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County approves raising pay for EMS staff, new hires

ROBERT PIERCE • Leader & Times

In an effort to recruit and retain workers, officials with Seward County EMS came before the county commission Monday to discuss possibly increasing starting wages for department employees and giving raises to those already working.

The item came before the commission two weeks after the commission heard from EMS leaders about a possible new building for the department, and following a somewhat lengthy discussion Monday, commissioners unanimously approved increasing starting wages and giving employees already in place a raise. 

EMS Director John Ralston said the need for better pay came about due to recent turnover in the department and workers seeking employment elsewhere because of the current wage situation.

“The issue we’re facing right now is recruitment,” he said. “With recruitment comes retention. Keeping people is one side of that coin. The other side is recruiting new people when people leave. It’s hard to recruit when you’re paying anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000 less than everybody else for the same job.”

Those numbers came from a recent study Ralston did regarding pay levels for EMS workers in other Kansas counties.