Deployment In Busy Urban Systems

[Dustdevil]

Just curious, any reason that SSM seems ok for the ambulances, but not ok for engine companies and ladder companies? Could you imagine what would happen if a city decided to cut back on suppresion, and to make up for a possible extended response time put them at cross street locations? Just curious.

:twisted: Hehehehe....

I like the way you think!

[Richard B the EMT]

Perhaps I have not been paying attention.

SSM?

Wazzat?

[Dustdevil]

Perhaps I have not been paying attention.

You definitely haven't. SSM gets mentioned here a couple times a day.

Status System Management. Otherwise known as "mobile deployment" or "street corner posting" instead of fixed stations.

[p3medic]

Exactly, what you do in NYC. Imagine them telling the guys on the engine co. to go sit somewere on Flatbush Ave for the tour, every tour, because we don't have enough engine co.'s....And then pay them what you make, and give them the same bennies, and don't take into consideration the long term damage that comes with sitting in an idling diesel engine vehicle....It will never happen. Its ok for the ambulance guys, but not for the rest.

[stcommodore]

System Status Mgt and Dynamic Deployment are not one and the same. SSM is the ideal way to handle peak time call volume, and a dynamic deployment a way to place units best for the call volume.

I think if we are going to take any aspect of EMS and use it in fire it would be tired deployment. Why do we need 4-5 staffed pumpers going to calls when 80% of calls are false? Two FF's on minipumpers can take care of resetting alarm systems and assisting EMS units.

[HellsBells]

System Status Mgt and Dynamic Deployment are not one and the same. SSM is the ideal way to handle peak time call volume.

Perhaps SSM is "ideal" from managements point of view; But I wouldn't want to work in a system that utilises it.

[Dustdevil]

Perhaps SSM is "ideal" from managements point of view; But I wouldn't want to work in a system that utilises it.

What a load of shyte.

The "ideal" way to handle any call volume takes all effects into consideration and weights the benefits against the drawbacks. SSM does not do that. There is nothing ideal about SSM. Just like every other method, it either ends up costing you too much or leaving you inadequately staffed. The only difference is it causes more problems for your agency in the long run than the other methods.

[Kiwiology]

All our ambulances sit at the station and wait for a call. Our maximum urban response time to "priority one" is eight minutes. We often have fly cars driving around who get to a situation first and call for transport as appropriate.

In a mixed fly car/transport system the truks generally are ILS or BLS and the fly cars provide ALS whereas in our city (~80,000 people) we run 3 or 4 trucks (two ALS and two ILS or BLS) during the day and 2 or 3 at night (2 ALS or 2 ALS & 1 BLS or ILS).

The paper pusher managers (all of who are medics) also have fly cars to go out to jobs in rather than push paper if needed.

I love our dispatches, they always make me laugh, here's an example

Us "Comms, we're clear on a one alpha one (or whaterver the AMPDS detrement is)"

Dx "Roger, return station"

Like we're gonna go anywhere else? That would burn gas, something that costs money, money our company doesn't seem to have! They even took our intubation manakin!

[courageheartx]

I work in a Large Urban area, 1 million plus residents in the city with about 45 ambulance running at peak hours.

We operate under a flexible deployment strategy, where we have certain stations that must be manned at all times. (ie. a call goes out from a demand post, the nearest non-demand unit will be called in to cover the area). For me, working from a non-demand post it seems like we're forever driving back and forth between stations in between calls. It get particularly annoying during nights, when I just want to catch a few hours sleep.

So... My question to all you guys in the big citys, does this sound similar to where you work? Are there any deployment strategies out there that work better? Does anyone work in systems that practices curbside deployment? I'd really like to hear what works, or doesn't work for all y'all.

sounds like Calgary

[SWM_Medic]

I work ssm as well and we have the average 8 min response time, but we have another hiccup that I feel is stupid. The city fines us $10 a call for being late. Yep that's part of our contract with the city. I couldn't tell you the exact number of calls we do a year, but it's off subject anyway. I'm not a huge fan of ssm it tends to burn out medics even faster than normal. We work 10-14hr shifts at my company and trust me that a long time to sit in the car. Granted we have a relatively high call volume but there are those days your stuck in the truck for hours at a time. The worst part about it is when we finally get to a hospital and get to see other humans the company tries to find ways for us to get back in the truck quicker. So now we have to type reports in the truck.