Port aims to sweeten the pot for future paramedics

The City of Port Washington is in competition with other communities for paramedics, and the Fire Department is adopting a new program to try and attract them to the city.

Although the city quickly filled its new paramedic positions this spring, Fire Chief Joe DeBoer told the Police and Fire Commission recently that one firefighter/paramedic recently resigned as he made a career change and moved to Arizona.

“We haven’t received a number of qualified candidates,” DeBoer said.

The pool of paramedics is limited, he noted, and communities throughout the area are competing for their services.

To make the city a more attractive place for these candidates, he said, the department would like to institute a program where the city would pay the cost of paramedic school for emergency medical technicians who agree to work for the city for a specified amount of time after graduation.

There are four or five EMTs with the Port department who would be interested in this type of program, DeBoer said, including some who are currently in paramedic school.

If accepted into the program, they would be excused from their work shifts when attending classes, he said.

Commission member Joe Dean noted that if existing members of the department  take part in the program, others would have to fill their shifts when they are in school.

The department already fills in when people are on vacation or there are vacancies, DeBoer said.

The program would benefit the city even as these students attend school, DeBoer said, noting they could do a significant amount of their clinicals with the department, DeBoer said.

Commission member Ed Johnson asked what would happen if someone is accepted into the program but fails to complete their studies or doesn’t stay with the city for the  time they have committed to.

They would then have to reimburse the city for the cost of their schooling, DeBoer said.

  “Ideally, this is something we would like to do sooner rather than later,” DeBoer told the commission. “I would hate to lose qualified candidates.”

That’s a possibility, he said, because a number of area departments already offer this benefit.

Commission members endorsed the plan.