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EMS job posting causes confision in the ranks
Tuesday, January 30, 2007 9:50 PM EST
A special meeting of the EMS Board, identified as private in a Monday posting and scheduled for Tuesday night, caused more confusion.
According to the posting, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss employment applications.
"We received three applications for the position of EMS administrator and we are interviewing two of them tonight," said Jim Thornbury, board member.
According to a recent job posting, the duties appeared to be identical to those of EMS director, a position that has been held by Betty McClanahan since 2000, when the previous director resigned.
Semantics on the titles of director and administrator are a sticking point of the confusion.
McClanahan is recognized at the Kentucky EMS Board as the EMS director, by official title; the term administrator is not one the state recognizes, but is a term in the Bracken County EMS manual of policies used for the position when it was prepared, said McClanahan.
"The state says my official title is EMS director," said McClanahan.
McClanahan would prefer not to comment much about the intentions of the Bracken County EMS board.
She is not planning to resign.
"I hate that I am in the middle of this," said McClanahan, who is also an EMT.
The job posting appeared at the EMS building about two weeks ago, following a special meeting of the board, said Thornbury.
"As a board and with the advice of the board attorney, Ed Massey, we decided to do this, to create the administrator position," said Thornbury.
McClanahan had been asked by the board to give input into a possible job description for a supervisor position, but believed the position was to be that of an assistant, in her occasional absence, said McClanahan.
"I really don't know what to say right now," she said.
McClanahan had been working toward the board goal of changing the designation of level of care for the Bracken County EMS from basic life support to advanced life support, which requires hiring paramedics.
"That is on hold for now because the board was worried about being able to afford paramedics," said McClanahan. "They can cost $12-$13 per hour and there are none on the squad at this time, though some are county residents that work elsewhere."
She did not know the possible salary for the new position; the director position pays $25,600, she said.
The duties of the new position are listed, but a requirement that the administrator be a certified EMT, as listed in the EMS policy manual, is not, said Debra Kiskaden, who applied for the job and who is McClanahan's daughter.
"I just looked at it as a job, and turned in my resume but I have found our more since then," said Kiskaden.
Kiskaden said she was told by a board member that she was not going to be interviewed for the job.
"They have someone in mind," said Kiskaden.
Legalities of posting a job that is not open and possible errors in the form of the meeting notice were a concern.
"The location of the meeting is not on the notice for Tuesday's meeting," said Kiskaden.
Attention from the posting was not necessary, said Thornbury.
Asked if McClanahans position was to be affected by the new position Thornbury declined to respond.
"It is really too early to comment on much more," he said. "This is a very young board and we are learning. I have only been in two months."
Bracken County EMS Board members are Kim Jones, David Sticklen and Thornbury.
For more area news, go to www.bracken-online.com
Contact Wendy Mitchell at wendy.mitchell@lee.net or call 564-9091, ext. 276.
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