Alaska's EMS clinicians gather for 50th symposium after a year of licensing changes

Emergency trauma technicians, EMTs, paramedics and other emergency clinicians from around Alaska will gather in Girdwood Nov. 3 through 7 for the 50th Alaska EMS Symposium, in a year that brought them a national licensing compact, new fingerprint background checks and, in at least one borough, a proposal to raise the tax break for volunteers.

The symposium, hosted by the nonprofit Southern Region EMS Council, opens with certification classes and workshops Nov. 3 and 4, followed by three days of sessions. An Alaska Department of Health newsletter calls it the largest EMS training conference in the state. The council's region alone covers 192,369 square miles, from Cordova to Attu Island, and 100 ambulance and first responder services, according to the conference website.

Alaska joined the national EMS compact this year under House Bill 110. Once it works, paramedics and EMTs licensed in other member states will be able to practice here without a second Alaska license. The law took effect Sept. 20, but the system isn't usable yet, because the state is still connecting its licensing system to the national database, the Alaska Office of EMS said in August.

The same law adds fingerprint background checks. New applicants will need one starting April 1, 2027. Current EMT-1s must clear one by Dec. 31, 2027, and all other license levels by March 31, 2028, according to the state's relicensure guide. The check costs about $90, plus $30 if the Department of Public Safety takes the prints. Unpaid volunteers at state-run or nonprofit agencies may have the $40 state application fee waived.

Denali Borough officials said in September that the volunteer model that has covered Cantwell for about two decades is straining as the department struggles to recruit and keep people. A state law that took effect Sept. 20 lets local governments set their own property tax exemption for volunteer firefighters and EMS providers, and Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche has proposed raising the borough's from $10,000 to $50,000.

In Anchorage, residents called 911 about 70 times in 2024 when no advanced life support ambulance was available, according to the Anchorage Fire Department's capital plan.