Employee Retention?

[Guest guest]

OK...

Is it just me, or is there a sickening trend in EMS to

have a high turnover rate? I can't seem to find any

statistics or other data on this, but I feel that it

happens more than we'd like to think. Am I alone in

this feeling?

If anyone has any hard numbers, I'd like to see them.

I think the last data I heard from 3 or 4 years ago

was about 25%. I don't think we turn over as much as

Mcs employees, but lately I'm not so sure about

that either.

Matter of fact, I think I'd make more money if I went

to work at Mcs. My last job I made $10 an hour

as a Paramedic. That's absolutely absurd! It's

almost poverty level! I was working 4 jobs just to

make ends meet, and not doing it. I made $11 an hour

as an Intermediate at a very small, very rural

service, before, with about 1/4 the income of the $10

an hour place. Where does all the money go?

Certainly not back into employees, safety equipment,

better supplies, etc...

I believe it is something SO many services have no

concept of, even though the business world has known

for YEARS that you have to take care of your

employees. EMS services (for the most part) tend to

get by with giving as little to their employees as

possible, seeing how much flack they can take before

breaking, and still have the audacity to wonder why

people call in sick, get unlikely " injuries " and

refuse to work OT. They wonder why people leave as

fast as possible to go to bigger services, where they

may be treated the same, but the money is a good

enough band-aid that they keep their heads down.

I have seen the apathy growing, not only in myself,

but in others. If we continue this disturbing trend,

we may soon run out of Medics. Nobody is getting into

EMS because it's " noble " anymore. It's just a job,

and not a great one at that, for the lack of benifits

and support we get. Where do we go from here?

Feeling burned, and burned out......

-Meris :-|

____________________________________________________

Start your day with Yahoo! - make it your home page

http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs