JEMS 2007 salary & workplace survey. In a world run on dollars, what about the people?

F or 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? " Now, managers find themselves with holes in their schedules they can't fill and staff they can't motivate. They're finally starting to realize that it's time to pay attention and do something different. Workforce issues can no longer be considered " soft management. " 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. 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. METHODOLOGY Before developing this survey, a pre-survey was distributed to more than 60 EMS leaders, including system operators, heads of professional organizations, researchers, university professors and federal regulators. Almost 40% (39.4%) responded. The pre-survey asked participants to provide their feedback and opinions about the survey, what they used it for and how it could be improved.