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Sumter County outlines recruitment push, cadet program and timeline to add paramedics
Summary
County fire officials told commissioners they hired 29 cadets since 2024 (21 now certified), are pursuing in‑house EMT/paramedic training with Lake Technical College and estimate enough paramedics to staff additional ambulances before September 2027 if recruitment and training proceed as expected.
Sumter County officials on Tuesday described a multi‑pronged effort to fill firefighter and paramedic vacancies and shorten ambulance response times.
Commissioner Arnold opened the discussion by framing the board’s earlier decision to operate separate fire and EMS service areas and to consider an assessment/MSTU funding package to support staffing and additional ambulances. He turned the presentation over to Chief Anderson, who walked commissioners through maps of population density, station locations and the county’s three‑shift 24/48 schedule.
Chief Anderson outlined a cadet pipeline launched in September 2024 and said the department hired 29 cadets in five recruiting waves. "Of those 29, 21 have completed training and promoted to firefighter EMT," Chief Anderson said, adding that three separated before completion and five remained in training, one of whom was in state testing with an estimated completion in June 2026.
The county also reported active recruitment at local academies. Officials said they gave conditional offers to seven candidates from Lake Technical College; five accepted and were entering the state‑testing and background verification process. The county has about 14 current vacancies in Central County Fire & EMS (one lieutenant and about 13 firefighter/EMT or paramedic positions) and said additional conditional hires and current applicants could reduce that number.
On paramedic training, the county presented a training partnership (an MOU) with Lake Technical College that would allow an in‑house paramedic track with county instructors and waived tuition for participants. County staff said the program targets a July start and a roughly 11–12 month training cycle to produce state‑certified paramedics who then must complete clinical hours and medical‑director validation before being added to ambulance staffing.
Chief Anderson said improved paramedic numbers are the gating factor for standing up more ambulances: "Until we have the paramedics to staff them, that's the first limitation," he said, noting that the board could choose to stand up additional ambulances once the paramedic pool grows.
On operations and response times, staff described how they measure performance — call processing (when the call is received), turnout (dispatch to en route) and travel time (en route to arrival) — and presented sanitized PulsePoint/CAD data to demonstrate cases where engines arrived quickly but ambulance travel times remained high in some rural and suburban areas. The department also described existing predictive move‑up technology (an if‑then ‘live move‑up module’ that recommends repositioning units) and stressed battalion chiefs retain final authority over recommendations.
Commissioners pressed on options for station siting and unit mixes, including ‘‘rescue‑only’’ deployments for lower‑call areas; staff said strategic planning and accreditation reviews guide such decisions and that a new or remodeled Station 31 and an additional Wildwood location were under consideration to address call concentration along the US‑301 corridor.
Next steps: staff will continue recruitment and training efforts, bring conditional hires onboard as candidates clear state testing, and update the board on paramedic graduation progress and the staffing implications for ambulances and station deployment.
