County council, EMS have candid conversation about wages

EMS Director Natasha Daugherty addressed the Pulaski County Council on Monday, May 19, highlighting the department's current staffing shortages and proposing some wage adjustments as a potential part to the solution. She opened by stating that some of her team members have been working 96 hours at a time just to keep ambulances on the road. During discussion, Daugherty said that they work 2,920 hours annually, and at this point they are working 840 overtime hours. Daugherty noted that the main thing she is looking at is making sure that they are able to staff ambulances, especially at their current wages. She said she has spoken to potential employees and they are not willing to come to Pulaski County because often they would be taking a significant pay cut. Daugherty explained that many of the part-time employees are in overtime every week. Some are working full-time hours because they would rather have the extra $4 in pay. In response to similar issues, many other counties have changed their rate so that part-time and full-time are the same. The choice between full and part-time then is insurance versus no insurance, in which many are willing to work part-time because they don’t need the insurance.