Pittsburgh EMS union sues city over residency requirement

The union representing Pittsburgh Emergency Medical Services personnel on Monday filed a lawsuit challenging the residency requirement now in place for paramedics and EMTs.

City officials have said they would not intend to challenge such a lawsuit, part of a deal they struck with the union when settling a recent contract.

Jon Atkinson, who heads the EMS union, in December told TribLive he hoped lifting the residency requirement would help the bureau’s recruitment efforts. It would allow the city to hire EMTs and paramedics from beyond Pittsburgh’s limits.

The city’s police and fire unions have also seen their residency requirements repealed.

The residency requirement can be changed only through a lawsuit or a referendum because it is written into Pittsburgh’s Home Rule Charter.

City leaders can’t modify the charter through legislative actions or contract negotiations.

The lawsuit was filed in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court by the Fraternal Association of Professional Paramedics Local 1.

It claims the residency requirement “inappropriately limits the public’s access to qualified paramedics thereby creating a shortage of such providers.”

Though the Emergency Medical Services bureau is budgeted to have 217 uniformed employees, officials have estimated the bureau is short about 30 paramedics, though it has more EMTs than budgeted.

The new contract signed in December included pay raises and the creation of an advanced EMT position, which sits between a paramedic and a regular EMT.

It also provided for a new system to allow officials to team up a paramedic with an EMT, rather than requiring teams to always have two paramedics or two EMTs.

Such changes, officials said, were intended to help with recruitment and retention and to help more efficiently use the staff the bureau has.