{"id":25319,"date":"2022-09-22T18:04:24","date_gmt":"2022-09-22T22:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=25319"},"modified":"2022-09-22T18:17:21","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T22:17:21","slug":"polk-county-fire-rescue-offering-bonuses-to-fill-urgent-vacancies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2022\/09\/22\/polk-county-fire-rescue-offering-bonuses-to-fill-urgent-vacancies\/","title":{"rendered":"Polk County Fire Rescue offering bonuses to fill urgent vacancies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Staffing shortages and the impact they have had on the nation have become major issues for many industries.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In Polk County, that trend has affected emergency workers, causing shorter operating hours, longer wait times, and a shortage of firefighters.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polk County is currently dealing with a shortage of firefighters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some officials say the problem has been ongoing for several years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polk County Fire Rescue leadership says the department is working hard to recruit and hire emergency workers to fill vacant positions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Polk County Fire Rescue’s union president, Lee Stringer, said the staffing shortages have created longer work hours for current firefighters. This is something the wives of some firefighters are speaking up about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think it would be like this,\u201d said Cyni Dillon. \u201cI thought I\u2019d have more help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dillon\u2019s husband is a Polk County firefighter and she said that he and many of his colleagues are now required to work mandatory 48-hour shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just wasn\u2019t prepared for him to be working all the time because they just don\u2019t have enough people,\u201d said Dillon. \u201cThe union encouraged us to be vocal about our concerns because our spouses aren\u2019t allowed to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lakeland Gazette first reported on Polk County Fire Rescue’s staffing shortages in April, but Stringer said the issue has been ongoing for several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur biggest thing is the vacancies that create mandatory overtime,\u201d he said. \u201cMandatory hours aren\u2019t new \u2014 a lot of people started in the last two or three years, but we\u2019ve been having mandatory issues since 2018. It\u2019s getting worse every year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials with Polk County said staffing shortages have plagued many of their departments, but they have implemented incentives and bonuses to help draw in new hires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Since May of 2022, we have physically gone out to 20 different schools that we wouldn’t have gone out to before,\u201d said Polk County fire recruiter Betzaid Lacounte. \u201cWe’re being proactive with going outside of Polk County to reach people.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Polk County Fire Rescue officials said they are committed to filling vacancies \u2014 adding that they are currently in negotiations with the union for better working hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to questions from Spectrum News, the Polk County Fire Rescue sent the following statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPolk County is no different than most counties across the state in having a lot of turnovers right now. I saw where Hillsborough County this week discussed a 29% pay increase for first responders in an effort to recruit and retain personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of June, the county had about 90 vacancies in Fire Rescue. We are actively recruiting to fill positions, and have implemented an aggressive bonus and incentive program to recruit paramedics, which are needed most. It\u2019s just a challenging time to hire talent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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