N.C. County Moving to 12-hour EMS Shifts

Feb. 26--Davidson County's Emergency Medical Services personnel will spend just two more months running archaic 24-hour, fluctuating workweek shifts. Davidson County commissioners voted unanimously during their consent agenda Tuesday night to implement 12-hour shifts for EMS employees beginning in May.

The move will take place in multiple phases, with only phase one effecting the 2015-16 fiscal year budget. Larry James, director of Davidson County Emergency Services, will hire nine full-time employees before May, totaling a cost of $106,654. EMS leaders agreed with commissioners to transfer funding from their capital outlay budget to personnel to cover the additional expenses for the current fiscal year.

Commissioners tabbed the change as a priority in early December 2015 and vowed to address it immediately in the new year. During its annual retreat Feb. 11, the board finalized details on a May implementation, calling it "the right thing to do."

New positions to be filled before May include one EMS captain, one lieutenant, one sergeant and six paramedics. James will hire an additional 12 full-time employees during fiscal year 2016-17 to complete the transition.

"We want to make sure that we have time to get quality employees from our part-time pool as well as any qualified employees that may be coming from any other services or any other counties," James said, adding that he has begun advertising positions on the county's EMS Facebook page.

Applicants will have to go through an extensive process before hiring, James said, which could take several weeks. Candidates will have to take written and agility tests as well as an oral interview before hiring can take place.

James said he has been receiving inquiries from possible applicants for weeks in anticipation of the new shift schedules and subsequent job openings. In the coming weeks, James and his staff will have to evaluate candidates in hopes of finding the best nine employees for immediate hiring.

"This has been the shift schedule for Davidson County since the '70s, (and) we all know how the population has increased and the need for medical care has increased," James said. "In this area, the busier counties made this change several years ago; we're just now getting to the point where we have to make some kind of change for the well-being of the employees and the citizens."

Mat Batts can be reached at (336) 249-3981, ext. 227, or at mat.batts@the-dispatch.com. Follow Mat on Twitter: @LexDispatchMB

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