CLACKAMAS, Ore. — With an ongoing shortage of paramedics and lagging response times, ambulance provider American Medical Response is paying for full scholarships to grow the number of paramedics working in the greater Portland area.
At the College of Emergency Services in Clackamas, a current class of 32 paramedic interns are learning life-saving skills, with another class of 30+ set to start later this year.
CES EMS Program Director Lauren Enright said AMR is paying for full scholarships for about 20 students in the current class, an estimated $20,000 value for each person, while paying for partial scholarships for most of the other students.
RELATED: Why ambulance provider AMR says Multnomah County's emergency medical system is in a state of crisis
Daniel Yandell, an EMT for AMR in Clark County, said he wanted to take the next step up in his career and become a paramedic while still working as an EMT.
"To become more confident in my knowledge, because one of the biggest questions I had as an EMT is the why," Yandell said.
To accept a full scholarship, paramedic interns need to agree to a 2-year contract to work for AMR in a local county after graduation and licensure.
"I understand there’s a paramedic shortage, I’m not too keen on the ins and outs of it, but I do know it’s definitely an opportunity and one I’m grateful to the school for having — to step into that role," Yandell said.
Enright said the school offers classes two days a week so EMTs can continue working while advancing their level of expertise.
Despite the need for more paramedics throughout the area and receiving about twice as many applicants as class spots, Enright said the class is capped due to the number of preceptor and paramedics available for training.
"That gets very difficult when we get to our clinicals in our field internship," Enright said. "We have to place students into our hospitals and they can only hold so many.”
Yandell said the program is offering him practical knowledge about how to be a better first responder.
"To go from school and literally the next day apply it in the field, it adds that layer of confidence," he said.
While AMR's performance in Multnomah County remains a major point of contention — where their contract requires that ambulances be staffed with tow paramedics instead of one paramedic and one EMT — things may be looking up in other Portland metro counties where response times have suffered in recent years.
Clackamas County recently extended its contract with AMR for an additional year, until May 2025.
County leaders had previously fined AMR hundreds of thousands of dollars for late response times. However, with the extension, county leaders said they would waive the fines if AMR met response time standards for three consecutive months during the next contract year.
"I am pleased to extend the AMR contract for one year," said Chair Tootie Smith in a statement. "While we are very aware of the regionwide response-time issues, we are taking steps to hold AMR accountable and are implementing a nurse navigation program which should reduce calls for emergency transport."
Per the contract between AMR and Clackamas County, most ambulances are supposed to arrive within 8 minutes of a 911 call.
From May 2023 to February 2024, AMR failed to meet that standard, with ambulances arriving on time on about 81% of emergency calls. But last month, in March, ambulances arrived on time to 86.6% of calls.