Worker shortage limits available firefighter/paramedics in Myakka City

On the heels of the announcement that Manatee County was terminating its agreement with East Manatee Fire Rescue that the county must supply a firefighter/paramedic on each of its trucks that serve the Myakka City area, Fire Chief Lee Whitehurst was direct.

"This is not something we wanted to happen," Whitehurst said. "It's just not sustainable. The community would be justifiably upset, and I am not going to say everything is fine."

The policy was inherited from Myakka City Fire Control when it merged with East Manatee Fire Rescue in October. The agreement had been in force between Manatee County and Myakka City Fire Control since 2001 because Myakka City did not have an ambulance dedicated to that area.

Whitehurst said the county simply doesn't have enough firefighters/paramedics to fulfill the agreement and a lack of potential prospects prevents the county from raising those numbers.

Although, East Manatee Fire Rescue has seven firefighter/paramedics active on the line and several more who are on staff, they cannot currently be used as paramedics under state rules. The number of firefighter/paramedics Manatee County currently has is not nearly enough to cover the shifts. They had more, but Whitehurst said their dual-certified employees were hired away.

"Everyone is aware there is a worker shortage nationwide," he said.

The agreement to terminate goes into effect on May 11, or sooner if both parties agree.

Whitehurst said those in the Myakka City area did get an important upgrade in October 2020 when Manatee County stationed a full-time ambulance at the Myakka City station on Wauchula Road. However, when that ambulance has to transport a patient to a hospital in the region, there is not another available in the immediate vicinity.

Manatee County EMS Station 5 is located at 1505 Dam Road, Bradenton and can be used to service Myakka City. 

Eventually, Whitehurst said he would like to build back requiring more firefighters/paramedics.

"But this is not a quick fix," he said. "It takes years to provide those services."

Two years before the merger, Whitehurst said Manatee County, East Manatee Fire Rescue and Myakka City Fire Control officials all talked about how it would be tough to keep the firefighter/paramedic agreement in place. At the time, though, it appeared that was possible. Whitehurst said all parties had full intentions of keeping the agreement in tact.

Then the pandemic hit and changed the landscape.

Whitehurst said it was important to understand that discontinuing the agreement had nothing to do with the merger.

But considering present circumstances with the job market, he said it's just not a sustainable agreement.

"No one likes to go backward," he said. "The level of service is being diminished. We want to be transparent about that."

Whitehurst said he wanted to emphasize the community in the Myakka City area will continue to get a basic life support level of service from the EMTs on the trucks. They can operate defibrillators and will have oxygen and epipens.