Collier EMS struggles with staffing crisis

Extended worker shortages, non-competitive pay and hundreds of mandatory overtime hours have taken a toll on Collier County Emergency Medical Services. In the last nine days, the department lost 12 paramedics.

"It's not just the money," explained former EMS Lt. Paramedic Firefighter Dennis Di Sarro, one of those 12 to leave the agency.

"It's a safety issue. There are supposed to be two people on each truck each shift to properly staff a vehicle. That's six people per day, working one day on and two days off. But you need seven or eight people a day to cover vacations and sick time."

The total number leaving the agency so far this year may exceed 20, but county officials did not return Collier Citizen phone calls and emails to confirm the numbers. Calls to numerous officials including, County Manager Jim Mudd, Bureau of Emergency Services Director Dan Summers and public information spokesman John Torre, regarding the status of EMS were not returned.

Di Sarro will lose his lieutenant's rank when he starts at Lehigh Acres Fire and Rescue District, but says the gains far exceed the loss. After five years with Collier EMS, his move to the Lehigh district will mean a higher salary and a better benefit package that will add almost $4,000 to his annual income.

"I loved working at Collier EMS," Di Sarro said. "I loved my job, but I felt I had no choice except to leave. It's a shame to put in all that time and be able to get more pay at a new job." Di Sarro points to the current EMS schedule.

"When you sign on with EMS, you agree to 16 hours of overtime — 56 hours a week. On a perpetual schedule, we work 24 hours on and 48 off.

Because there aren't enough paramedics, we were mandated to work a double shift every third or fourth duty day," he explained. "Some of us were turning in upwards of 200 hours (every two weeks). I never had time to make plans with my wife and children." It is estimated that the current schedule has resulted in excess of 14,000 overtime hours this year, according to East Naples Fire & Rescue officials.

The additional workload has Commissioner Donna Fiala concerned about the health and well-being of the emergency responders.

"I sure wouldn't want someone who'd been working for two days straight to take care of me," she replied when asked about the mandatory overtime hours.

Di Sarro says the EMS mandatory overtime policy was developed to address emergency staffing shortages, but has become a routine scheduling tool.

Submitted photo

Director of the Bureau of Emergency Services Dan Summers stands outside the agency's mobile response center. Summers is asking all residents to prepare now for another busy hurricane season.

During an East Naples Fire District board meeting it was noted that EMS had not built a new permanent station in the past five years, but instead established seasonal 12-hour stations to address population increases. The Citizen contacted county administrators to confirm the statement, but inquiries went unanswered.

Di Sarro added that because of manpower shortages, EMS was not able to establish any temporary 12-hour stations during the 2005-06 tourist season.

"The county seems to have an old-school approach to how they run ALS (advanced life support) transport," he said. "I don't think the commissioners know what's happening." He pointed out that Collier is one of the last county-run EMS departments in the state to be the sole provider of transport from an accident scene to a medical facility. Di Sarro said Lehigh operates an ALS transport service under a certificate of public need provided by Lee County in an effort to reduce response times and lighten the burden on agencies already strapped by a rapidly growing population.

"There is a shortage of paramedics nationwide," he said. "It's time to start utilizing paramedics in the fire departments, not to eliminate EMS, but to share the load." Collier County commissioners recently approved $469,000 to add 28 new paramedics at four new growth stations, but the additions are to be spread over a period of years and don't address the existing personnel shortfall.

"Where are they going to hire those paramedics?" questioned outgoing union representative Mark Willis. "EMS is a business and needs to be run that way. They're not losing EMTs, they're losing paramedics with experience. We're powerless to change the situation if the county can't make the agency competitive in salaries, benefits, and the way we're thought of — the quality of life and work.""We hate to lose experienced people," he added. "The biggest problem I see is more paramedics leaving if the problem isn't fixed. That's not an ultimatum; the proof's in the pudding. This is a crisis that can leave some major gaps."