The Helping EMS in Rural Oregon (HERO) program is administered by the Oregon Office of Rural Health (ORH) and aims to support emergency medical services (EMS) in rural and remote parts of Oregon. Established in 2010, this grant program funds training opportunities for EMS volunteers to improve local emergency response capacity. Since its inception, the HERO program has awarded over 300 individual and agency-level grants totaling more than $335,000 to assist rural EMS staff in accessing necessary training.

The purpose of the HERO grant is to help rural and remote EMS agencies provide or access training opportunities for their personnel. Eligible agencies may use the funding to organize in-house training events, including participants from neighboring communities, or to send staff to training sessions that are not locally available. All training sessions must be completed within 12 months of the award date. Importantly, to qualify for funding, agencies must be located in designated rural or remote areas and be recognized by the Oregon Health Authority EMS & Trauma Systems Program as participants in Oregon’s 9-1-1 response system.

The 2025 HERO Award application period opens on March 21, 2025, and closes at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on April 11, 2025. Applications must be submitted online via the ORH grant system. Agencies interested in applying are encouraged to preview the application questions ahead of time to prepare their responses before entering them into the online system. Awards of up to $2,500 are available for selected applicants, and notifications will be sent out by April 18, 2025.

While the program is administered by the Oregon Office of Rural Health, the funding is supported through charitable contributions made via the OHSU Foundation, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations to the HERO campaign are used exclusively for the rural EMS training grant program.

For questions regarding the HERO grant or to be added to the ORH EMS mailing list, interested parties can contact Joan Field at fieldj@ohsu.edu. Additional EMS training resources and information are available on the ORH EMS webpage.