DETROIT – A working Detroit medic talked to Local 4 about his department’s ongoing staffing shortages. It comes after the city entered into an emergency contract with a private ambulance company.
He points out that, yes, they document and report when several Detroit ambulance crews aren’t staffed and are out of service, but he says they also need to know the reason why and what the impact is to people in Detroit.
“At this point in the city, it is at the most critical point it could be,” said the medic. “We lost a majority of our experienced medics.”
The medic says he can’t be identified as he could be risking his job within the Detroit Fire Department.
He is a veteran Detroit medic working the city streets to save lives. But he says he has to speak up and speak out. He says the department is so short-staffed for EMTs and paramedics that lives are in danger, and people need to know.
“We are short-staffed,” the man said. “If you call 911, the person that shows up isn’t even going to give you medication or IVs. Their best bet is to get you in the truck and get you to the hospital. And that’s after you’ve already waited for them to show up.”
He says there are two reasons why the department is so short-staffed of medics and EMTs:
- Fewer people are working mandatory overtime, which has worn the crews out.
- The pay is not keeping up, making for experienced first responders to leave for other departments.
“You have medics beaten into the ground with zero breaks as they’re working 12-13 hour days,” the man said. “So these people are not getting raises. They are leaving for departments that won’t run them into the ground and do mandatory overtime.”
If you’re wondering where the ambulances are, as of Tuesday (June 20), four medic companies were closed; eight companies were closed Sunday night during a violent weekend.
The department says hiring an outside ambulance company will help, along with more recruits in the pipeline.
