To the Editor:
The SIREN Act was signed into law on December 20, 2018. This law created a grant program for public and non-profit EMS agencies and fire departments in rural areas to support the recruitment, retention, education, and equipping of EMS personnel. The current 5-year authorization for SIREN ends September 2023. In response, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced S. 265, the SIREN Reauthorization Act that would reauthorize the SIREN Act grants for another five years (2024-2028).
EMS agencies and fire departments across the United States are facing crisis-level challenges in recruiting and retaining personnel and maintaining their operations in the wake of exponential increases in expenses for medical supplies, equipment, fuel and medications. Increased costs coupled with continued supply-chain delays in obtaining ambulances and other emergency response vehicles, are creating unprecedented challenges.
In today’s economic environment, EMS agencies and fire departments struggle to stretch their budgets to cover basic medications and supplies. Declines in primary care and hospital service availability, greater distances between healthcare facilities, and low reimbursement rates have created a perfect storm of financial challenges for rural agencies.
EMS agencies face ever-greater responsibilities — preparing for disasters and public health threats, responding to “routine” emergencies such as heart attacks and vehicle accidents, supporting the needs of an aging population, serving on the front lines of the opioid and fentanyl crisis, and filling healthcare gaps in rural communities created by declining numbers of primary healthcare providers.
Rural EMS agencies often are forced to rely on community donations to supplement limited funding from municipal or county governments. While donations help rural EMS agencies and fire departments maintain their operations, they have not kept pace with the rising costs that these agencies face.
The SIREN grant program is a critical lifeline for budget-challenged, rural EMS agencies and fire departments. SIREN grants have provided much-needed funding to assist rural agencies in procuring medication and medical supplies, recruiting and retaining personnel, increasing their levels of service from Basic Life Support to Advanced Life Support, and even replacing older ambulances with newer and safer models.
Since the inception of the SIREN program in 2018, nearly 100 communities have been able to use these funds to elevate the level of emergency medical care provided to their residents. These operational improvements and service expansions were only possible with the support of the SIREN program.
Sincerely, Roger Smith Oklahoma City
