Once plagued by “a staffing nightmare” Carroll County Fire and EMS now maintains full coverage through strategic planning, paid staffing models and firefighter support

By Lily Carey
Baltimore Sun

CARROLL COUNTY, Md. — Just five years ago, December was “a staffing nightmare” for Carroll County’s fire and emergency medical services, Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief Michael Robinson said.

With holiday celebrations and illnesses limiting the number of firefighters available, and crowds spiking at emergency rooms due to closed urgent care facilities, it’s historically been “hit or miss” whether Carroll can fully staff its fire stations with volunteers during the Christmas season, Robinson said.

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But when a major house fire broke out in Westminster around 2 a.m. Thursday, Carroll had a full staff of 50-plus paid firefighters and paramedics who were ready to answer the call, along with more than 40 volunteers who came to help control the fire.

“Fortunately, the volunteers worked with our people, and we had great staffing,” Robinson said of the Westminster fire. “A lot of volunteers left their homes and families, even though it was early Christmas morning, and we got everything fully staffed, and we were able to control that fire within about 15 minutes.”

This year, Carroll County’s Department of Fire and EMS was fully staffed at all times on Dec. 24 and 25 without having to hold anyone for mandatory overtime — a major milestone for a county that was once “plagued by understaffed units” during the holidays, according to Mike Karolenko, president of the department’s union.

Since the area’s fire and EMS systems officially became a unified department under county government oversight in 2020, Carroll has been working to fund more positions for paid firefighters and paramedics who can work across the county. Under the old system, the county relied more heavily on volunteers and struggled to coordinate emergency response between fire stations.

During the past few years, the county has hired dozens of additional fire and EMS staff each year, following a strategic plan that Robinson and other staffers laid out in 2022.

Now, that planning is starting to pay off. This year is the first that Carroll has been able to consistently sustain 13 fire stations and 16 ambulances with a full staff of paid firefighters and paramedics. The county has 228 full-time fire and EMS staffers, and Robinson said the department is set to hire eight more in January.

“That’s certainly a positive reflection of the hard work we’ve done over the last couple of years to move EMS over to the new staff model,” Karolenko said. “You know, the good moments are good, the bad moments are still bad, and we’re short-staffed, and we need more help, but … if you’re looking at the net gain, or the net status of the system, we’re definitely in an increase, an improvement moment.”

In addition to the house fire in Westminster, Robinson said firefighters responded to several other house fires on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. With many households putting up Christmas trees and lighting fires in their fireplaces, there are more indoor fire hazards during this time of year.

Fighting fires and responding to medical emergencies during the holidays can also take a heavy emotional toll on emergency responders. Though it never gets easier, Karolenko said having a full staff during the holidays can help local firefighters take the time they need to process the things they’ve endured and spend valuable time with loved ones.

“We’ve had a season that has been full of serious and tragic calls … and unfortunately, you see a lot of tragedy during the holidays,” he said. “In the midst of the increased call volume and everything else, we’re trying to do our best to hold each other accountable to take a breath, and be able to work through those hard moments.”

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