RANDOLPH COUNTY, N.C. — Shortages are impacting industries across North America. One industry hardest hit is one that can help keep you alive — emergency medical services. One county is looking for paramedics to help serve the community.

What You Need To Know

Randolph County is looking to fill eight paramedic vacancies

The county EMS is offering a $4,500 sign-on bonus

The county is giving a $200 bonus for paramedics to work overtime

Because of COVID-19 the county approved emergency services to change the work hours of the paramedics to 12-hour shifts, leaving it to hire more people to become fully staffed. EMS hasn’t been able to fill its roster during the pandemic.

The number of EMS calls has picked up over the last six months, with 2,600 more calls than this time last year, according to Deputy Director of Emergency Service Jared Byrd.

New paramedic Lydia Stoops says the days have become busier than before.

"I’ll run maybe to four calls in the whole 12 hours. We’re on our fifth one and five hours into our shift," Stoops said.

She has only been a paramedic for a few months, graduating in July. But she has been in EMS for two and a half years.

"The people here are what really did it for me because when I was in school, I didn’t know what county I wanted to go to. I was leaning towards Guilford because it’s where I live and a lot shorter commute. But, I remember when I was school, I did a ridealong with Randolph County. I did four ridealongs with four different counties, and Randolph was my last county,” said Stoops right before getting another emergency call.

Randolph County Emergency Services is looking for more paramedics to fill eight vacancies. Because of the pandemic, classes for paramedic school closed, keeping people from graduating, creating more strain on those who are already doing their job.

"'Cause we’ve pretty much been having to pick up overtime a whole bunch, which it is what it is, but the bonuses is what's been helping out. 'Cause we’ve had multiple people pick up multiple shifts, doing 36, 24s, whatever they can do to get that bonus," Stoops said.

“Unfortunately you don’t choose where your medical emergencies happen, and these are the people that you want when this happens. Whether you are just traveling through Randolph County and you have a vehicle accident, medical emergency on the side of the road or your at home, these are the people you need when that happens. And they will be there. They’ll show up and do their job, and so it’s critical. I couldn’t imagine having a medical emergency and you relying on someone else to take care of you and get you to the hospital, and that service not be available,” Byrd said.

The county has implemented a $200 bonus for the medics who are able to pick up the extra shifts.

"Before the bonus, it was hard sometimes. We had three trucks shut down in one day, which is a lot because our county only runs nine trucks. So, yeah those aren’t fun days, but you got to do what you got to do,” Stoops said."Before the bonus, it was hard sometimes. We had three trucks shut down in one day, which is a lot because our county only runs nine trucks. So, yeah those aren’t fun days, but you got to do what you got to do,” Stoops said.

But even though the parmedics are short-staffed, they say the job still has to get done.

"Your attitude can either make or break your shift. So you gotta take whatever you're dealing with at home, which I’m sure a lot of us has a lot of struggles we are going through, just leave that at home and put on a good face and just do your job," Stoops said.

Randolph County has implemented a $4,500 sign-on bonus for those who want to join its EMS team. That bonus would be paid every six months over a two-year period.

If you are interested in signing up, reach out to the Randolph County Emergency Services Center.