Durbin, Collins Praise President Biden For Signing Their Bipartisan SIREN Reauthorization Act Into Law
President Biden signed the SIREN Reauthorization Act into law yesterday, extending funding for SIREN Act grants to support fire and EMS agencies in rural communities
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today praised President Biden for signing their bipartisan SIREN Reauthorization Act into law yesterday. The legislation will extend funding for five additional years for SIREN Act grants to rural fire and EMS agencies nationwide. The funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which was created through Durbin’s Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs (SIREN) Act, supports rural EMS agencies in training and recruiting staff, conducting certification courses, and purchasing equipment, including naloxone to address the opioid overdose epidemic.
“In rural areas across the country, EMS agencies serve as a lifeline for their communities. These first responders are on the front lines, providing medical care to Americans in emergencies when the nearest hospital is miles away. That’s why it’s critical that EMS personnel, many of whom are volunteers, are provided with the resources, staffing, training, and equipment to treat the medical emergency in front of them,” said Durbin. “Because a Nauvoo, Illinois, constituent and paramedic Mark Kennedy met with me to advocate for rural EMS agencies back in 2018, I worked to pass the bipartisan SIREN Act to support Mark and other rural EMS agencies in caring for their communities. This week, President Biden signed Senator Collins’ and my bipartisan SIREN Reauthorization Act into law, ensuring that rural EMS agencies will have access to the funding they need for five more years.”
“It is vital that Americans who live in rural parts of Maine and across the country have access to lifesaving emergency medical services, which is why I have long advocated for funding to support access to quality rural health care,” said Collins. “This law will help to alleviate staffing shortages, upgrade training and equipment, and ultimately boost response times when seconds count. This program has made a real difference for recruiting and retaining EMS personnel in Maine’s rural communities.”
The bipartisan bill was initially signed into law in 2018 as part of the Farm Bill. Since then, Durbin and Collins have led the appropriations effort to grow the program from $5 million annually to $11.5 million this year, resulting in a total of $40 million in grants nationwide to 42 states. The SIREN Act has resulted in new funds to rural EMS/fire agencies in Carbondale, Nauvoo, Amboy, Jerseyville, Mt. Carmel, Paris, and Gibson City, Illinois. Thanks to SIREN Act funding, the Nauvoo Fire Protection District has been able to increase the number of annual calls it responds to across Hancock County, Illinois, from 140 to 360.
A decline in primary care and hospital service availability, workforce shortages exacerbated by the pandemic, great distances between health care facilities, and low insurance reimbursement for transport and emergency treatment have all strained rural EMS agencies. At the same time, EMS agencies today are tasked with ever-greater responsibilities— preparing for natural and manmade disasters and bioterror threats, supporting the chronic and emergency care needs of an aging population, and responding on the front lines of the opioid epidemic. These first responders are often the only health care providers in their area and face difficulty in personnel recruitment and retention, and securing expensive equipment.
The companion legislation in the House of Representatives is led by Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) and Dave Joyce (R-OH-14). The SIREN Reauthorization Act is endorsed by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, International Association of Fire Fighters, International Association of Fire Chiefs, National Rural Health Association, National Volunteer Fire Council, and National Fire Protection Association.
Last week, Durbin spoke about the importance of the SIREN Reauthorization Act on the Senate floor.
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