A high turnover rate among Pulaski County Emergency Medical Services staff is prompting EMS Director Brandon DeLorenzo to consider some policy changes. He told the county commissioners Monday that while the county may not be able to keep up with neighboring services’ pay rates, it may be able to make the job a little easier during the overnight hours.
DeLorenzo said that responding to 911 calls isn’t typically a problem, but long-distance overnight hospital transfers can quickly lead to fatigue. Now, he’s suggesting that his ambulances stop taking transfers to Fort Wayne and Indianapolis or asking Pulaski Memorial Hospital to pay the county for a dedicated transfer unit. “And in return, that staff, say, worked in ER as ER techs, so the hospital gets some benefit back,” he added.
Since that would still require additional staff, DeLorenzo also wanted to revisit the idea of covering the cost for EMTs to get their paramedic training, if they agree to stay with the county for a certain period of time. “We’ve got several EMTs that are interested in getting their medic,” he told the commissioners. “They just don’t have the financial to get it started because they all want that money up-front.”
County officials noted that there’s still about $35,000 in federal CARES Act funding that hasn’t been allocated yet, if the county council would let it be used for EMS. The commissioners also suggested setting up a meeting with leaders at the hospital, to discuss options.
