Nashville ambulances facing unexpected EMT shortage

By the end of the year, the Nashville Fire Department is putting three more ambulances on the road, meaning they’ll need to hire 36 emergency medical technicians or paramedics. 

“This is the first time where we've had difficulty in getting people into the application pool when we are ready to hire,” said Brooke Haas, Nashville Fire Department district chief of emergency medical services special operations. “We used to have scores and scores of people wanting to to be employed here as a paramedic or EMT. It's not just us that's experiencing that — it's across the region from what I understand.”