This is the full text of the abbreviated petition due to character restraints to President Obama located online at Federally Mandated Minimum Wage For Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics. Further reading can be found at 5 Points About the Petition for a Federally Mandated Minimum Wage For Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics. If you support the petition, you can sign it here.
Federally Mandated Minimum Wage For Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics
We, the undersigned, petition the current holder of the Office of the President of the United States, President Barack Obama, and his successor, to provide a guaranteed livable minimum wage for the Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics who serve the nation as its first line of healthcare.
Minimum Wage Rates for EMS Providers Falling Behind Cities, States and the Federal Government
In 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658 also known as “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors.” This Order raised the minimum wage for all workers on Federal construction and service contracts to $10.10. The President took this action believing that raising wages would improve the quality and efficiency of services provided to the government. It has been suggested that raising wages lowers turnover, increases morale, and leads to higher productivity. We, the undersigned, agree.
In 2015, workers across the United States petitioned for a $15.00 per hour minimum wage. The effort was born out of years of frustration within a workforce earning a minimum wage that both failed to keep pace with the cost of living and was often in a part-time position without benefits. Their petition garnered national attention; in response, a number of states and cities reacted.
The city of Seattle has raised its minimum wage to $11.00 per hour and plans to increase that wage incrementally with the goal of reaching $15.00 per hour by 2021. In comparison, the starting rate for Emergency Medical Technicians is often $12.00-$13.00 per hour.
New York State raised the statewide minimum wage to $9.00 per hour, but specifically increased the wage of New York City Fast Food Workers to $10.50 an hour for those employed by national food chains. In comparison, the Emergency Medical Technician starting rate in the city of New York is often $11.00 – $12.00 per hour.
What Makes Emergency Medical Service Providers Different from Other Workers?
The United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the 2014 Median Pay of an EMT as $15.24 per hour. This indicates that half of the EMTs assessed in the survey made an average of less than $15.24 per hour, illustrating the low compensation for a job described as being “physically strenuous and can be stressful, sometimes involving life-or-death situations.”[1]
We, the undersigned, believe the work performed by Emergency Medical Service Providers is significant enough to warrant a higher wage due to (1) the training required; (2) the number of hours typically worked; (3) and the nature and conditions of that work.
(1) Training
Minimum wage positions often have either no pre-requisites or require only a High School/General Education Diploma. By contrast, Emergency Medical Service Providers are required to be licensed either nationally or by their state. Emergency Medical Technicians complete 120-150 hours of emergency care education while Paramedics often complete between 1,200-1,800 hours.
(2) Hours
The majority of American workers primarily work eight-hour shifts, while Emergency Medical Service Providers work anywhere between eight and 48-hour shifts.
(3) Nature and Conditions
Due to their status as vital emergency personnel, Emergency Medical Service Providers work regardless of weather and often in hostile environments that would be considered hazardous. In fact, a recent study at Drexel University found paramedics and EMTs are 14 times more likely to be assaulted while at work than their firefighter counterparts[2]. More generally, studies have shown the national average of death rates on the job amongst Emergency Service Providers to be 12.7 per 100,000 compared to 5.0 for all workers[3].
Industry-Specific Challenges to EMS Providers Seeking Equitable Wages
Attempts by other workers to increase their wages have been successful in large part due to the ability of the corporations they petition to pass the increased cost directly on to the consumer. Attempts by Emergency Medical Service Providers to increase their wages have been unsuccessful due to the nature of reimbursement for their services, the inability of Agencies to pass the cost along, and the delay in receiving their reimbursements.
For instance, Service Industry Workers are reimbursed for their labor by the Service Employer, often a private company delivering goods and services directly to the consumer, who then compensates them for it, usually at the time of the transaction. In comparison, Emergency Medical Service Providers are reimbursed for their labor by the Emergency Medical Service Agency, which in turn, regardless of its designation as a private, municipal, or volunteer organization, is reimbursed in a fee-for-service model at least thirty days after the service has been rendered and only upon meeting a number of pre-requisites assessed after the date of service from numerous insurance providers. The largest of these insurance providers are the government-run Medicare and Medicaid programs[4], which also set the rate of reimbursement—regardless of the cost of providing the service.
Considering that the overwhelming source of income for all Emergency Medical Services Personnel comes through reimbursements via the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, we the undersigned believe we qualify as providers of a service to the States and the Federal Government.
As such, we, the undersigned, ask President Obama to sign an Executive Order, just as he has done with Executive Order 13658, mandating that any Emergency Medical Service Agency receiving reimbursement for services through the Federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services be mandated to reimburse their Emergency Medical Technicians at a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour and Paramedics at a minimum wage of $20.00 per hour. Failure of those agencies to comply would result in their disqualification from receiving reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
While we acknowledge that healthcare costs need to be controlled, we do not agree that low salaries are either effective or productive. Savings in healthcare should not and cannot be sustainably realized on a long-term basis by keeping service providers in poverty.
We, the undersigned, believe that such an Executive Order would result in an improvement of service quality, a reduction in turnover, and an increase in industry-wide morale, all of which would ultimately realize a higher productivity in healthcare that could be a true source of cost savings.
If you support this petition, then please share it with others (Facebook, Twitter, your own site, etc.) and please sign it here.
URL to share: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/provide-federally-mandated-minimum-wage-emergency-medical-technicians-and-paramedics
Further Reading: 5 Points About the Petition for a Federally Mandated Minimum Wage For Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics
References
[1] Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, EMTs and Paramedics. http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/emts-and-paramedics.htm (Accessed January 31, 2016.)
[2] “Expecting the Unexpected: A Mixed Methods Study of Violence to EMS Responders in an Urban Fire Department,” American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 59:150-163 (2016)
[3] “Occupational Fatalities in Emergency Medical Services: A Hidden Crisis,” Annals of Emergency Medicine, December 2002, 40(6):625-32
[4] Funding Alternatives for Emergency Medical and Fire Services, U.S. Fire Administration, April 2012, 40
THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. WHAT ABOUT THE HOURS THEY WORK. SOMETIMES MY HUSBAND WORKS 48 HOURS AND DON’T GET TO SEE HIM. THEY SPEND MORE TIME WITH THERE JOB THAN THEY DO THERE WIFE. NOT COUNTING THE LIFE THEY ARE SAVING. THEY NEED TO LOOK AT IT AS IF THEY WAS SAVING THERE MOMMA OR THERE CHILD. THEY DON’T THINK ABOUT THIS. THEY ARE UNDER PAID FOR ALL THEM HOURS THEY WORK. PRESIDENT OBAMA IT COULD BE YOU THAT NEEDS A PARAMEDIC AND SAVE YOUR LIFE. THEN ARE THEY GOING TO BE UNDER PAID. PEOPLE DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY SEE EVERYDAY IF THERE LIFES. THEY SEE DEATH, SEIZURES,HEART ATTACKS ETC. THAT CAN REALLY GET TO SOME PEOPLE. NOT SAVING A LIFE. THEY GO THROUGH A LOT. THEY NEED TO WAKE UP. THAT’S MY OPINION.
Your very very right. I work for a HUGE ambulance Corp and I make 12 an hour. I’m gone all night. 12 or 24 hr shifts. Don’t see my kids and live pay check to paycheck. We put our lives on the line just as police officers do. Its hard to further our careers at this rate. I put my ass on the line to save you and yours.
I just got off a 48 hour shift. 24 with one ambulance just to go to my other EMS job for another 24.
So where is the money coming from to pay providers more?
As usual, we’ll borrow it from China. Or… increase taxes.
What’s wrong with increased taxes? The cost is worth it (taxpayer here in the 25 bracket).
Well…you know Medicare won’t pay it…because they refuse to pay us now….
Well seeing as how a majority of the under paid EMS providers work at for profit companies, I would say those companies cut into their massive profits and pay their employees a living wage.
Please sign this petition! At first I was thinking “LOL good luck with that,” but after reading the petition it makes a lot of sense. Our compensation is limited to what the Feds choose to reimburse the employer. Not sure where the money is going to come from but where there’s will, there’s a way. I have 10 years seniority with my EMS agency, and 34 years in EMS total, and consider myself one of the better compensated EMS providers in the region (even though I scrape to make ends meet), and this would put me barely above the minimum wage for EMS providers. Also note that many EMS employers use Federally approved compensation schemes or other methods to pay EMS half time over 40, no pay for sleep time, of lower hourly wages to compensate for mandatory overtime.
I’ll tell you want, don’t pay me at all, but remember when I come to save your life you just pay what you think your life is worth. You do that and all will be fine!
When I was an EMT I received no compensation, (volunteer). I worked in all weather and conditions. I also worked as a construction worker to pay my bills. Everyone who joins the EMS ranks knows prior to joining that you will not be making a living wage for the most part, they have the opportunity to go elsewhere to work. As far as the hours they work, most work 12 to 24 hour shifts, most of them are not on the street the whole time, otherwise 24+ hour shifts would be undo able and unsafe for the public.
While we are in need of the services these people need to understand that they have the ability to move on and make more money elsewhere “it’s there option”, if your not happy with your pay move on like the rest of us. And as a 20+ year provider don’t pull that saving lives thing on me, we attempt to stabilize and transport safely, we are NOT doctors.
EMT/Paramedics ARE life changers, just like doctors. And they do need to be compensated for the amount of training they go through every year, not just once and done. EMT/Paramedics should be “professionals,” and to have professionals you need them to be around a long time. They should be able and expect to “make a living.” It’s a CAREER not just a job. Fast food is just a job and should have a year or two turnover rate. A professional is who I would want coming to save my life. But maybe Frank doesn’t want a professional to save his life, maybe he can settle for a first aid/CPR.
Lol Frank, either you’re the worst EMS provider in the history of EMS or you have never actually been an EMT and are simply lying. I realize that as a “volunteer” you were probably never associated with a professional service, and only responded with a volunteer fire department where you likely did nothing but get in the way and hinder the professionals from getting to the patient. I know several volunteer EMTs and firefighters who are absolutely top notch and make a wonderful difference, that we are thankful to see on scene, but then there are those like you that we can only pray don’t show up on scene and make the entire profession look bad. Please if you’re still a volunteer, quit, save the rest of us the embarrassment of your association to first responders. Hahaha 20+ years of being an EMT and you’ve never seen a life saved by EMS, seriously do your department a favor. Quit. It’s quite intriguing to me that in 20 years you have never seen a single patient brought back from a code, never seen a paramedic provide life saving cardiac drugs to patients having an MI, never seen search and rescue rescue a patient from a life threatening event, you’ve never seen a patient having a really bad asthma attack or allergic reaction that was able to breathe again after EMS provided epinephrine?… This could go on all day long, I just wanted to point out to you that if you really have been a volunteer EMT for 20+ years and never saved a life, then you have absolutely sucked at being an EMT…
Maybe you “stabilize and transport” but I went to school for paramedicine, I also focus and dedicate my training and/or education to the career. Don’t speak for the career field if you never put any effort into being more than the guy who wanted to play with the siren and were counseled for galavanting around town in the BLS truck during the morning renal roundup from nursing homes. It’s people with your mentality Frank that I’m glad moved on, get the hell out of our profession if you don’t have respect for those around you or even more so; your patients.
Nothing irritates me more than the people who have opinions like yours, Frank. Good for you for choosing to volunteer, but prehospital care is a public service and should be treated as such. It is a public NEED. The current conditions exist because people like you accept them. It’s about time we realize our worth, stop settling for less and most importantly change this attitude of “this is what we knew going in”. No.
Typical volunteer. Ignorant to the actual role within the profession. I myself as well as others do not care to read about your 20 years of experience, as if that makes your opinion factual based? Experience is only as good as the experience itself. It would seem somewhere along the line you’ve become ignorant or separated from the role of EMS. As a Paramedic (with 7 years of experience if you’re curious) and almost finished with Nursing, I can tell you Paramedics deserve, at minimum, an equal financial compensation to Nursing for all different reasons. Before you want to say anything about Nurses, remember, I’m in it and I know the truth. I have the credibility to make such statements seeing that I understand both sides of their contribution to healthcare. No, Paramedics and Nurses are not that similar. They are different healthcare models completely, black and white, simply conforming to create a shade of gray (the models). No, Paramedics are not Doctors either, however, we fall in the same basket as Physician Assistant’s and Physician’s (Medicine model). To fill your ignorant void, Paramedics are Emergency Medical Specialists delegated the ability to practice emergency medicine under an EMS Operating Medical Director per the American College of Emergency Physicians. Being that we are a specialized sector of trained professionals, the American Board of Emergency Medicine has standardized the fundamental Paramedic education in an established 17 page single-spaced document within the National EMS Core Content outlining all of the diseases, disorders, and illnesses that a Paramedic must be able to UNDERSTAND, ASSESS, DIAGNOSE, and TREAT. Oh and then there’s all of those skills everyone thinks we are limited to.
But hey, we only deserve to live pay check to pay check, right?
Wrong.
So the way this is worded, it basically says, “Any agency that bills for treatment/transport has to pay their EMTs/Paramedics a set minimum wage.” That would basically eliminate volunteers in any agency that bills for services.
Good
No it wouldn’t eliminate them if they accept Medicare and Medicaid payments.
Makes me sick when I look at some of the billings for what we do. There are times that between my partner and myself, we get paid about 30 bucks for a transport (That’s not each, that’s both, and before taxes). And the patient is billed (and their insurance pays) upwards of $8,000. I could understand if we’re using everything under the sun to keep them alive, but this is for a plain Jane, run of the mill, IFT. Not even so much as oxygen being used. The expenditures on it are our labor, gas in the bus, and an oil change. Now, picture about 5-6 of those in one shift. My former employer was boasting multi-million dollar profits last year. And they start us at minimum wage. Medics make about 10 an hour if they’re lucky.
Here is an idea, I know this will piss a bunch of you off but how about fema divert 3/4 of the money from the AFG Grant and 1/2 of the SAFER grant to ems. Over the past 10 years billions upon billions have been given to volunteer and paid departments year after year in my area to depts that may run 50 calls. Yet our ems service runs 4000 and struggles to keep in buisness.
I left the EMS field because i could not support my family working for $12hr. All that training testing and licensing for an income below 23k a year. I learned alot and have some stories i will never forget but its a joke. I will go paint houses and make more money than I will saving a life. But its probably better to have people who are not in it for just the money.
I work for the local county EMS and we are paid a salary based off of FLSA (Fair Labor Standard Act). We are paid by the flexible work week pay. We are not paid an hourly wage and we only make 1/2 time for our overtime. If is ridiculous. Basically the more hours you work the less you get paid. I think they should change this law as well!!!
where do you work? Fire based or stand alone EMS> That does not sound like it meets FLSA standards .
Ok, not picking a fight here (although I am sure someone will be offended by this), but if the conditions are really that bad….why do you stay? Quit. Go somewhere else, do something else. I never before have heard so many people piss and moan about their situation and on top of that play the “hero” role and demand respect. If you don’t like it, don’t like working long shifts (you do get OT for the long shifts, right?), and being away from home, and saving lives, and cats, and hamsters, and babies and on and on and on.. or if you feel you cannot make a living at it – leave. Do like Pat did who posted on Feb 2nd. I respect that guy, he did something about his situation. Just stop the whining, please.
It is a disservice to your profession that once was proud and just did it’s job with humility.
.
let’s look at this from another angle. When you purchase an item, you pay 100% before you can obtain that item. Medicare makes services take a 40% forced write off, then will only pay 80% of the remaining bill. On top of that ambulance services are allowed approx 20 pages of medical codes, where as clinics and hospitals get access to 700 page book for codes. The changes are going to have to start there.
Ok here’s my take on this. I became an EMT in 1982, and got my Paramedic license in 1985. I just retired about 5 months ago, but still hold a current license. All that being said…. It wasn’t until the last 5 years that I was able to “live” on my wages from just one job. Now I wasn’t living high on the hog, but my bills were paid and I could buy a steak now and then. When I first started it was to help my husband, who was in the army reserve, so that we didn’t lose part of his weekly salary…and I say salary, as he was paid $125 per week and worked 84 hours per week. That is less than a dollar and a half an hour. That was 1982 remember. When I got my medics license in 1985, I went to work for a hospital based service making $5.75 per hour….as a medic… Minimum wage at that time was $3.35 was hour. When I retired in 2015, I had averaged a 50 cent per hour increase over the lifetime of my career. I have said for years that for our profession to get paid better….we have to eliminate the word technician from our job title. As long as we are looked at as only technicians, that’s how we’ll be paid. It’s the same with nursing… If you are an LPN (licensed practical nurse) you get paid less than if you are an RN (registered nurse). Even though our job is much more hazardous than nursing, and ultimately requires much more training than an RN, a paramedic will always make less because they are a “technician”. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have loved to make more when I was working, especially since that would have meant more for me now in my retirement. I do believe that EMS professionals do deserve a livable wage. They also deserve to vs recognized as a professional not just a technician.
I do not support a federal minimum wage for EMS, what I do support is compensation for EMS crews. As much as I respect the dedication that volunteers bring to the table, the fact that people are willing to work for free is what brings down wages for those who can’t afford to volunteer.
I look at EMS as a a microcosm of our society. If McDonalds isn’t supposed to be a career that you expect to earn a living wage, than being an EMT shouldn’t be a life long career either. Becoming an EMT should be a first step to advancing your education and career. From there you can pursue a paramedic degree, fire science degree, criminal justice, allied healthcare degree, or a history degree and completely leave public safety altogether if you choose. But if you pursue a public safety degree it should be incentivized for those already in a public safety roll.
States like NJ also has separate ConEd requirements for volunteers that can negatively impact the care rendered within those communities.
I also support EMS begin requiring degrees. A paramedic should have a bachelors degree as an associates is all but worthless to the rest of the world. Masters should be required for management and educators. Education costs can be subsidized to offset and eliminate the “I can’t afford medic school crowd.”
You do understand that a “paramedic degree” only pays a few dollars more? You’re not going to be making enough to live over the poverty line and pay for your education.
I do understand that today it doesn’t make much of a difference. But change is not about today. It is the long term effects.
If nurses had said the same thing years ago where would they be today? Not making the kind of money and garnering the level of respect that they do today.
We can either be pioneers or we can be whiners.
What benefit does a increased minimum wage have for us? The cost of goods and services will just rise to meet the cost of earnings. So the ratio of income to cost will not change. We will just pay more for the products we use.
There is a much narrower gap in living between the top 1% and the lower classes than we realize.
I can have the exact same iPhone that the CEO of Apple has. I have a roof over my head, electricity, running water, a car…just the same. It is ignorant to suggest that just because someone has a bigger house and more cars than I do that I need them to give me more of what they’ve earned.
Obviously being a Paramedic I didn’t get into this career field to be rich. Its the public service sector and not considered true medical like nurses, techs in the ER or even respiratory therapists. That’s why we are paid the way that we are. We were all made aware of what or jobs were when we went to school and did our clinicals. We were told about burnout rates, injury risks and personal safety issues. We still went forward and chose this career. Why? Because it’s who we are! I don’t know to many I this field that don’t have two jobs to make ends meet. That don’t have ghosts that haunt them at night or health conditions that they will carry with them forever. Do we deserve more pay to be more inline with other medical care professionals? Absolutely! The problem…. The same as it has always been. No one has a clue what we do, see, know or are exposed to. If they did we wouldn’t be having this discussion at all would we. Be safe my friends… God watch over us all!
FOOLS! Please tell me, how are small private service, and small county services going to be able to afford to pay these kind of wages? This increase would put services right out of business both the private and government sector.
Unless Medicare and Medicaid in my case ( Tenn Care) is going to start reimburseing the ambulances for the transports they do then pray tell, where does the money come from? If the Federal Government is going to step in and help with the ever rising cost of health insurance and provide a supplement to EMS then I’m good with it. Other wise, I would strongly advise against this increase.
Services will either shut down or start laying people off. Now we have an increase in unemployment and system saturated with EMS professionals with no place to work.
For those of you who think that money magically appears every two weeks for pay day then you are in for a rude awakening. Rest assured, the 24/48 shift Schedual would stop. They will cut out all over time, which leaves you just as poor as before. Let’s compare shall we. Here is what I pay.
Start Paramedic: $13.00 hr on a 24/48 shift makes $43,160 a year.
Critical Care Paramedics: $14.50 hr on at 24/48 shift make $48,140 a year.
If I were to pay all medics $20 hr for a 40hr work week because I would not want to pay all the over time they would only make $ 41,600 a year.
That means you work Monday – Friday with only 8 days off a month.
On the 24/48 Schedual you only work 10 shifts a month. So which is better.
Let’s be smart people! Don’t look at the hourly rate, look at the year end base.
Precisely!
Just a side note, what are your critical medics doing that they only make $14.50/hr? I personally work a 36 hr work week and I wouldn’t do critical care for less than $30.00/hr
Seriously, if you don’t like your compensation, do something else.
I guess my point is when I decided that I wanted the challenge of doing critical care, I made sure that my experience (required) and expanded scope would be rewarded with a salary that was commensurate with the work.
To me a critical care medic is operating at a significantly higher level than that of a “street medic”. With an advanced knowledge of physiology, labs, pharmacology, invasive monitoring, and procedures with advanced skills. This equates to considerably higher continuing education expenses to maintain critical care credentials. Those costs alone justify a salary that is certainly more than $1.50/hr greater than a starting medic salary.
I’m not sure what State you work in that pays you $30 hr for being a CCEMT-P, but my employee salaries are based on insurance reimbursements. My service received no supplement.
BEN – I made almost $50/hr doing critical care transports. SCT (specialty care) is a much higher billing rate then ALS.
EMS providers work harder, think faster and endure more abuse than most realize for mere peanuts. It’s time that we are recognized as more than an “ambulance driver”. I’ve worked in this profession for more than 28 years, taught it for almost 17 years and became disabled doing this career for life by doing my job. Top pay was $17 per hour. I didn’t do it for the pay obviously. It really needs to be much improved!
Let me start by saying, thank you for all that you have done, and what you have sacrificed.
However, as an educator you must see the benefit of education in our chosen career. What I see in EMS is very similar to what nurses struggled with for over a century. We in EMS can choose to reinvent the wheel or we can take a cue. We are now at a place where nursing was in the 1920’s when leadership realized that education standards were suffering because quantity was demanded, this quality suffered. In EMS we have recognized that education standards need to be continuously updated just to stay on top of changes within medicine. Although there are more EMS degree programs today, than the early years, many EMS degree programs remain associates degrees. The only way to eventually justify high salaries, and change the perception of EMS within the healthcare community is to up the ante on education requirements to include baccalaureate and advanced degrees. There also needs to be a clear career path to follow with milestones based on experience and years of service. For example, initial training as EMT followed by completion of a paramedic degree program (preferably 4 year degree) and then after a prescribed time as a undergrad Medic you would then pursue a Masters degree. With completion of a graduate degree you would then be eligible to move into a management, educator, or advanced practice career path. A post grad degree if chosen would open you up to a state and or federal leadership position.
We need to push for creation of an educational career path at the same time that we are seeking higher wages.
There is a lot more that needs to change along with this, education alone will not get us where we want/need to be. This is step one. And this will not occur over night, it could take as long a generation to see significant change. It will take even longer if we continue to do nothing.
Frank, Anything much been going on in Mayberry?