Thanks Fire! For Screwing us over... yet agian.

[Jess]

Where do they get the idea that 90% of EMS is linked with Fire? I find that hard to believe

Yes I need that concept explained to me as well. :roll:

[JPINFV]

I love that...

"But but but cardiac arrest patients have a similar timeline as fires"

Err, why then is saves still abysmal? Oh, and does anyone have a link to the study that showed that fire based services had a higher "save" rate?

[triemal04]

The 90% (i'm guessing here) probably comes from the annual surveys that JEMS does that tends to show that fire departments have units respond to 90 odd percent of the EMS calls around. Or something like that. Has nothing to do with transport.

Now to the meat and potatoes.

To everyone who is complaining about this, an open question: What are you doing to see to it that videos like this will be shown to be untrue? What are you doing to educate the public about the state of EMS in the US and how it needs to be changed? What are you doing to show the public that EMS needs to be separated from fire? What are you doing to get EMS separated from fire?

I'm sure there are people here who are actively involved in those things and I'll happily shake your hand if we ever meet, but f*ck's sake...if you want to bitch and moan about fire departments here then get off your arse and actually do something to resolve the problem. Otherwise it's just more whining.

[Michael]

The fire chief asserts (at 8:58 on the video-timer) that "During Hurricane Andrew down in Miami years ago, the private ambulances chose not to respond. That's a problem with systems that are not based in a public fire-department like ours, where you have to respond."

Leaving aside the (to me) not-obvious jump that public = only fire, can someone explain what he was referring to by "private ambulances chose not to respond" in Miami?

[akflightmedic]

The fire chief asserts (at 8:58 on the video-timer) that "During Hurricane Andrew down in Miami years ago, the private ambulances chose not to respond. That's a problem with systems that are not based in a public fire-department like ours, where you have to respond."

Leaving aside the (to me) not-obvious jump that public = only fire, can someone explain what he was referring to by "private ambulances chose not to respond" in Miami?

That statement is full of untruth.

I lived and worked in FL and SC through many hurricaines, everything from Hugo to Floyd.

I also worked for privates and for the county or city during several of those.

ALL of the services have a cutoff point. We are NOT required to respond when it is a life safety threat. We are required to respond as soon as possible in those situations.

This is why post landfall, we have calls stacked and prioritized awaiting us to respond. Same thing happened when I was in Lousiana after Katrina and during Rita.

In FL, when the winds reached 60mph, we no longer responded. ALL public safety vehicles were pulled from the roads and reported to their assigned shelters. People that were still out there and needing assistance were on their own as they all had plenty of time and adequate warnings especially during the mandatory evacuations.

When the winds were 50mph we quit responding over the bridge/causeway to get to the barrier islands. Those people should already have been gone.

As the saying goes, 'A failure on your part to make plans for an emergency does not constitute an emergency on my part.'

Yes we are considered "public safety" during this time for some reason, however no city, county or private employer is going to force their employees into being heros, if for no other reason than not damaging the apparatus. We report to the shelter, ride it out and then resume service.

[Michael]

Figured, AK. Thanks.

What a pity.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Where do they get the idea that 90% of EMS is linked with Fire? I find that hard to believe

the 90% of EMS is linked with fire but only in his own little world.

[Just Plain Ruff]

That statement is full of untruth.

I lived and worked in FL and SC through many hurricaines, everything from Hugo to Floyd.

I also worked for privates and for the county or city during several of those.

ALL of the services have a cutoff point. We are NOT required to respond when it is a life safety threat. We are required to respond as soon as possible in those situations.

This is why post landfall, we have calls stacked and prioritized awaiting us to respond. Same thing happened when I was in Lousiana after Katrina and during Rita.

In FL, when the winds reached 60mph, we no longer responded. ALL public safety vehicles were pulled from the roads and reported to their assigned shelters. People that were still out there and needing assistance were on their own as they all had plenty of time and adequate warnings especially during the mandatory evacuations.

When the winds were 50mph we quit responding over the bridge/causeway to get to the barrier islands. Those people should already have been gone.

As the saying goes, 'A failure on your part to make plans for an emergency does not constitute an emergency on my part.'

Yes we are considered "public safety" during this time for some reason, however no city, county or private employer is going to force their employees into being heros, if for no other reason than not damaging the apparatus. We report to the shelter, ride it out and then resume service.

AK your point is sooooo true. If you have more than adequate notice that a Hurricane is coming and you choose to ride it out or expect someone to come get you to safety then stop whining when you don't get the response you expect. Those people who refused to leave their homes or their city when they had ample notice in regards to this monster hurricane coming should not expect that EMS or Fire crews will be there to respond during the incident.

The fire crews and EMS crews along with the police departments I don't believe were given the choice to leave. They had to stay to protect life and property post hurricane. Those who chose to stay on their own can't say as much.

Any service that forces it's crews out in that kind of weather situation should be flogged. Putting your crews lives at risk to save someone who refused to leave just leaves 3 people dead not just one.

The same for blizzard conditions or during a tornado or any other natural disaster.

[dahlio]

EMS and Fire should work together, doesn't mean they need to be together. 90% of calls involve a fire department how? Seems like a video filled with propaganda to lead the public into thinking that ems based fire suppression is the only correct way of providing medical services to the community. How come non fire-based EMS companies aren't crying to become part of a fire company if this is all true then. Goodness Gracious.

[HellsBells]

Yep, no facts whatsoever here, Just keep repeating, Fire based EMS is the best, Fire based EMS saves lives, Firemen are heroes, Fire Depts without EMS cook really well and get a full nights sleep, ummm i mean EMS needs Fire...

I have to hand it to them though, Fire Depts have some fantastic PR. We should take a lesson from them, then maybe EMS could get a piece of the FD's massive budget.