FL medical director pulls 8 drugs off of engines

[defib_wizard]

[Firefighters primary assignments, Tober said, are to fight fires and to be extrication and rescue specialists. /quote]

Finally a voice of reason!

[Dustdevil]

This is going to get uglier. The comments at the end of the article are quite amusing also.

Same story is at JEMS.com, and I expect it to get even better there! I got the ball rolling, hehe... http://www.jems.com/news_and_articles/news...l_director.html

These bastards are so disingenuous. They're not protesting because they really want to do EMS. They would love to walk away from EMS today and never have to wake up at 2am again. They're just pissed off because they are being made (by themselves) to look like the idiots that they are. Interesting that they think their little hissy fit on the streets is going to improve that image.

BTW, these are very impressive salaries for Florida:

Paramedic/Firefighter I : $52,220 - $76,794 annual

Paramedic Firefighter II (credentialed) : $55,875 - $82,169 annual

Paramedic/Firefighter Company Officer : $72,615 - $106,787 annual

You should have listed the comparative salaries for straight EMS people in the same area as a point of reference.

[Arizonaffcep]

I fully support this. It's good to see someone who takes the initative to rock the boat. The only hesitation I have is, I'd be willing to bet that the FD's did more interventions than the numbers given. Only reason I say that is, everyone's familiar with how the FD transfer goes...they do some skills to do them, then when they write it down on the transfer of care form, they say "we came, we saw, we kicked some ass...transferred to XYZ unit." Usually it is one line, and usually never consists of an assessment. Their own fault...you don't write it, it never happened. Thus far (although I'm terribly familiar with him) I'm impressed. Collier county sounds like they landed a good one.

[JPINFV]

Still, isn't a fire truck arriving first just a sign that you need more ambulances?

[Dustdevil]

Still, isn't a fire truck arriving first just a sign that you need more ambulances?

Either that, or you need fewer fire trucks.

Or both.

[VentMedic]

Still, isn't a fire truck arriving first just a sign that you need more ambulances?

This is Florida we are talking about. There is almost always at least 1 engine and maybe a ladder as well as the ambulance on every call. There are at least 2 fire medics and usually it is 3 - 4 Paramedics on each fire truck plus the 2 Paramedics in the transport ambulance. The 14 Paramedics that flunked the test were from one small FD station and all FFs. There is also a transport EMS vehicle in that area.

[Dustdevil]

To be fair, I'm betting most of the EMS medics would flunk any test I gave them too. :twisted:

We all have a point of failure. The firemonkeys' point is just a lot lower than most.

[tniuqs]

Nor would a professional FF want a Paramedic who was forced to be a FF watching his/her back in a major fire.

Nor would you want a Paramedic or an GP/ER MD teaching Transport Ventilators and Capnography ..... ooh so don't get me going. :twisted:

But they do..... !

So put me on the Big Red truck and I would too be lost in space .... you mean turn this knob ? And they run towards the Fire ... You Crazy ? take the most knowledgeable medical responder and put him/her at the highest possible risk to injury ?

Hey Dust I will take your test .... is it written in Canadian EH?

[defib_wizard]

I would gladly take a test from you dustdevil.Even if i fail it would tell me what I don't know, and need to work on.