Times Editor
Union County has a new director of Emergency Medical Services and he is excited about the possibilities in a department facing critical staffing shortages but few other major problems.
EMS Director Toby Witt came on board at UCEMS two weeks ago, leaving the same position in Hamilton County after five years to take the position that brings him much closer to his home and back to a department he once served on.
Witt is from Columbia County, where is in his third year of his first term as a county commissioner. Witt was offered the position after the resignation of the previous Director Wayne Clemons. He brings more than 20 years of EMS experience to the position.
Witt attended paramedic school in 1998. Upon graduation he worded in Levy County for a brief period, then moved to Columbia County to work. In 2002 he became a flight paramedic with Baptist Life Flight, the air rescue of Baptist Hospital in Jacksonville. He then went to work with Vendor Air Methods, an aviation vendor serving life flight units. He left VAM after attaining the position of Regional Logistics Director, overseeing 14 air medical bases. He said that amongst all this other experience, he worked in the Union County department for a brief period in 2004 and that he liked the area, and the department, quite well.
“This was always a good department with good equipment and aggressive protocols (rules which determine what paramedics are allowed to do in the field under the supervising doctor’s license)” Witt said.
Witt went on to day that the supervising physician for UCEMS was Dr. Matt Odom. Odom was a Union County paramedic who went to medical school and is well aware of the issues unique to the department and Union County. He was, in fact, handpicked by the late Dr. Pete Gianas to succeed him as the medical director for the department should something happen to him (Gianas).
Witt is well pleased with the department and is particularly impressed with the level of training demonstrated by its employees.
“The training level of this department exceeds that of most other services I have encountered, even those in much larger areas,” Witt said.
One problem that has plagued the department through at least three directors is the shortage of personel, which Witt said is a national problem.
“We need staff,” Witt said. “We are going out and actively recruiting to fill the vacant positions. To do this we must offer better pay. To do that we must offset the additional cost through the generation of revenue to the department.”
Witt said his plans are, first, to increase the staffing then to look at maintaining the fleet of units, replacing them with new units as needed. He said that he was in the process of applying for a grant that would allow the purchase of a new unit to replace one of the current fleet. Witt said he was also dedicated to maintaining the high training standards the department has adhered to, but noted that this will be a challenge without a full staff compliment, as it is difficult to let staff members off shift for training opportunities when there are not enough on hand to fill all the needed positions. He noted that the most serious deficiency was in the lack of sufficient paramedics.
“In the long term I want to maintain the department and decrease the cost of operating it, saving the taxpayer’s money,” Witt said. “I believe we can offset a great deal of the cost with revenue. The opportunity is there, not only from charges billed to patients insurance or the patients themselves (if they lack insurance) but also from runs done for the RMC and the hospital. The money is there, we are just going to have to work hard to get it.”
Witt said one of the problems UCEMS has is one that plagues all departments. People who have no transportation often use EMS as a sort of “house call service,” calling EMS for problems such as sprains, stomach aches or even a splinter.
“We have to respond to every call, even the ones which are low acuity,” Witt said. “Many time these are not real emergencies, but we are mandated to take the call.”
Witt said coming to UCEMS was like coming home for him and that he was settling in well in his new position. He cited no problems with the transition to his directorship, with no issues with staff or members of the community. He noted that one of his goals was to work to strengthen and further develop the relationship between EMS and the Volunteer Fire Department. He said that he felt such a relationship needed to be close and cordial, as the two agencies work together on almost a daily basis at times.
Witt’s main goal is to see that the citizens of Union County get their tax-dollar’s-worth and continue to receive the best possible care should they need to make the call. He said that taking care of the citizens of the county was the main and most important function of his department and that was how it should be.
