Report

2007 JEMS Salary Survey & Workplace Survey

In a world run on dollars, what about the people?

David M. Williams, MS
October 2007 JEMS Vol. 32 Iss. 10
2007 Oct 1

For years, EMS managers have focused on “hard management” issues, such as improving response performance, controlling costs and increasing reimbursement rates. When it comes to the people in their organization, however, many managers still believe a job and a paycheck are incentive enough to want to stay on the job and work hard.

But tides are changing. The pool of workers has shrunk, opportunities have increased, and a new generation of workers is staring the old EMS job in the face and asking “Why should I?”

For a quarter-century, JEMS has been surveying EMS agencies across the nation to help us better understand workplace issues facing our colleagues and to follow the trends in salaries from region to region. This year, JEMS adopted the best practice method of reporting survey data in percentiles, which allows a better appreciation of where your salary compares with that of the survey respondents and what the median salary is by call volume and region.

Today, the “JEMS Salary & Workplace Survey” is the leading source for information on compensation and workplace practices. It doesn’t have all the answers, but what follows is the most comprehensive snapshot of the industry today.