After the Closure: The Hidden Toll on EMS Professionals in Delaware County
When Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Chester and Taylor Hospital in Ridley Park shuttered their emergency rooms, Delaware County, Pennsylvania lost two vital lifelines almost overnight. What wasn’t immediately visible in the headlines, however, was the secondary crisis that began unfolding within the first responder community — particularly among Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals.
Longer transport times. Overcrowded hospitals. Frustrated patients. Depleted resources.
The closure of these hospitals didn't just change healthcare access — it changed the daily, moment-to-moment experience of every EMS worker serving the area.
And it’s taking a heavy emotional, physical, and psychological toll.
A Healthcare Void Felt Across Every Call
Crozer Health, previously the largest healthcare provider in the county, struggled under the financial weight of mismanagement and private equity ownership. Despite last-minute attempts to find a buyer, Crozer's facilities ultimately closed, leaving a gaping hole for a population of over half a million residents.
Where there were once multiple options for rapid emergency care, there are now only two hospital systems left trying to pick up the pieces.
For EMS professionals, this means:
Increased transport distances: Precious minutes lost in critical emergencies like strokes, cardiac arrests, and traumatic injuries.
Hospital overcrowding: Ambulances sometimes wait 30–60 minutes or more to transfer patients, delaying their ability to respond to the next 911 call.
Higher patient loads: With fewer facilities accepting incoming emergencies, call volumes have soared.
Emotional stress: Facing angry, scared, and often overwhelmed patients who don’t understand the delays.
Professional frustration: Feeling helpless when the system no longer supports providing the "gold standard" of emergency care.
This is more than just an operational inconvenience.
It’s a trauma event in slow motion.
The Emotional Fallout for EMS Providers
While EMS workers are highly trained to handle trauma, mass casualties, and life-or-death situations, few are adequately prepared for chronic systemic failures that make them feel powerless.
At The Trauma Survivors Foundation, we recognize that what’s happening now mirrors the psychological phenomenon called "moral injury."
Moral injury occurs when professionals — especially in healthcare and public safety — are forced to act (or are prevented from acting) in ways that violate their core beliefs about right and wrong. It's not just burnout — it's grief, anger, guilt, helplessness, and betrayal layered together.
Many EMS workers in Delaware County today are:
Questioning their ability to save lives.
Blaming themselves for delays beyond their control.
Experiencing increased rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms.
Struggling to find support systems that truly understand their trauma.
This is not sustainable — nor should it be expected to be.
Practical Steps for EMS Professionals to Cope and Thrive
While systemic change is urgently needed, individual EMS professionals also need tools right now to protect their mental health, sustain their careers, and care for their own wellbeing.
Here are five strategies we recommend:
1. Prioritize Peer Support
Talking with those who "get it" is one of the fastest ways to defuse emotional overload.
Start a regular "crew check-in" — even five minutes at the end of a shift.
Attend Critical Incident Stress Debriefings (CISDs) whenever offered.
Seek out or establish a peer support team within your organization.
You are not alone. Connection saves lives — including your own.
2. Master the Art of “Micro-Recovery”
You may not have an hour for self-care between calls, but you probably have sixty seconds.
Practice slow breathing during transport.
Stretch for 30 seconds after dropping off a patient.
Use grounding techniques (like touching your gear intentionally) to stay present and centered.
Small recoveries build resilience.
3. Redefine What Success Means
It’s not your fault if the system is failing.
Your success isn’t measured by outcome alone — it’s about:
Showing up.
Doing your best within your limits.
Providing compassionate care, even in chaos.
Release the guilt for things you cannot control. Focus on what you can — your professionalism and your humanity.
4. Find Trauma-Informed Mental Health Support
If you notice ongoing symptoms like irritability, nightmares, intrusive memories, hypervigilance, emotional numbness, or hopelessness — reach out.
At The Trauma Survivors Foundation, we connect first responders with trauma-trained therapists who understand the unique stressors you face.
You deserve to be heard, validated, and healed.
Click here to access confidential support through The Trauma Survivors Foundation ➔
5. Advocate for Systemic Change
Your voice matters. You see the failures of the system more clearly than anyone.
Attend public meetings.
Advocate for better EMS funding.
Speak to elected officials about what your crews need.
Remember: You are the expert in what is happening.
Change often starts with those on the front lines raising the alarm.
A Final Word
The closure of Crozer’s ERs left more than empty buildings behind.
It left a ripple effect of trauma across Delaware County’s emergency services community — trauma that must be named, acknowledged, and addressed.
At The Trauma Survivors Foundation, we believe in the incredible strength and resilience of our EMS professionals.
But we also believe you shouldn't have to "tough it out" alone.
You protect us.
It’s time we protect you, too.
If you are struggling, please reach out.
Help is here. Healing is possible.
And together, we will rebuild stronger.
