We the members of BEMCo demand:

1. Transparency of the promotions process to Secondary and to Primary; and

2. A more widely accessible and less exclusive Primary promotions process

The BEMCo promotions process is advertised as “confidential”. Instead it comes out as secretive. The Promotions Board refuses to tell members of BEMCo what the promotions process entails. Promotions decisions are based off of a small group of people’s personal opinions on BEMCo members, which leads to an extreme imbalance of power, and an impenetrable clique among crew chiefs. Absolutely no details of the promotions processes are ever divulged, meaning we have no idea what we’re getting into, and no one will tell us why we’re not allowed to know.

The Primary promotions process is far too long and grueling. It takes approximately a semester to go through the entire process. It doesn’t need to be this long. The Primary process CAN and MUST be shortened, without sacrificing quality of care.

We believe that a BEMCo Secondary should be promoted to Primary so long as they can adequately demonstrate that they:

- have experience in and know how to go about assessing a patient in an emergency situation;

- understand and can follow the BEMCo protocols;

- have effective leadership and division of labor skills; and

- have clear knowledge of all BEMCo equipment and how it is used.

Extensive training other than the learning or demonstration of these above skills is not an efficient use of the Promotions Board’s nor a Primary candidate’s time. Because the process takes so long, no seniors can ever be promoted to Primary. This is limiting the skills of BEMCo seniors who have volunteered hundreds of hours to this organization. The promotions process must be shorter and must consume less time and fewer resources than it currently does in order to allow more members to move up to Primary.

This will also help with the issue of shift scheduling and over-working crew chiefs. If there are more crew chiefs, labor is divided more equally. Burnout is real. Crew chiefs should not have to do 48- and 72-hour shifts just to keep this organization afloat. No outside EMS organization would allow an employee to do a 48- or 72-hour shift. However at BEMCo, it’s just a fact of being a crew chief. This needs to change.

We all have the same certification. We’re all EMTs. Enough of the drastic hierarchy and impenetrable clique. We’re trapped on the first or second tier of a four-tier organization with no way to go up.