An assessment of prehospital provider needs in Wisconsin

The Emergency Medical Systems Advisory Board assessed via questionnaire the needs of Wisconsin prehospital providers. Overall, 323 out of 453 (71.3%) of the services responded to the query. Intermediate and paramedic services were more likely to respond than those prehospital providers offering basic services. Of the respondents, however, 235 (72.8%) identified their service as basic. In addition to providing information about service characteristics, each responding provider also rated its perceived needs. All prehospital providers, regardless of service level, ranked "lack of medical director" as the issue of greatest concern. Continuing on, intermediate and basic providers rated difficulty in recruiting new staff as the second greatest need. Paramedic providers, however, identified dispatching as their second greatest need. Rural providers rated difficulty in recruiting new staff and difficulty in collecting ambulance fees as their second and third greatest needs, respectively. Urban providers, meanwhile, indicated difficulty in collecting ambulance fees and access to local training as the second and third top needs, respectively. With the proposed new curriculum for basic EMT services, the needs for local medical direction will be even greater.