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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Project Examples: Emergency medical technicians and paramedics

Effective Examples

funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed May 2020

  • Need: Meeting the health needs of geriatric patients in rural Livingston County, New York.
  • Intervention: The Help for Seniors program was developed and using its 'vodcasts,' local EMTs were trained in geriatric screening methods and health needs treatment.
  • Results: In addition to developing a successful model for educating EMS personnel, the program screened over 1200 individuals and identified various risks among the geriatric population.

Other Project Examples

Updated/reviewed May 2025

  • Need: To connect patients to resources in order to reduce use of emergency services, emergency department visits, and hospital readmissions.
  • Intervention: Patients receive support (by in-person visit, phone call, or telehealth visit) from a paramedic, community health nurse, peer recovery specialist, and pharmacist.
  • Results: Between July 2016 and March 2024, the program made 1,098 patient contacts and continued to see a reduction in emergency department and inpatient visits and costs.

Updated/reviewed April 2025

  • Need: To provide increased educational opportunities for emergency care personnel in rural and frontier South Dakota.
  • Intervention: A technologically advanced training was created to enhance the delivery of emergency patient care.
  • Results: Hundreds of emergency medical services (EMS) staff and volunteers received training that in turn helped them in the field of emergency patient care.

Updated/reviewed January 2025

  • Need: To provide rural Nevada EMS personnel an opportunity to receive quality training and current EMS information from national EMS educators.
  • Intervention: The Rural Nevada EMS Conference offers continuing education units and engaging sessions for EMS personnel.
  • Results: In 2024, 185 individuals attended the conference in-person.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed October 2024

  • Need: To bring preventive care and other services to rural Missouri patients with chronic illnesses and difficulties accessing primary care.
  • Intervention: Community paramedics and community health workers make home visits and provide basic care, home assessments, and medication reconciliation and facilitate telehealth visits.
  • Results: Patients experienced improved access to care, health status, and compliance with medication regimens along with increased patient engagement, satisfaction, and access to community resources.

Updated/reviewed October 2024

  • Need: To reduce injuries in agricultural communities and improve emergency responders' preparedness when called to farms and ranches.
  • Intervention: RF-DASH equips rural fire/EMS personnel and others with agricultural health and safety knowledge and tools to pre-plan for agricultural emergencies as well as assess and then mitigate agricultural hazards.
  • Results: Over 150 firefighters and EMTs have received training to become RF-DASH trainers.

Added July 2024

  • Need: To increase the number of Advanced Emergency Medical Technicians (Advanced EMTs) in rural Idaho and neighboring states.
  • Intervention: An Advanced EMT class offered to students at five rural high schools, the first of its kind in the country.
  • Results: Two students graduated from the class in its first year, with at least two more expected to enroll in the 2024-25 school year.

Updated/reviewed February 2024

  • Need: To reduce farm injuries and improve EMS and fire/rescue's response to these injuries in rural Louisiana and Mississippi.
  • Intervention: AGRIMEDIC is a two-day training for first responders.
  • Results: 810 first responders have received training.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed September 2023

  • Need: Distance, time, and cost make it difficult for EMS volunteers to attend continuing education and maintain certification.
  • Intervention: Providence Health Training delivers free online training to rural EMS providers via video teleconferencing.
  • Results: The EMS Live@Nite program provides free, monthly training to rural EMS providers in the northwestern part of the United States. The program is available through live video conferencing from certified locations in rural communities.

Added August 2023

  • Need: To reduce poor maternal and infant health outcomes and improve access to prenatal and postpartum care for at-risk pregnant women and recent mothers in Crawfordsville, Indiana.
  • Intervention: A home visitation program that uses community paramedics to deliver wrap-around care to women experiencing high-risk pregnancies and/or social and environmental challenges.
  • Results: Since 2018, more than 200 women have been served by the program.

For examples from other sources, see: