BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Hall Ambulance Service has been a part of Kern County since 1971 and currently employs around 460 people, but officials are saying that number is simply not enough to fully meet the community's needs.
At a recent Kern County Board of Supervisors meeting, representatives from Hall Ambulance addressed the challenges the service is having meeting their staffing needs.
The lack of EMTs in Kern County has caused Hall to try and get creative with their recruiting techniques. Johnathon Surface, Chief Operating Officer for Hall, says one of their most successful tactics has been their 15-year partnership with Bakersfield College to operate their own in-house EMT training program.
"There's not enough paramedics in the program at any of the local colleges, so we have our own program," said Surface.
The Harvey L. Hall Academy was created as a way to support people who want to become EMTs or paramedics, but according to Surface, right now finding those people who want to be first responders is a challenge.
"It's tough to find a paramedic now and get them to come and work for you," said Surface.
The number of EMTs hired rose between 2018 and 2021, then dropped again in 2022. That year, only 24 EMTs were hired. The number of program graduates has dropped as well. Only 7 in 2021 and 2 in 2022.
Meanwhile, in the process of trying to recruit more employees, Hall had to go over budget to support the workers they already employed. According to Surface, Hall had a payroll budget of $26 million and spent an additional $7 million on payroll hours alone.
"Staffing agencies' EMTs and paramedics were transferred to us. So far, we've purchased over 28,000 hours of EMT and paramedics' time," said Surface.
To offset the lack of new employees, Hall says it increased wages in January by 6.5 percent on top of creating a massive social media promotional campaign, conducting job fairs for both high school and college students, and putting a bigger emphasis on mental wellness for EMTs and paramedics.
"I don't care who the first responder is, they are seeing things and hearing things that stick with them and hurt, and we've got a huge commitment to try and keep our employees healthy and keep them working," said Surface.
Anyone who is interested in becoming an EMT or paramedic is encouraged to register for Hall Academy. Applications are always being accepted for prospective academy students to complete the field internship that will qualify them for the training program.
