# charleston county SC EMS



## lakersmedic (Sep 8, 2011)

I am possibly accepting a position with charleston county EMS and I am looking for any info about the job. I am looking for both the good and the bad of it. Do the run dual medic? What kind of hours do they offer? I live in Milwaukee, WI and have been a medic here for 3 years. Time for a change of scenery. Before my interview I want to know as much as possible about CCEMS. Thanks for everyone's time, and stay safe!


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## Fish (Sep 8, 2011)

I am not trying to lecture you, but these questions seem like something you should have found out before even applying. 

Have you already visited the County and Tested there?

It is dual Medic with one of the Medics under the title of "Crew Chief", 24/48 shifts. Decent Pay, They won last years Paid EMS Provider of the Year. I had heard a few bad things about upper management, but they have a new deputy director that apparently has changed things around for the better. I know they are pretty proper as far as yes sir no sir as well. So be on your best behavior. I believe 9 medic units and 2 supervisors on at all times of the day? The area is beautiful, and the system seems pretty progressive.

Charelston itself is not the best place to live/raise a family, however the other cities within the County are nice.


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## 46Young (Nov 15, 2011)

Fish said:


> I am not trying to lecture you, but these questions seem like something you should have found out before even applying.
> 
> Have you already visited the County and Tested there?
> 
> ...



It's a 100% one and one system. The only time it's dual medic is for training rookies. Once you're promoted to Acting Crew Chief, you get your own assignment with an EMT.

They had 24 units, I think. They have 12 and 24 hour buses, depending on net utilization.

I hope they got new management. They were very strict, held people over a lot, and definitely played favorites. Who's their new Deputy Director? I remeber seeing that job posting a while back.

They're a hardcore Southern right-to-work establishment. They expect you to do as they say, their way or the highway, and discouraged any forward thinking. This was in 2007; things may be different now.

Edit:

Post #28:

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=13483&highlight=charleston+county+ems&page=3


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## Emedic1982 (Jun 20, 2015)

I see this is an old post but I was a medic with them for about 14 years and it was a wonderful place to work. I didn't have any problems. Each unit has a Paramedic Crew Chief and an EMT. They have 14 units that work 12 hour shifts. They have a high call volume (50,000) for a relatively large county (1,100 square miles). They are progressive and involved in many teams outside of the street medic teams such as S&R, Tactical medics, Rope rescue, and Hazmat. They also have quick response units. They are independent of the fire departments. They have had some trouble with upper management in the past but they have a relatively solid core with older medics that represent the back bone of the system. They have won several awards in the low country and are also actively involved in the P.I.E.R program. I have to disagree with it being a not so good place to raise a family. The county has some beautiful magnet schools such as the Charleston County School of the Arts and it's counterpart for the sciences, as well as the Academic Magnet.


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## 46Young (Jun 20, 2015)

Emedic1982 said:


> I see this is an old post but I was a medic with them for about 14 years and it was a wonderful place to work. I didn't have any problems. Each unit has a Paramedic Crew Chief and an EMT. They have 14 units that work 12 hour shifts. They have a high call volume (50,000) for a relatively large county (1,100 square miles). They are progressive and involved in many teams outside of the street medic teams such as S&R, Tactical medics, Rope rescue, and Hazmat. They also have quick response units. They are independent of the fire departments. They have had some trouble with upper management in the past but they have a relatively solid core with older medics that represent the back bone of the system. They have won several awards in the low country and are also actively involved in the P.I.E.R program. I have to disagree with it being a not so good place to raise a family. The county has some beautiful magnet schools such as the Charleston County School of the Arts and it's counterpart for the sciences, as well as the Academic Magnet.



I'm curious as to what has changed since 4/2008 when I left. We probably knew each other. I worked there for just shy of 6 months, and first worked the medic on the IOP connector, then the one on Folly Rd. (can't remember the numbers), with Gary and Becky as Crew Chiefs.

Back then their hiring was continuous, but I see now that it's not posted much of the time, so presumably they solved the problem of burnout and rampant turnover. We used to work a 24/48 with no Kellys, where forced OT of 12-24 hrs. was a frequent occurrence. I see now that they _finally _did away with 24 hr. shifts, that is a wonderful thing! Forced OT sucked because your 1.5x rate was so low because of the 56 hour workweek. You're really taking a boning. At least now, if you're forced for OT, your rate is much higher as a 48 hr. employee. Alexandria Fire and EMS single role medics are facing a similar problem - their medics are on a 42 hr schedule (variant of a 24/72), and the new firemedic position is a 56 hour workweek. A few single role medics crossed over to the fire side, and found that their hourly pay took a nosedive - roughly $6/hr, or $9/hr for OT IIRC.

I don't mind being on a busy unit, but not for 2 hrs. I don't miss driving out to, and posting in Awendaw once or twice a night when Medic 6 got a call. Same thing for the Folly Rd. unit. Add to the 24/48 the frequent forced OT, the twice monthly 12 hr. on-call mandate, and the 6 hr Continuing Ed. sessions off-duty (we get it on-duty here), where you could be forced and have to attend the other monthly session, and you're hardly ever home. If you're home, you're recovering from lack of sleep. I didn't see myself tolerating those work hours for more than a year. Two months after getting hired, I had a job offer from my current department, for either the Jan. recruit school, or the April class, so that made things so much better mentally. Dispatch put us available as soon as we arrived at the hospital, so I couldn't even get the cot cleaned up before we had to do the next call. Knowing I had a light at the end of the tunnel, I could give a proper report/handover, and properly clean the unit before going in-service, without any concern of repercussion. I could also spend some extra time on-scene to get most of the report knocked out, because it was otherwise common to have 3-4 reports open in various stages of completion. My Crew Chiefs were militant with time management, which I eventually grew tired of. My last Crew Chief remarked that I didn't seem to care about my job because of taking more time to do things, and I would just keep quiet and shrug my shoulders. Not moving slow, but not rush rush rush, as is the norm. That will burn you out over the long term.

I remember that if you wanted a day of leave, you had to get someone to work OT in your place, although that wasn't officially that way on paper. Has that changed?

Did they get better ePCR software? The 2008 system was horrendous - it froze frequently, and wasn't very user friendly.

How frequently do employees get held over now?

How has the retirement system changed since 2008?

Did they get rid of those Zoll monitors?

How does the promotional process work? Is it still a subjective interview, or is there now a test with a score and a list number, like it should be?

How does discipline work? Is it progressive step discipline? Can two people commit the same offense but be treated differently based on the supervisor's discretion? Or, does the offense get the same discipline regardless of the person, and regardless of management's feelings towards that person?

Are there mandatory hold/recall rules to absolve members from forced OT under certain conditions? For example, with my employer, if we have travel plans, a doctor's appointment, a doctor's appointment for a child or spouse (childcare issues), if we're working the next evening or are at 36 hours, we cannot be held over/recalled as the case may be. They don't cancel our OT for the evening, and make us work instead in the a.m. for example. I remember that CCEMS had 36 consecutive allowable work hours for the 12 hr. unit, and 48 hrs. for the 24 hr unit.

Does MUSC still try to steal medics from CCEMS?

In hindsight, CCEMS paid well for the area, better than most FD's in the area, and better than the NC Third Service EMS, so I can see how they can get away with being demanding. FWIW, I haven't heard anything bad about CCEMS since I left. Being on 12's (48 hr week) would have done wonders for my motivation. 3on/2off/2on/3off IIRC. I prefer a 42 hr week, but that 48 schedule is okay too. I may retire back down there. Much better retirement, and I can dip out at age 55 or 25 yrs. of service + 3 yes. of the DROP (TERI in SC), and I can credit sick leave towards those 25 yrs.

Edit: Unless you live in Mt. Pleasant or a similarly affluent area, the SC/Charleston area public education system can be a little dicey to say the least. Great place to live otherwise. I wouldn't mind working on the cabulance once or twice a week to keep busy in between surfing, kayaking, fishing, etc.


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## 46Young (Jun 20, 2015)

This a post that I wrote back in 7/2009, a little over a year after I left CCEMS, when things were still fresh in my head:

_Charleston County EMS, SC, looked good on paper. Start as a medic crew member at a rate of 38000/yr, then upgrade to crew chief after six months for a base of 45,000/yr, top out of 68,000/yr. Shifts are 24/48, no kelly's, or 12 hrs - XXXOOXXOOO. Beautiful place to live, but the surfing sucked.

It takes 10 years to top out. No union. Promotions are of the good ole' boy methodology. All units have at least one medic. Paramilitary structure - EMT=private, medic crew member=corporal, crew chief=sergeant, station medic crew chief officer=Lt. Supervisors are Lt II, Capt I, CaptII(I think) major, and the director. 

All ALS 911 only County based third service, ran out of stations. Work environment varies from ghetto urban to suburban, to McMansions, to straight up rural. RSI capable. 

28 year state retirement at 50%, OT not factored in. Medical coverage leaves much to be desired with large deductables. 

To get off for a holiday, you MUST get someone to cover, or you're SOL. It saves them the headache of filling vacancies, speaking of which...... 12 hour personnel can be held for up to 36 hours total. 24 hour personnel for 48 hours, as often as necessary. Twice monthly, you're on call for 12 hours. You're only paid if you're called in, no compensation for having to be readily available. You'll be recalled as often as necessary, irrespective of how much OT you sign up for.

When you take sick or personal time, your OT hours will convert to straight time. Example: 56 hours scheduled = 40 straight time, 16 time and a half. If you take 12 hours off, you're paid 40 straight time, 4 time and a half, and 12 additional hours straight time. 

The EPCR is used for reports. Reports are able to be sent electronically to the hosp. Oftentimes, you'll roll up at the hosp, and the next job is already on the screen. You need to offload the pt as quickly as possible, get the RN to sign the blank tablet, and go to the next call, pronto. Multiply this by about 6-10 jobs, then fast forward to 0230 hours, where you're trying to play catch-up. Is it 0700 already? No problem! Just sync your unfinished reports to the station computer and keep going. Stuck for an additional 24 hours? Deal with it.

When you check your rig, it had better have EXACTLY the correct number of everything. 24 4x4's, not 23 or 25. 20 band aids. No kidding, no exaggeration. I was written up for stuff like that, as were others. 

At any time, you can be rotated to another station or a street corner for coverage. This typically happens 1-3 times nightly, breaking up any chance at sleep. The rule for converting a 24 hour rig to a 12 hour one is if the unit is out of the station for call more than 60% of the time. Those sleep depriving relocations don't count, however. 

Local FDs give BLS back, except for Mt. Pleasant, who have engine medics. 

Ther are a number of good ole' boys who are still fighting the war. I've been told that the war isn't over, it's only halftime. Ther are so many from Ohio, that natives started this website: www.gobacktoohio.com

Frequently I witnessed medics just loading the pt and taking off, maybe getting some thing done. I don't like to stay on scene for long, but I do like to get some things squared away so I can better manage the pt when I'm alone in the back, should they have the CTD potential. "Just take 'em to the hospital, boy, what are we gonna do for 'em?" is what I've heard on more than one occasion.

Turnover is huge there. You do the math on that.

Other choices include hospital based IFT with either MUSC or Roper hosp, both excellent choices. Other neighboring EMS agencies are either low paying TSEMS or FBEMS dual role.

CME's are mandatory and are given monthly in 6 hour blocks, for straight time, on your off day. Held over after your shift is over? Find a way to attend the other session(mutual or paid time off) or be written up. Even if you were held over repeatedly.

there RSI QA/QI was such a fiasco, the dept made up a reference chart with dosages given based on pt weight in #'s in 25 lb increments

When I had the chance, I broke out like a 14 year old going through puberty._


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## 46Young (Jun 25, 2015)

Do you know anything about this lawsuit? I do seem to remember having to be there 15 mins. early as a rule to report discrepancies (their term for giving a report on the unit). This routinely prevented me from sleeping in after being up much of the night. Maybe I left some uncompensated OT on the table haha.

http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20140203/PC16/140209828

_"A group of 26 current and former Charleston County EMS employees has sued the county, claiming it violated federal and state labor laws, including requiring them to work unpaid overtime. 

 Attorneys Michael Jordan, from the Steinberg Law Firm in Goose Creek, and Amy Gaffney, from Gaffney, Lewis & Edwards, LLC in Columbia, filed the suit in federal court Jan. 23. 

 It claims the county violated the federal Fair Labor Standards Act for not compensating employees for overtime. It also claims the county violated state law, including breach of contract and the South Carolina Payment of Wages Act._










Click to Expand
_Jordan said the employees are suing the county individually, but he has asked a judge to allow the group to proceed as a class as well. 

 County officials would not comment on the lawsuit. 

 "Per Charleston County policy, we do not comment on the existence or substance of pending mediation," said county spokesman Shawn Smetana. 

 Gaffney said the county required the employees to begin each shift 15 minutes early - time for which they were not paid - so they could be briefed on what had transpired during the previous shift. 

 Jordan said there also are issues about employees' overall pay. The employees were given an "offer letter" each year, stating their salary for the year. But on average, the employees made about 5 percent less than their letters stated, he said. "We believe this has gone on for years." 

 The county's system for calculating pay also seems to be flawed, Jordan said. "Some clients have told us they have worked the same number of hours from one pay period to the next and their pay is different." 

 According to the lawsuit, the employees brought the issues to the attention of county administrators, but they "were intimidated and coerced to continue working under these unlawful conditions by their immediate supervisors, by the EMS Department upper management, and by the (county's) Human Resources Department." 

 The employees are seeking all available federal and state remedies, repayment of overtime, attorney fees and court costs, Jordan said." _


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## RocketMedic (Jun 25, 2015)

Sounds fairly toxic.


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## 46Young (Jun 25, 2015)

There has been some spirited debate about unions or no unions, but in this particular case, a union would have been useful in preventing the alleged comains described in this lawsuit. 

One of the reasons that I am more for a union than against it, is because I went from NYC to Charleston, and the conditions described in the lawsuit seem fairly accurate. The claim that management was intimidating the employees into keeping quiet seems plausible.


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## terrible one (Jun 27, 2015)

Out of curiosity do they hire PT or is it strictly FT? How about the surrounding EMS county departments?


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## 46Young (Jun 27, 2015)

terrible one said:


> Out of curiosity do they hire PT or is it strictly FT? How about the surrounding EMS county departments?



Things must have changed since CCEMS went to 12 hour shifts. Read this article:

http://www.postandcourier.com/artic...e-x2018-gripes-x2019-at-charleston-county-ems

It seems that now their shifts are capped at 16 consecutive hrs, which also happened to be the rule in NYC. One of my main complaints about CCEMS was the 24-48 hr. shifts, which were busy more often than not, coupled with frequent relocations due to coverage gaps. With this article, we can see that I wasn't just whining about long hours and fatigue - many others felt the same. I would imagine that turnover was curbed with the new 42 hr. workweek. OT was greatly reduced - no kidding, if a Crew Chief starts at $46k/yr, their base rate went from not ever $14/hr to over $20/hr. The county had to hire a fourth platoon to do away with the 24's, and now they have to pay $9/hr or more for every OT hour, so they had no choice but to run down units (brown outs) instead of mandatory OT. With a 16 hr. consecutive shift with mandatory 8 hrs. off, you can't really recall anyone anyway, just hold the person on-duty for 4 hrs. max.

I had to lol when there were a few that complained about losing the 24's, employees that worked Edisto Island, which was slow. If I worked M6 or M10 (two very slow rural units), I would be against losing 24's as well.

From what I remember, the surrounding non-fire EMS services all paid much less than CCEMS, so I wouldn't recommend moving far away just for one of those jobs. The tax base drops precipitously once you get out of Charleston County.


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## terrible one (Jun 27, 2015)

I'm looking at changing to a different FD, the EMS part would just be a PT second job.


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