AUSTIN, Texas — Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) struggles with increasing turnover of personnel, who feel pressured to work substantial, unpredictable amounts of overtime.
Emergency staffing procedures, implemented to fill empty shifts, are one of the main reasons why EMTs and paramedics quit their jobs, the Daily Texan reported.
“On top of the normal 48-hour schedule and the 24-hour on-call list medics are required to be on twice a month, they are also being told to work additional hours without notice,” said Anthony Marquardt, president of ATCEMS Employee Association. “So right now, it is ordinary for our medics who are off duty to be ordered back to work. This drives poor morale.”
Modified staffing procedures implemented by ATCEMS in 2012 require newly hired paramedics work for as EMTs before they are cleared to practice their medic skills.
“Out of the Austin Community College EMS program, which used to be one of our main avenues for attracting new employees, the paramedic class does not want to work for Austin-Travis County EMS, because they didn’t train to be EMTs — they trained to be paramedics,” Marquardt said.
In early August, ATCEMS recruited 42 cadets to complete EMT training, a 40-year record for high enrollment.
“In order to gauge the significance of the impact of this large class, we have to know if they successfully graduated the academy and elected to stay with us, because in the same year they are touting 42 students in the academy, we are looking at 36 (voluntary and involuntary job terminations) for the year — which is actually also a new record,” Marquardt said.