Florence County Council voted to add a fourth shift to Florence County EMS during a special called meeting Thursday morning.
The meeting was held to talk more about solutions to the problems with EMS.
The department's existing employees will still work the fourth shift, but it will alleviate the long hours and give them more time off between shifts.
"This is going to reduce the workload on the existing employees at EMS. We're going to go from having an approximate 57-hour work week to approximately a 46-hour work week. So, our employees are going to get the benefits by working less hours," said Ryon Watkins, EMS Director.
The additional shift will not have an impact on the budget, Watkins said.
Council is making the change based on a comprehensive study of Florence County EMS.
It said Florence County paramedics and EMT's make $6,000 below the regional average and $3,000 below the national average.
Since December of 2011, the county lost 15 paramedics and EMT's.
A couple of them retired and the others left for different reasons, including going to work as paramedics at area hospitals.
Some of the existing employees complain of being overworked.
Florence County EMS currently operates seven ambulances from six stations throughout the county. Paramedics responded to 17,658 calls in 2011 and transported 12,255 patients.
Since 2000, the call volume has increased by 30 percent.
Council says it will continue to make changes to improve EMS and make it more effective.
