H.R. 3791 — EMS Counts Act

This section sets forth congressional findings on the critical role of emergency medical services (EMS) personnel—including paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), dual-role firefighter/EMTs, firefighter/paramedics, and volunteers—in responding to over 22 million emergency calls annually for events such as strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrests, trauma, disasters, and public health crises. The section further finds that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), through its Standard Occupational Classification system, fails to accurately count EMS practitioners by excluding dual-role firefighter/EMTs and firefighter/paramedics, hindering government assessments of EMS needs and policy development for disasters, public health emergencies, and terrorism.

This section directs the Secretary of Labor, not later than 120 days after enactment, to revise the broad description of occupational series 33-2011 Firefighters in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2018 Standard Occupational Classification System (SOC)—used for collecting, calculating, and disseminating occupational data—to include the following detailed occupations: (1) firefighters; (2) firefighter/EMTs; (3) firefighter/paramedics; and (4) firefighters, all other. (Thus, the revision recognizes dual-role firefighters who also provide emergency medical services.)

This section directs the Secretary of Labor to submit to Congress, not later than 270 days after enactment of this Act, a report detailing (1) the actions taken in 2015 to expand the occupational category "29–2040 Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics" to separately account for emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics; and (2) implementation of the revisions under section 3.