Women in EMS change the scope of emergency services

ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. - EMT Traci Schmidt, alongside her partner Paramedic Dean Wilkins, spend their 12-hour shifts answering your calls from a Falck ambulance in Alameda County. 

They see everything from psychiatric patients struggling with their mental health to blunt force trauma injuries to elderly people who took a fall.

Ride along on Falck transport unit

During a ride along with Falck, Schmidt showed KTVU what a day in the life of a female EMT was like in the East Bay.

"It’s about being there for people when it’s hard for them, even if it’s just holding their hand," said Schmidt. 

She’s been an EMT for 14 years, and said she always knew she wanted to help people.

"I was in high school when 9/11 happened, and watching that on TV, I really wanted to be there to help," she said. "But I was in high school, so I thought I can do something like that when I get out and I wanted to be an EMT." 

She said her family is filled with medical professionals. 

"There’s always the little kid who’s scared and you’re able to give them a teddy bear or a sticker or what have you," she said.

More women entering public safety

It’s a growing field for women.

Women are making strides in public safety by changing the scope of emergency response. 

Studies by the "30x30 initiative" show better outcomes when women are in the field.

Nationally, 30-35% of EMS workers are women; far more than the 9% of female firefighters or 14% of police officers, according to Statista. 

Falck, which has about 30% of female field staff, is close to the national average.

Studies by the National Institute of Health and the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians found that the number of female EMTs has grown over the years, from 28% in 2008 to 35% in 2019.

"I’ve seen us become supervisors, go into the office to become chief executives, dispatchers, all sorts of different aspects of what EMS entails," Schmidt said.

Jessie Adams, Falck’s Community Education Coordinator, who has 20 years of experience herself, said, "When you’re a little girl looking up to different experiences, and you see someone doing this amazing thing, helping people, saving lives, to see somebody that looks like you is a treasure."

Schmidt adds, she can see the impact. "Even riding dual female on the rig together, you didn’t see that a lot when I first started, but you see it much more now. There was a day I think I went to the hospital and there was like nine or 10 of us. No men, all women."

Schmidt, who recently joined Falck’s emergency response team, which is deployed for national disasters, said this to little girls who want her job:

"It’s the best job, every day is different, you get to see different people, do different things and there’s room for us."

Schmidt is currently working on becoming a paramedic. 

The next academy for Falck starts in April.