That's half true... (or maybe 3/4 true, more accurately). There are two "halves" to EMS in the US. One half is 911/scene response, the other half is interfacil

That's half true... (or maybe 3/4 true, more accurately). There are two "halves" to EMS in the US. One half is 911/scene response, the other half is interfacility transports. It's pretty common for interfacility transport companies to staff most of their rigs with EMTs, since those patients tend to be low acuity, and just need to be moved from one hospital to another. Companies that do 911 response generally staff their ambulances with an EMT and a paramedic. Paramedic training is several thousand hours of classroom and clinical time. So while it's true that overall EMS is mostly EMTs, in the area we're discussing (ambulances that respond to 911 calls) paramedics are much more common. Granted, that's only a $3-5/hr difference in most places, so it's not a massive difference in cost.