Essex-Windsor EMS preparing to hire more paramedics

An Essex-Windsor EMS vehicle is seen in Windsor, Ont. (Melissa Nakhavoly / CTV Windsor)

Essex-Windsor EMS is in the process of hiring some new paramedics.

A recruitment effort by the regional ambulance service closed in early February, and Chief Justin Lammers said they now have conditional offers out.

“We’re looking to start those individuals in May when the college program wraps up,” he said. “Conditional means they have to graduate the program. We do have a few in there that are looking to move to the area, so they would be lumped in with them. But that would start in May, and we’d get them on the road in June.”

Lammers said the conditional offers are out to students in paramedic programs across Ontario, including St. Clair College in Windsor.

Lammers added the vast majority of primary care paramedics start as part-time employees.

“For posting like this, they come in part-time,” he said. “They work their part-time hours, which is just a ton for them to have. Either through retirements or enhancements, full-time positions come up and then move up into the ranks of full-time.”

Lammers said they could be running another recruitment in the fall.

“Typically in our industry, the college is the main feeder for paramedics coming out that want to work. But the other question we’re trying to answer is why Windsor? Why Windsor and Essex County? We’re trying to draw people to the region, and that’s usually where our fall recruitments grab a typically small, a smaller portion of individuals who are road-ready, trained, certified, and ready to go,” he said.

Essex-Windsor EMS has 369 full-time and part-time employees, with 329 of those employees serving as paramedics.

-Rob Hindi, Rusty Thomson, AM800 News