Baton Rouge's Emergency Medical Services will no longer merge with the city's fire department, officials announced Wednesday, scrapping a controversial plan initially proposed by Mayor-President Sid Edwards in June.

During a Wednesday news conference, Edwards said the merger, which would have gradually brought EMS employees into the Fire and Police Civil Service system, would no longer happen.

"The juice wasn't worth the squeeze," Edwards said about the plan.

The idea was to give "greater job protections, clearer career advancement, and consistent standards across public safety roles," according to the initial release announcing the merger . But paramedics pushed back against the move from the start, with many citing a lack of clarity behind the plan. Surveys conducted over the summer

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