Stan ClarkCLEVELAND, Tenn. - Bradley County's Emergency Medical Service sent a representative to Washington, D.C., last week as part of lobbying efforts to improve retirement benefits for paramedics and emergency medical technicians.
The key to achieving this will be changing the federal definition of a public safety officer, said Stan Clark, EMS spokesman who was part of a Tennessee Ambulance Service Association delegation that spent last week in the nation's capital.
"Right now the definition only includes fire and police personnel," Clark said in a news release. "When the federal definition was put into place EMS was overlooked."
If EMS personnel were included in the federal definition of public safety officers, local governments could choose to provide the same retirement benefits to them as they do for police and fire departments, Clark said.
During the weeklong trip the TASA delegation met with several members of Tennessee's congressional delegation, including Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and Reps. Chuck Fleischmann, Scott DesJarlais, Phil Roe, Diane Black and Marcia Blackburn, he said.
The press offices of both senators commented on the concerns presented by TASA.
"While he does not sit on the committee of jurisdiction, he would carefully consider such a proposal should it come before the full Senate," Tara DiJulio, Corker's communications director, said in an email.
Alexander's press secretary, Jim Jeffries, said in an email that "Emergency medical personnel do important work in moments of great need for many Tennesseans, so Sen. Alexander, is closely reviewing the proposal."
At the state level, TASA's mission met with support last year, said Clark.
The Tennessee Legislature passed a resolution, drafted and introduced by then-Rep. Eric Watson and Sen. Mike Bell, that "encouraged Congress to move forward with this legislation on a federal level," Clark said.
The federal government has to be involved because of age discrimination regulations, which do not apply to recognized public safety officers, said Clark.
In 2007, Tennessee implemented an improved benefits package for public safety officers that required them to retire at age 60 unless 50 percent or more of their duties were administrative in nature. In that case, they could work until age 62.
Under the current retirement policy, an EMS officer has to work 30 years "to even think about retiring," said Clark. Even then, he would be looking at only 40 percent of his income, he said.
"The emergency response business places a lot of wear and tear on workers," said Clark. "It just isn't feasible to think EMS workers can survive in the field that long."
Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.