financial and budget questions:
240.276.1400
NOFOBudget.CSAT@samhsa.hhs.gov

For grant review process and application status questions contact:
Angela Houde
240.276.1091
Angela.Houde@samhsa.hhs.gov

Grants.gov contact center:
800.518.4726
support@grants.gov
Self-service knowledge base

System for award management (SAM):
866.606.8220
Federal service desk

The Rural Emergency Medical Services Training Grant (Short Title: R-EMS) provides funding to recruit and train emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in rural areas with a focus on addressing substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions.

The program expects to:

• Train EMS personnel to provide trauma-informed, recovery-focused care during emergency situations
• Train EMS personnel on the use of U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved opioid overdose reversal medications (OORMs) in emergency opioid overdose situations
• Train EMS personnel to initiate buprenorphine in the field after an overdose
• Train EMS personnel and provide them with resources to implement procedures on connecting those who have undergone overdose reversal to substance use disorder treatment
• Train EMS personnel, as appropriate, to maintain licenses and certifications relevant to serve in an EMS agency and support patients with behavioral health conditions
• Strengthen rural EMS through targeted recruitment and retention of volunteer responders to address behavioral health and substance use related emergencies

Detailed lists of required and allowable activities are provided in the application instructions.

Eligible applicants include rural emergency medical service agencies operated by local or Tribal governments, including fire-based and non-fire based agencies, and nonprofit emergency medical service agencies.

Award ceiling: $300,000 per year
Project period: 2 years
Estimated number of awards: 45
Estimated total program funding: $13,500,000

Links to the full announcement, application instructions, and the online application process are available through grants.gov.

Applicant webinar
(Registration required)
June 25, 2026
2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Eastern