The Virginia Office of EMS Emergency Medical Services Training Funds program was developed and implemented by the Office in 2008 following the authorization of additional funding by the Virginia General Assembly. In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly created a the HJR-743 Committee to look into different way to incentivize current volunteer fire and EMS personnel as well as to look at ways to assist with recruitment and retention of new personnel into the volunteer ranks.
The HJR-743 Committee reviewed several different proposals and settled on requesting that the current “$4 for Life” program be increased by .25 cents with all proceeds of the additional monies being directed to the training and continuing education of EMS personnel.
Since the Office of EMS already had a hugely successful and proven educational funding model for ALS Programs, it was decided to merge all current EMS training funding streams together into a single program modeled on the proven success of the ALS program. This program is a contract based funding program which is outcomes and performance based. An outcomes-performance model is used in order to ensure that the limited taxpayer dollars used to fund this program are spent to increase the ranks of active, affiliated EMS personnel in the Commonwealth ensuring a high return on investment. The Office takes seriously its responsibility for managing all monies under its budgetary control and the EMS Training Fund program is no exception.
The EMS Training Fund program is designed to provide financial assistance for Virginia Certified EMS providers and Virginia Office of EMS approved Emergency Medical Services courses. These funds shall supplement local support for Emergency Medical Services Courses.
The Emergency Medical Services Training Funds are monies available for student expenses related to attending EMS Certification programs, tuition reimbursement, auxiliary programs and continuing education programs whose lessons are based upon or resemble the learning objectives in the United States Department of Transportation’s Intermediate-99 and Paramedic curricula and the Enhanced curricula as defined in 12VAC5-31.
These funds are designed for non-profit entities and individuals participating in Virginia’s EMS System.
The Emergency Medical Services Training Funds monies are divided into 5 broad categories: tuition reimbursement, course funding, auxiliary programs, continuing education programs and training site accreditation. Click here to download EMSTF contracts.
For more details concerning funding amounts please click here to download and view the EMSTF PowerPoint presentation and the EMSTF Administrative Guidelines for FY10.
The second year of the EMS Training Fund Program has been a huge success! The EMS Training Funds (EMSTF) program was made possible by the dedicated members of the General Assembly’s HJR-743 Committee which was charged with looking into incentives for recruitment and retention of fire and EMS personnel.
The Office is pleased to report that participation in the EMSTF program has far exceeded our expectations—this shows your commitment and dedication to ensuring that initial and continuing education training is available for EMS providers across the Commonwealth. As of Friday, July 31st, the EMSTF program reached its maximum contracting limit.
Since we have reached our contracting limit for the program, the Office is no longer able to continue to contract for funding of training services. The Office will seek approval for all EMSTF contracts that were physically received and date/time stamped into the Office as of Friday, July 31, 2009 at 5:00PM.
Effective immediately, the Office of EMS will no longer be able to accept new EMS Training Fund contracts. Any new funding contracts sent to the Office will be returned to you along with a letter of explanation. If you have approved outstanding contracts with the Office, they will continue to be funded according to the terms of the contract.
We want to thank each of you for your participation in this program. It is through your commitment and enthusiasm that the benefits of this program are measured and realized by our citizens. From Allegheny, Bath and Dinwiddie to Roanoke and Warrenton—the EMSTF program has enabled valuable EMS training to take place and I for one am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish.
If you have questions about the ALS Training Funds program, please feel free to contact Jackie Hunter via e-mail or call 804-864-7585.