City Budget
As the Philadelphia Fire Department presented its budget to City Council yesterday, Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers explained his plan for improving Emergency Medical Services.
By Peter Crimmins
WHYY News, March 27, 2008
Last month Mayor Michael Nutter proposed additional funding for the Philadelphia Fire Department to reduce a dangerous shortfall in paramedics. During budget hearings about the PFD, Commissioner Ayers reported to City Council on the progress of the hiring process.
"Before the Mayor and Council have us the money," Ayers said, "we were 31 paramedics short and we thought we could fill that gap at the end of this summer. With 80 additional paramedics [vacancies] we don't believe we will be able to do it before next summer."
Until all 111 paramedics can be recruited and trained, emergency medical treatment will be handled by emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and fire fighters on overtime.
City Council asked Ayers to step up the hiring process by waiving the city residency requirement, a step that was taken by the police department just a few weeks ago.
The President of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 22, Brian McBride, said the city cannot wait until 2009 to have trained paramedics on the street.
"A paramedics level of training is much higher than a fire fighter or EMT," said McBride. "They can produce a lot of life saving treatment a lot quicker. Federal guidelines say you have to have a paramedic arrive in eight minutes and that's not being reached here."
Citing statistics about the rate of turnover among out of town recruits, Commissioner Ayers responded that he is reluctant to lift the residency because it tends to attract people who do not stay in the fire department.
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