By ROSWELL ENCINA
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In about five minutes, Unit 21 made it to Elvis Presley Boulevard in South Memphis to help a man complaining of stomach pains. Unit 21 responds to more than four thousand calls a year. And with this many calls throughout the city paramedics are raking in the overtime. Now the fire department is hoping to cut down on O.T. by hiring 75 more paramedics.
“We feel significantly with the addition of 75 paramedics to the department our overtime will be significantly reduced,” says Deputy Fire Chief Gary Ludwig.
Last year, the fire department paid nearly $8.5 million in overtime. That’s nearly $23,000 a day. Even Mayor Willie Herenton is blaming the out of control overtime for the city’s budget demise. “We’ve got to look at some of our expenditure trends, how we operate the fire department,” said Herenton in October.
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