Civilian employees manning an ambulance in Shelbyville / Shelby County was approved Monday by the Shelbyville Common Council.

Through a contract with St. Francis Hospital, an ambulance is staffed by the hospital with a paramedic, an emergency medical technician and, at times, a student in training. There have been several times where the ambulance is not staffed which puts additional stress on Shelbyville’s fire department resources.

Logan's proposal was to hire three civilian paramedics to help staff that ambulance on a full-time basis.

The firefighter’s union voted to support the project.

Councilman Scott Furgeson feels there is addressed an ongoing concern regarding ambulance service - taxes.  He feels those who live within the city are paying more than their fair share.

Mayor Tom DeBaun says he thinks further future talks on the subject will come up.

All Shelbyville firefighters are also paramedics or EMT-certified which gives them versatility on emergency runs. That will not be the case with civilian paramedics who are not firefighters, and would alter assisting with volunteer department emergency calls around the county.

Councilman Tyson Conrady asked about the civilian employees being paid the same as those who are available as both firemen and ambulance staff.

Fire Chief Tony Logan.

Mayor Tom DeBaun also noted paying higher to be competitive with other communities and hoping to find staff to hire that’s already trained.

The Shelbyville Fire Department had 5,665 runs last year.