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.
