Title
Approval of Firefighter/Paramedic Job Classification and Promotion Rules
Recommended Action
Staff Recommendation:
Staff recommends the approval of the changes to the Firefighter/Paramedic Job Classification and Promotion Rules.
Body
Staff Contact:
Greg Wright, Fire Chief, Olympia Fire Department
Nicole Camus, Sr. HR Analyst, Human Resources
Background and Analysis:
Due to the tight labor market, to reduce hiring time for entry and advanced entry paramedics, and to close the gap between when an Olympia Firefighter that has gone to paramedic school gets out of school and can start obtaining field experience, Medic One has developed a process called “affiliation”. In past practice, the Medic One Medical Program Director, MPD, could not extend his medical license and liability to a perspective new hire until state certification was completed. This can be a delayed process, up to several weeks or months. Affiliation allows the MPD to cover a perspective new hire under the MPD’s medical license and liability while the process of state certification is completed. Medic One can revoke affiliation if for some unexpected reason the candidate becomes unacceptable. If that were to happen, a promotional candidate would revert to a firefighter or a new hire would be terminated for no longer meeting the minimum qualifications.
Olympia’s current Civil Service language was built around the state certification concept and did not include “affiliation language”. The delays to hire the perspective paramedic, the time gap between when Medic One will affiliate and the time when the state completes certification, can cause an entry level or advanced entry candidate to go to another agency. That same gap causes an Olympia Firefighter just out of paramedic school to delay their start in the field experience, a critical time when school based knowledge is being translated into actions. This change in Civil Service language adjusts the hiring process to take advantage of the new accommodation that has been extended by Thurston County Medic One. The date of hire will coincide with the affiliation but the date of promotion will be governed by the civil service approval of the registry.
Policy Reference:
□ Civil Service Rules, Rule II, Classification
□ Civil Service Rules, Rule V, Registers