In Maine, a looming vaccine deadline for EMTs is stressing small-town ambulance crews

In between answering 911 calls, Jerrad Dinsmore (left) and Kevin LeCaptain perform a wellness check at the home of a woman in her nineties. The ambulance team in the small town of Waldoboro, Maine was already short-staffed. Then a team member quit recently, after the state mandated all health care workers get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Statewide, the COVID vaccination rate for first responders is more than 95%. But it’s not as high in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can’t function if just a few people quit.

(Image credit: Patty Wight/Maine Public Radio)

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Patty Wight