St. Louis, MO (KTRS) The St. Louis Fire Department is down 20 paramedics, with no one in line to replace them.

Chief Dennis Jenkerson says that the severe trauma his medics are exposed to is causing them to burn out faster, and now, there’s no one applying for the open positions.

One option he says the city could consider, is a way to merge firefighter and EMS roles. The city is currently losing between 2 and 4 paramedics per month, and paying overtime to firefighters who have paramedic training in order to bridge that gap.