EMS
OUR STAFFING PROBLEM IS ACTUALLY A CULTURE PROBLEM Aaron Dix, Executive Director, SCEMS Assoc.
W
hile Covid-19 created fissures in our departments’ foundations, the pandemic only exposed the deeper tectonic breaks already present in the culture of our field. Many EMS and fire agencies throughout the nation are hemorrhaging employees. Nearly all sectors of our economy are attracting current and potential members away from our organizations. So, what are we doing about it? To fill these significant vacancies, many of our agencies have developed non-traditional recruitment initiatives, such as high school career centers and boot camps, aimed at training and employing non-certified members of the community in a little as eight weeks. While these programs have successfully recruited new team members, a severe shortage of
experienced providers means that these young recruits lack access to the practical hands-on training and mentorship only seasoned field crews can provide. The experienced team members that stay on feel the weight of their workload grow exponentially. Senior providers are understandably stressed out due to these staffing issues. Their palpable frustration negatively affects the organization’s overall culture, resulting in an unwelcoming experience for new team members. The new members then choose to seek work elsewhere, and the hiring spiral continues. The newest trend to stop the spiral of openings is increasing wages to be higher than neighboring departments. This is causing a hiring competition—one department raises salaries 8%, only for another department to immediately raise salaries 15%. While EMS and fire are finally
28 | CAROLINA FIRE RESCUE EMS JOURNAL | SUMMER 2022
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