The Senate Resolution 6 Commission presented Nov. 29 its report on improving recruitment and retention in fire and emergency medical services (EMS).

After the bipartisan, bicameral commission held a series of meetings during the last year, it made 27 recommendations.

“Fire and EMS are in a crisis—right now” were the dramatic first words of the letter presenting the report. “Simply put, EMS is woefully lacking in funding—and the number of volunteer firefighters has fallen dramatically over the decades.”

Sens. Randy Vulakovich, R-Allegheny, and Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, along with Reps. Steve Barrar, R-Delaware, and Chris Sainato, D-Lawrence, served as chairmen of the commission, which was authorized under a Senate resolution in 2017.

The 39-member commission called for greater resources to be directed to first responder services and also called for flexibility to address recruitment problems in different parts of the state with different economic pressures.