Rockingham County, N.C., Looks at Reducing 24-Hour EMS Shifts

WENTWORTH – Another Rockingham County Emergency Medical Service base may soon drop from 24-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts.

EMS Operations Supervisor Rodney Stewart told the Board of Commissioners Tuesday that the shifts need to be reduced to 12 hours and offered ideas on how that change might take place.

“The days of 24-hour people coming in, running two or three calls and then sleeping the rest of the day or night are gone,” he said. “My people are complaining about being tired, being fatigued, being overworked, getting off late, having to come to an in-service, so that’s one of the main reasons that we’re looking at it this way.”

The Reidsville base dropped to 12-hour shifts in 2006, followed by the Eden base in 2011.

There are still 18 EMS employees on 24-hour shifts, including three supervisors, many of whom expressed concern with the current system in a recent poll, Stewart said.

In order to make the transition, Rockingham County EMS would need to hire two more EMTs, Stewart.

As part of the proposed transition, the commissioners and Stewart discussed closing either the Huntsville or Bethany EMS bases and consolidating those personnel at one base.

Regardless of which base closes, personnel would still be stationed throughout the county, ready to act in case of an emergency, Stewart said.

Commissioners did not vote on the proposal. They asked for more information on the effect either closure might have on response times throughout the county.

Stewart agreed to present more information at the board’s Aug. 1 meeting at the Madison-Mayodan Library, 611 Burton St., Madison.

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