LEONARDTOWN — St. Mary’s County’s paid ambulance crews are nearly full on emergency medical technicians, but the county still needs full-time paramedics, the Department of Emergency Services told the county’s Emergency Services Board on Oct. 14.
A new EMS class started that Friday with a mix of full-time EMTs, hourly paramedics and hourly EMTs, the department’s deputy director told the board. “We are near full on EMTs,” she said. “We are still in need of paramedics for full-time staff.”
The difference matters on a call. EMTs provide basic life support, while paramedics can deliver advanced care such as cardiac drugs and advanced airway treatment before a patient reaches the hospital.
Part of the fix is already in the pipeline. Several county EMTs are enrolled in paramedic school, some in their final stages before being cleared to work as paramedics in St. Mary’s, the deputy director said, so “that gap will close a little bit here soon.” The department is also working with the Rescue Squad Association and county human resources on strategies to recruit more paramedics, and she said the county is “always happy to promote from within.”
Growing its own staff has been the county’s approach since it began building a paid EMS workforce. Its EMS Academy graduated its first EMTs in June 2025.
Dispatch gap narrows
The county’s 911 center is down to two vacancies, according to the report. Four of the eight contract dispatchers the county requested are now onboarding, and the department updated the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County on that program several weeks ago. “We’re closing the gap on staffing and dispatch,” the deputy director said.
Cardiac care, cancer screening and a mass-casualty drill
Board members also heard that early data from the second year of the county’s participation in a national cardiac care quality program looks strong. St. Mary’s earned a silver award in its first year, the highest available to first-year participants, and is on track for gold this year, a board member who reviewed the data said.
The department is reviewing responses to its request for applications for cancer screenings for volunteer firefighters. Firefighters face elevated cancer risk from smoke and chemical exposure, and the department said it will work with board members to put health care teams in place and will reach out to volunteer fire companies soon about what it needs from them.
The board also heard a review of the Oct. 3 active-shooter and mass-casualty drill at Spring Ridge Middle School in Lexington Park. Fire companies, EMS companies, the St. Mary’s County Health Department and Naval District Washington fire crews took part, and young sailors volunteered to play victims. An after-action report from the team that ran the exercise will identify problems to fix before a real mass-casualty incident, a board member said, and is expected soon.
Budget deadlines move up
Fire and EMS companies face a new budget process for fiscal 2028. All paperwork now goes to the Department of Emergency Services; in past years, part went to emergency services and part to county finance.
- Nov. 12: equipment requests (radios, pagers, stretcher and cardiac monitor needs), capital improvement plans and any tax rate increase requests. Every form is due, marked N/A if a company is not applying.
- Jan. 4: audits, performance reports and summaries, which emergency services will compile for finance by Jan. 7.
Only EMS departments can seek a tax rate increase this cycle. The fire departments’ rates are “currently maxed out,” county staff told the board.
The board will not meet again until December.
