Untitled Document

City Attorney: Racial Quotas "Not True" In Hiring Of Memphis Paramedics

Oct 17, 2005, 08:09 PM
MEMPHIS -- The city attorney says racial quotas or "minority applicant pools" are no longer an issue in city government, and they are not fueling rising overtime costs in the wake of the city's severe paramedic shortage.

"There is no truth to the allegation that we are waiting on a certain number of minorities to (fill applications)," says Memphis City Attorney Sara Hall. "We are currently looking at internal processes...before we move forward."

For more than a year, the Memphis Fire Department has wrestled with both firefighter and paramedic shortages. There are 75 paramedic vacancies, according to the Memphis Firefighters Association, Local 1784. Crews are spread thin, and records indicate overtime costs have skyrocketed, as high as $30,000 a day in January 2004.

A 11-year veteran paramedic who asked not to be identified for fear of losing his job told 3 On Your Side the city's human resources department will not fill the positions until its minority applicant pool reaches an unconfirmed percentage.

Terry Oldham, President of the MFA, told 3 On Your Side in an interview Oct. 14 that the department tried to implement a "fast-track" hiring option that would have filled vacant positions with professionals "cross-trained" in both fire-fighting and emergency medical techniques. Oldham said those applicants could have been on the street saving lives in four to six weeks as opposed to the standard 20-week training period.

"This option was recommended sometime last year during the overtime crisis," said Oldham, "but was not implemented because HR said that it would cause too much of an adverse impact on the diversity of the department."

Hall says the option was rejected not because of its lack of diversity, but because it did not generate enough applicants to warrant the cost.

Court documents indicate the U.S. Justice Department put the Memphis Fire Department under a consent decree in 1980 after it discovered evidence of discrimination and "hiring and promotions on the basis of race." The records indicate both women and African-Americans were being overlooked for both entry-level positions and promotions. Hall says after making great strides to hire more minorities, the federal court released Memphis from the promotions side of the consent decree in Dec.1998 and from the entry-level portion of the order in Oct. 2001.

Jim Reaves, private paramedic for AmeriCare Ambulance Service in Southeast Memphis, says the real cause of the city's shortage is burnout. He says the department has failed to adhere to its Medical Priority Dispatch System, which is supposed to route paramedics to calls based on need. Reaves says instead, each two-man crew is whisked to every nosebleed, headache and cut arm that comes into dispatch.

"And I'll probably wind up with a four-man engine company as first responders as well, so that's six gentlemen taking care of my cut arm," says Reaves.

* Other factors contributing to the shortage are the city's budget crisis, lackluster recruiting and a city residency ordinance that requires new hires to live within the city limits.

"We're concerned with getting quality applicants," says Dr. Lorene Essex, Director of Human Resources for the city. "That's the bottom line, and we want to make sure we have a diverse list always."

Essex and Memphis EMS Chief Gary Ludwig say they are working together on requests for proposals (RFP's) to streamline the recruiting process for both firefighters and paramedics.

Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor show African-Americans make up approximately 22% of all health and protective care occupations.

NOTE:
Paragraph 7 quotes City Attorney Sara Hall claiming the fast track option was rejected because it did not generate enough applicants to warrant the cost.

I say to Sara Hall, it could not have generated enough applicants because applications haven't been accepted in 6yrs for fire fighter EMT and around 3yrs for Fire Fighter Paramedic. If I am not mistaken, the fast track option was submitted this year (2005) in the early spring.

Additional Note:
The article posted on WREG's website credited City Attorney Sara Hall in citing the factors contributing to the shortage which is believed to be inaccurate. The story on TV credited "sources"