(Natrona Heights, Pa.) February 17, 2022 —Senator Linday Graham along with EMS Leaders announced a grant through the Department of Community & Economic Development that will be given to EMS agencies located in Allegheny County. The grant comes as a growing need in EMS trainning as become more apparent in our communities. The senator said that he is grateful for EMS Agencies for the time they have taken to discuss their current difficulties. The funding comes with the hope to help these EMS agencies with training.
“These conversations have pushed me to find ways to help these agencies on a state level. As the Minority Chair of the Senate Education Committee, bringing in state dollars to help these agencies subsidize the training and recruitment of EMTs was an obvious solution to me, since it combines education with meeting the needs of our community.” said the senator in the press conference. The funding is creating strategic partnership opportunities that provide the agencies the ability to bring organizations like CCAC to teach a full EMT class.
Many times EMS agencies are not funded by local taxes and extra funding is needed for them to operate in full capacity, this was brought to light by Senator Williams “I think a lot of people don’t realize that EMS agencies aren’t always funded by local taxes—some municipalities make large contributions, others contribute very little to their operations.”