Cash Rebecca E, Powell Jonathan R, Peters Gregory A, Goldberg Scott A, Panchal Ashish R, Camargo Carlos A
Department of Emergency Medicine Massachusetts General Hospital Boston Massachusetts USA.
Harvard Medical School Boston Massachusetts USA.
J Am Coll Emerg Physicians Open. 2022 Jul 7;3(4):e12776. doi: 10.1002/emp2.12776. eCollection 2022 Aug.
Describing the US emergency medical services workforce is important to understand gaps in recruitment and retention and inform efforts to improve diversity. Our objective was to describe the characteristics and temporal trends of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics in the United States.
We performed a repeated cross-sectional evaluation of US Census Bureau's American Community Survey 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample data sets from 2011-2019. We included respondents working as an EMT or paramedic. Survey-weighted descriptive statistics of demographic and employment characteristics were calculated. Trend analysis was conducted using joinpoint regression to estimate slope and annual percent change (APC).
The total estimated number of EMTs and paramedics in the United States increased from 216,310 (95%CI 204,957-227,663) in 2011 to 289,830 (95%CI 276,918-302,743) in 2019 (APC 3.0%; 95%CI 1.4%, 4.7%). There was a slight increase in the proportion of females (2011, 31%; 2019, 35%). There was a significant decrease in proportion of non-Hispanic whites (2011, 80%; 2019, 72%; APC -1.5%; 95%CI -2.0%, -0.9%) with concurrent increases in other racial/ethnic groups (e.g., Hispanics, 2011, 10%; 2019, 13%). About half worked >40 hours per week, with little change over time. Between 15% and 18% lived and worked in different states, and about 40% traveled ≥30 minutes to their workplace.
The number of EMTs and paramedics actively working in EMS as their primary paid occupation has increased over time. However, there have been only modest changes in their demographic diversity.
描述美国紧急医疗服务人员情况对于了解招聘和留用方面的差距以及为改善多样性的努力提供信息很重要。我们的目标是描述美国紧急医疗技术员（EMT）和护理人员的特征及时间趋势。
我们对美国人口普查局2011 - 2019年的美国社区调查1年公共使用微观数据样本数据集进行了重复横断面评估。我们纳入了担任EMT或护理人员的受访者。计算了人口统计学和就业特征的调查加权描述性统计数据。使用连接点回归进行趋势分析以估计斜率和年度百分比变化（APC）。
美国EMT和护理人员的估计总数从2011年的216,310人（95%CI 204,957 - 227,663）增加到2019年的289,830人（95%CI 276,918 - 302,743）（APC 3.0%；95%CI 1.4%，4.7%）。女性比例略有增加（2011年为31%；2019年为35%）。非西班牙裔白人比例显著下降（2011年为80%；2019年为72%；APC -1.5%；95%CI -2.0%，-0.9%），同时其他种族/族裔群体比例上升（例如，西班牙裔，2011年为10%；2019年为13%）。约一半人每周工作超过40小时，随时间变化变化不大。15%至18%的人在不同州生活和工作，约40%的人上班通勤时间≥30分钟。
作为主要有偿职业积极从事紧急医疗服务工作的EMT和护理人员数量随时间增加。然而，他们的人口统计学多样性变化不大。
