Emergency workers hope to be able to retire with full benefits after a shorter career, but they face hurdles
By Eric Ferreri
The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Copyright 2006 The News and Observer
DURHAM, N.C. — A Durham County emergency response worker recently retired after 31 years of service.
That’s rare. Most don’t last nearly that long.
The average tenure of emergency medical technicians and paramedics in Durham County is more like four years, said Mike Smith, the county’s director of emergency medical services. Many leave the profession because their bodies simply cannot last the 30 years required to retire with full benefits. Others see the writing on the wall early and ditch paramedicine for safer, higher-paying careers.
“You’re talking about picking [up] and lifting stretchers,” Smith said. “Your backs don’t last, and your bodies don’t last. You don’t see a lot of old people.”
With this in mind, Smith and other county officials plan to push this fall for legislation that would reduce the number of years of service EMS workers need to retire with full benefits from 30 to 25.
The path might not be smooth.
Similar legislation has been introduced in each of the past two years but hasn’t gained much traction with the General Assembly.
Though EMS associations are vocal proponents of the change, the N.C. Association of County Commissioners -- which Durham County officials hope will sign on as an advocate -- has not endorsed previous attempts to make the change. The reason: money. If the years-of-service requirement is peeled back to 25, EMS workers will retire earlier, which means counties will spend a great deal more money in retirement benefits, said Todd McGee, a spokesman for the state association.
According to the General Assembly’s fiscal research office, the proposed change would cost county governments an extra $29.8 million in the 2007-08 fiscal year and would rise from there.
“Governments would have to come up with more money,” said Gordon Joyner, executive director of the N.C. Association of Rescue & EMS Inc., a professional group for emergency workers. “There’s nothing free. It takes a lot of money to fund it.”
In Durham County, about 80 full-time EMTs and paramedics would be eligible for the change. It would not apply to clerks, receptionists or other staffers who work for Durham County EMS, said Chuck Kitchen, Durham’s county attorney.
Across the state, EMS agencies have struggled in recent years to recruit and retain emergency workers lured away by more lucrative professions with better hours and fewer physical demands. Many wind up in nursing programs that actively recruit paramedics.
Bumping the years-of-service requirement back to 25 would be a good start and would help persuade at least a few medics to stick with the career path, Smith said.
“Twenty years would be nice,” he said. “But that’s asking for the moon.”