CETRONIA, PA — Pennsylvania will direct an additional $6 million to emergency medical services agencies through the 2026-27 state budget, expanding equipment support for a workforce that handles more than 2.3 million calls each year.
The allocation raises the Shapiro administration’s total EMS investment across four budgets to more than $79 million, according to the Department of Health.
Department of Health Deputy Secretary Shane Lockwood outlined the funding Tuesday during a visit to Cetronia Ambulance Corps near Allentown, where EMS leaders demonstrated equipment expected to be deployed across the Lehigh Valley and other regions.
The money will flow from the Emergency Medical Services Operating Fund through Pennsylvania’s 13 regional EMS councils. Each council will evaluate local agency needs and determine how to distribute the funding for medical and safety equipment.
Pennsylvania has more than 17,000 EMS professionals responding to emergencies statewide, the department reported.
“When dispatched to a scene, EMS providers are already racing against the clock to administer life-saving care,” Lockwood stated. He framed the funding as a way to improve the tools available to crews working under those time constraints.
The Eastern Pennsylvania EMS Regional Council, which works with more than 120 agencies, has committed $557,000 to video laryngoscopes, intravenous pumps and automated external defibrillators. The equipment will be distributed in Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton and Schuylkill counties.
Video laryngoscopes give emergency personnel a clearer view of a patient’s airway during intubation, while IV pumps regulate the delivery of fluids and medications. Automated external defibrillators are used to restore normal heart rhythm during sudden cardiac arrest.
Agencies within the Eastern Pennsylvania region will use standardized equipment, allowing the council to track deployment, performance and patient-care outcomes across participating services.
The latest appropriation follows other state actions intended to address financial and staffing pressures in the EMS system.
In 2023, Pennsylvania increased ambulance mileage reimbursement rates through Act 15. The Department of Health later launched a three-year tuition assistance program offering up to $5,000 to people earning emergency medical responder, EMT, advanced EMT or paramedic certification.
EMS agencies may also receive as much as $5,000 per fiscal year to offset recruitment and retention expenses.
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