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.

“I was going to hear everyone out and listen, and I did,” Edwards said about the plan. "The juice wasn't worth the squeeze."

Edwards added he still believed the plan would have been beneficial from an efficiency standpoint, but indicated he would rather shift his attention to other issues.

“Where we’re at right now in the parish, the (Thrive) initiative not passing, all the things we have to dea

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