Bad time for Fla firefighter wanna be's

[firemedic05]

To me the obvious problem in general is the National problems with EMS. There was a story on ABC about the EMS problems in Philadelphia - bringing to light two calls where the ambulance did not show up for at least an hour and they are blaming them for the death of patients. That does kinda throw the "Golden Hour" out the window. The problem, as stated, for so many years is that EMS does not have the lobby power that the fire service has had for years and until people quit complaining and try to change this fact - nothing will change. Or maybe, I should say until a Senator's son/daughter dies due to waiting for ambulance arrival, it won't change. Why don't the powers that be in EMS work on getting the lobby power? I think they are but we are coming into the game in the fourth quarter and behind. My opinion only, there has to be change simply because things cannot continue the way they are going. Example: I know everyone can think of that huge "greedy" hospital that patients wait for hours to be seen. I have been told to put patients having severe chest pain in triage. Yes, there is bickering between fire and ems and yes, if you look at my name I am a firemedic but beyond that argument is the general state of disrepair in EMS. Look at the turn over rate, its 50% or higher in most departments i.e. St. Louis City EMS. What is the answer? It would be nice, if the headaches and stubbed toes would quit calling 911 but don't see that changing anytime soon. I don't know the answer but things cannot continue in the manner they are going.

[xselerate]

In my honest opinion(and this is just my opinion) people in private EMS that bash the fire service are pissed off because for whatever reason they cant get in.

Amen to that.

My service is a part of the fire department, but we're not firefighters. We do, however, have a 2 or 3 month long academy... and it would seem that the EMTs/Medics working in the privates that bad mouth the municipal service just can't cut it themselves.

[spenac]

Amen to that.

My service is a part of the fire department, but we're not firefighters. We do, however, have a 2 or 3 month long academy... and it would seem that the EMTs/Medics working in the privates that bad mouth the municipal service just can't cut it themselves.

I call BS. I also suspect somebody has two emtcity accounts.

Not everyone gets turned on by the one or two real fire calls a year they get.

Fire and EMS are two very different fields and have no business together. To me it is as stupid as saying all FF should be part of the entry team. Not everyone is cut out for entry team. And the majority of FF are not cut out to be Paramedics. It is just old fashioned stupidity to thank you can be the best when you are divided.

[p3medic]

Amen to that.

My service is a part of the fire department, but we're not firefighters. We do, however, have a 2 or 3 month long academy... and it would seem that the EMTs/Medics working in the privates that bad mouth the municipal service just can't cut it themselves.

Yeah, because FDNY firefighters love their EMS counterparts... That is rich! The fire guys call you "slugs" and don't consider you part of the fire dept. A little reality check is in order.

[captainstandup]

I believe that Fire and EMS should remain separate. The political reality of the situation is, in my opinion, that once combined one discipline or the other will suffer when it comes to allocating scarce budget dollars.

To me only two things are worse than fire/ems combo departments 1) Public safety departments that include law enforcement into this ridiculous mix 2) Private EMS (The employees always loose, ALWAYS loose in either benefits or salary and the community often looses in quality of service delivered.

[triemal04]

Maybe this post will be way out of line here, but had to weigh in on this topic. Some people "might" be "happy" working in private EMS, but lets face it, the pay sucks, the hours are crappy(usually 12 or 14 hour shifts, as opposed to 24's) and the benefits are nil. All this talk about cutting the fire dept "fat" is not gonna happen. Individual municipalities post levys and citizens vote. I would say most people would like to have their ambulance ride paid for through their taxes, and not get a huge bill from a private company. In my honest opinion(and this is just my opinion) people in private EMS that bash the fire service are pissed off because for whatever reason they cant get in. Too many times you have been on scene and a fire medic made you feel like a second class citizen. Your just the private ambulance EMT that no one will recognize as the hero. Choose you own destiny. Be what you will, but for god sake, it boils down to patient care. I thought thats why we did this work.

Poor pay for privates...sometimes, but not always. So you're wrong there.

24 hour shifts being better...sure, if the call volume isn't to high. But if you run 10 calls in a 12-hour shift then you run how many in a 24? Wrong again.

Ambulance ride paid for by taxes...holy hopping crap on toast, what kind of fantasy land do you live in? In 2 states there is one fire department that I know of that does not charge residents for transports. And this is in an area that is mostly fire-based EMS. Once again...wrong.

Nice post. Pretty much entirely wrong, but nice reading just the same. About the only thing that was accurate was that it does come down to patient care and patient care only.

[Niftymedi911]

It doesn't matter wether you pay taxes or not you (if your in Lee County) still get a $450 BLS or a $500 ALS-1 bill. Not to mention if your flown out a 3 grand ride to the hospital ontop of the regular charges. It adds up. But for an agency to maintain and be 100% supported by taxes..... (yeah maybe back in the stone age), but now more and more people poke and prod their way into financies and accountability. Your agency must have some BIG pull in county or city government to get away with that.

We used to be that way.... But now, everyone wants lower taxes and such, so now we charge for the ride. We're close to 60/40 at this point, 46% paid by impact fees and general taxes, 54% paid user fees. We re-couped over 54% of our budget for 2007. Our interfacility transfer divison always runs in the black and pretty much funds the agency. Total income from user fees and transfers was close to 28 million.

[captainstandup]

Poor pay for privates...sometimes, but not always. So you're wrong there.

24 hour shifts being better...sure, if the call volume isn't to high. But if you run 10 calls in a 12-hour shift then you run how many in a 24? Wrong again.

Ambulance ride paid for by taxes...holy hopping crap on toast, what kind of fantasy land do you live in? In 2 states there is one fire department that I know of that does not charge residents for transports. And this is in an area that is mostly fire-based EMS. Once again...wrong.

Nice post. Pretty much entirely wrong, but nice reading just the same. About the only thing that was accurate was that it does come down to patient care and patient care only.

I issued a challenge a while back for someone to provide an example of just one private company that offers good pay, good working hours, good retirement, good equipment, and interestingly, to date no one accepted the challenge. I have never, NEVER, seen a private company that could remotely compare to most local government or fire based services. Given that you feel empowered to state that xgldcrossemt's post was "entirely wrong" I figure you are up to the challenge.

[speedygodzilla]

Well I live as far south as you can go w/o being in Mexico and we have separate services. The fat from fire needs to be cut. Where is the biggest need? EMS. Fire is barely an issue anymore, homes/businesses are all required to meet standards that lower fire risk. Combine that with fire prevention education and fire has basically put themselves out of the fire business. Really considering how few fires FF actually work compared to how many extrications and lifting assists maybe we should even change it to extrication service instead of fire service, become known as extrication specialists rather than fire fighters. We'll let you keep the extrication equipment because we need to focus on medicine.

You can not be the best in multiple fields. Choose one and be the best. Focus on whats best for our medical profession and thus our patients.

Cut the fire fat.

Cut the fire fat? Please.

The first day in fire academy they taught us that firefighting is not all that we do. You know this. FF is a must just as EMS. Putting them together does work, and works where I live and many of the areas around where I live. The only place I hear people complain about the merge is here.

I got this from

http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/statistics/quickstats/index.shtm

QuickStats

The Overall Fire Picture - 2006

There were 3,245 civilians that lost their lives as the result of fire.

There were 16,400 civilian injuries that occurred as the result of fire.

There were 106 firefighters killed while on duty.

Fire killed more Americans than all natural disasters combined.

81 percent of all civilian fire deaths occurred in residences.

1.6 million fires were reported. Many others went unreported, causing additional injuries and property loss.

Direct property loss due to fires was estimated at $11.3 billion.

An estimated 31,000 intentionally set structure fires resulted in 305 civilian deaths.

Intentionally set structure fires resulted in an estimated $755 million in property damage.

You can not be the best in multiple fields? I believe you can and many do in the aspect of fire and EMS.

[Dustdevil]

The first day in fire academy they taught us that firefighting is not all that we do. You know this.

Yeah, and you know why that is too. Because the fire service simply cannot justify their inflated salary and budget demands by sitting on their arses all day waiting for that big fire that rarely happens. I live in a metroplex of over three million people, and we still probably see only two or three working fires a day. That's over a thousand firemonkeys sitting around polishing their nozzles on any given day, unless we find something else for them to do. That's why firefighting isn't all you do. Because society doesn't put the value on you that you like to think they do. Don't kid yourself. They don't really think you are the best qualified people to provide medical care. They just want to get their money's worth out of you, and EMS is a easy way to do that. If I were a firemonkey, I'd take it as an insult that they didn't think my willingness to walk into their burning house was enough to justify their respect and their money. Instead, you guys just let them play you like a cheap guitar because you're (the fire service, not you in particular) too stupid to know any better, and too selfish to care.

That's what separates us from you.