Are volunteer BLS services beneficial?

[Dustdevil]

Ah, I got ya. No doubt. We are out of sight-out of mind to most people. They see an ambulance, and assume that means they have everything they need. It's hard to change public perception about something they never think about to begin with.

[Asysin2leads]

In response to the "EMS hasn't been around that long" comments, I'll remind everyone that a lot of things haven't been around for very long. Guess what? Even modern firefighting and police tactics are fairly new inventions.

Sure, we like to say that firefighting can be traced back St. O'Florian or whatever, but guess what, except for maybe some really backward volunteer squads in New Jersey, bucket brigades and hand pumpers are a thing of the past. Forget thermal imaging and helicopters, even SCBA's have been around for less time than you might think. Next time your driving, look at the road sign indicating a firehouse nearby. It'll show a silhouette of a circa 1950's open cab engine, and given modern home construction and increased safety features on cars, fire departments are adapting to the modern world at rapid rate.

Same goes for police work. For a long time a police officer's gear consisted of a notepad, a six-shooter, and a leather slap filled with powdered lead. Mace, tasers, "less lethal" weapons, SWAT tactics, etc. most have not been around for much longer than modern EMS has existed.

So, let's not rely too much on the "EMS hasn't been around long" line. Adapt, evolve, or perish.

[spenac]

Products can always get better, but that's besides the point. Like I said before, it takes time for those communities to realize that EMS is an essential service, and volunteers just aren't cutting it anymore. That's what takes time to develop. The structure is there, but the mindset of those communities is what takes time.

Lets help the change along by having all volunteers walk and demand pay for their services.

[scratrat]

This hasn't been locked yet?

[Asysin2leads]

You know, even though it keeps coming back to these "I'm sick of these BLS vs. ALS vollie vs. paid stuff..." I have to say, so long as everyone keeps it above the 5th grade playground level, myself included, there is always constructive debate. Its not always a rehashing of the same thing. Okay, a lot of the time it is, but its still good, IMHO.

[CBEMT]

And, if they were having to PAY for EMS, do you think they would give more attention to the level of quality they are receiving than they are now? You bet, they would.

Disagree completely. The governments of the cities in my area whose EMS providers are paid firefighters are not paying ANY attention to the level of quality they are receiving.

If they were, chest pain patients would not be walking to the truck, and trauma patients would be strapped to the backboards they lie on.

A paid service does not a quality service make. If my (ALS) 911 job (volunteer to be on shift, paid for making a call) was eliminated in favor of a paid service, the town council would go with the option that wouldn't raise their taxes like a municipal service (fire or otherwise) would.

They'd contract out with the private service I used to work for, who I wouldn't contract to transport my pet rock. They do not have the equipment or caliber of personnel to provide quality 911 EMS. The only thing they have going for them is that they do place emergency calls (at their contract facilities and urgent care clinics) ahead of transfers.

[suzeg487]

There are a couple of BLS services in my area that have been trying for approximately the past five years to get a medic on the squad. The hold up seems to be that the powers-that-be can't agree on terms for placement, e.g., who pays for what, hospital vs. station, even where the squad would be stationed, etc. The politics of it all are beyond unbelievable.

[rettungsfachpersonal]

First of all i have to apologize if my spelling is not the best.

I am astonished to see this discussion also on a US-Forum. In Germany we have the same emotional discussion all over the years and until now nobody has the real answer. We have many volunteers in our EMS, in some counties we have volunteer first responders in every village and in my EMS (like many others) we also have volunteers on the ALS-Units. On weekends our ALS-Units are often staffed with one paid Paramedic an one volunteer EMT. As a paid Paramedic you sometimes think they want to have "Adventure EMS" and sometimes you're right. But we also have a lot of professional volunteer buddies who i don't want to miss. But in some opinions (like mine) in Germany the volunteering had hampered the evolution in EMS. For example, presently we have only a 2-year education to become a Paramedic because to enable this level to volunteers. In the near future we will have a 3-year education at last.

Many people think working in EMS is easy because there are so many volunteers whose full-time job is trader, baker, mechanic or something else and on weekend they are life-saver on an ALS. So we do not have that standing like a Paramedic in the US.

[Scaramedic]

First of all i have to apologize if my spelling is not the best.

No apology necessary. Your spelling and grammar are better than most of the English speaking members of this forum.

[spenac]

First of all i have to apologize if my spelling is not the best.

So we do not have that standing like a Paramedic in the US.

Your English is good. We do not have standing as Paramedics in the USA. People still expect us to do it for free. We are not respected at all, often because so many do the job for free.