A ‘short-term fix’: Beaufort County EMS to bump pay for 48-hour ambulance shifts
Beaufort County EMTs and paramedics will soon see a pay bump every time they work an extended 48-hour shift, a measure county leaders are framing as a stopgap until hourly pay can be raised to address severe staffing shortages within the EMS department.
An average of five Beaufort County EMS first responders each day worked double shifts, some demanded by county policy to fill scheduling gaps, through the first three months of the year, The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette reported at the end of May. The department has repeatedly blown through its overtime budget in recent years.
Some paramedics logged over 100 hours on duty, ready to respond to life-threatening medical emergencies in a week’s time, schedules show. Employees and experts warn the marathon hours risk public safety in the agency, which covers all of Beaufort County except Hilton Head Island.
In May, EMS leaders pledged to address any safety issues, but were slim on specifics. In the days following an interview with reporters, EMS employees were informed of a new $250 shift differential, on top of their regular pay, for working 48 hours. That’s up from the existing $50 for a two-day shift.
But when pay checks went out, employees found the bonuses weren’t included. The county’s finance department raised a “red flag” over the annual cost of the pay bump, a June 3 email to EMS workers said.
Any new spending over $50,000 must be authorized by elected county leaders, who hadn’t OKed the proposal. In a committee meeting Monday, county council members backed the pay increase for double shifts. The differential will go to employees of the EMS department as well as correctional officers at the county detention center, who will receive $125 after working consecutive 12-hour shifts.
Since, officials have determined the shift differentials will be paid with money already allocated to regular salaries but unspent because positions are vacant. They won’t require county council approval, according to county spokesperson Christopher Ophardt. The measure will still go before council on June 14 for an endorsement, he said.
For the EMS department alone, the county projects the pay increase will cost $128,596 annually. That assumes 20 two-day shifts in a two-week pay period. Across six pay periods this year, schedules reviewed by the newspapers show an average of roughly 57 double shifts per pay period, more than double the county’s figure.
The county projections are based on the average number of 48-hour shifts worked last year, Ophardt said.
With raises coming, new policy a temporary fix
At a committee meeting on Monday, officials and council members framed the shift differentials as a temporary solution.
“We can throw money at a problem all we want, but it’s not going to fix everything,” said Council Member Logan Cunningham, who represents Bluffton, saying EMS needs to do a better job recruiting and retaining staff.
Phil Foot, assistant county administrator for public safety, told council members EMS was short 10 paramedics and six EMTs. Staffing shortages have put a “crunch” on the emergency medical system, and first responders are increasingly working extended 48-hour shifts on ambulances, he said.
The county plans to raise the pay of EMS and corrections employees in the upcoming budget, which must be approved by July 1. It is also committing to “aggressively recruiting” first responders from colleges, the military and local high schools, Ophardt said, noting the national shortages in emergency care.
Pay begins at $13.33 an hour for EMTs and $14.66 an hour for paramedics, maxing out at between about $19 and $21 an hour, according to the county’s current pay scale.
Asked about Beaufort County EMS’s reliance on extended shifts and concerns about the practice, Ophardt said supervisors are responsible for regulating shifts their employees work and preventing abuse of the system. The new shift differentials are a “short-term fix.”
“We don’t want people working that long, but we have no choice right now,” he said.
Island Packet reporter Kacen Bayless contributed to this story.
