§2655 Rural Firefighters and Emergency Medical Service Assistance Program

Summary

Provides federal grants to improve emergency medical services (EMS) in rural areas and to pay for training firefighters and EMS workers to handle fires, medical emergencies, hazardous materials, and bioagents. Emergency medical services means care given outside a hospital during an emergency caused by a patient's condition or a natural disaster. It includes paid or volunteer workers the State licenses or certifies as EMTs (or equivalent), registered nurses, physician assistants, or physicians doing similar EMS work. The Secretary will give grants to eligible public or nonprofit groups (for example, state EMS offices or associations, state rural health offices, local governments, Indian tribes, ambulance providers, or others the Secretary approves). Applicants must submit a plan and promise to meet the matching rule. Grant money must be used only in rural areas for things like hiring and keeping EMS staff and volunteers; training and meeting certification rules; improving training facilities, equipment, or teaching by distance learning; buying ambulances, medical equipment, and OSHA-required protective gear; and public education on CPR, first aid, and safety. Preference goes to projects run by two or more eligible groups and to projects focused on hiring, volunteer support, training, certification, or training improvements. Recipients must provide non-Federal matching funds equal to at least 5 percent of the grant. Up to $30,000,000 may be appropriated each year for fiscal years 2008–2012, and no more than 5 percent of that may pay administrative costs.