EMS Counts Act Mandates BLS Update to Accurately Track Dual-Role Firefighter-Paramedics Within 120 Days

The newly proposed EMS Counts Act is an administrative fix with a huge real-world impact on emergency preparedness. Simply put, this bill forces the federal government to get better at counting the people who save lives. Specifically, it requires the Secretary of Labor to update the official job classifications used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) within 120 days of the bill becoming law.

This update ensures that dual-role personnel—those working as Firefighter-EMTs and Firefighter-Paramedics—are officially recognized and counted under the main Firefighter category. This might sound like bureaucratic paperwork, but the bill’s findings highlight a critical problem: the BLS’s current classification system is missing millions of emergency response personnel, which messes up national planning for everything from hurricanes to disease outbreaks.

The Problem with the Current Count

Imagine trying to stock a pantry for a big family dinner when you don't know exactly how many people are showing up. That’s essentially what the government is doing with emergency services. The bill points out that EMS workers—the folks who handle over 22 million emergency calls annually for strokes, heart attacks, and accidents—are essential workers. However, because the BLS’s Standard Occupational Classification system (specifically the 2018 series 332011) doesn't explicitly list the dual Firefighter/EMS roles, the official count is short.

If the government doesn't know how many trained paramedics or EMTs we actually have nationwide, it can’t properly allocate resources, fund training programs, or plan surge capacity for major disasters. This isn't just an issue for the agencies; it affects the speed and quality of response you get when you dial 911.

Making the Job Title Official

Section 3 of the Act is the core of the change. It mandates that within four months, the Secretary of Labor must revise the official job descriptions to specifically include “FirefighterEMTs,” “FirefighterParamedics,” and “Firefighters, All Other.” This means that the person who pulls you out of a burning building and then stabilizes your broken leg in the ambulance will finally be counted as both a firefighter and a medical responder in the national statistics, reflecting the reality of their demanding job.

For the agencies that rely on this data—like FEMA and state health departments—this means better, more accurate workforce data. For the individual worker, it’s a formal recognition of the specialized, dual-threat role they play in the community. While this bill is purely administrative, it corrects a long-standing statistical oversight that has hampered effective emergency management planning.

Reporting Back to HQ

To ensure this change actually sticks, Section 4 requires the Secretary of Labor to report back to Congress within 270 days. This report must detail how the new classifications are being implemented and also review previous actions taken in 2015 regarding the counting of EMTs and Paramedics. This accountability measure ensures that the BLS follows through and that the data integrity issue is truly resolved, allowing policy makers to make decisions based on solid numbers, not educated guesses.