Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Transports Patients in Rescue...

[K9kazoo]

Not all pics here... many more... note stretcher mount (haven't actually used a stretcher in there yet). Sorry for the size... Would you want your family member transported in a Fire Rescue vehicle or and approved Ambulance to the hospital?

[Mark3743]

I would prefer an ambulance, but given your situation up there it is better than waiting for a taxicab! :shock:

[jeremy1322]

If they've got the equiptment and personell with the proper training to do it, then its fine by me.

[vs-eh?]

Wow, that is brutal man. I feel for ya, and all the medics in the 'peg. I am amazed they are able to keep medics working under conditions like that.

[Arff312]

ok that does not look like it is transport capable. My old dept that i was an explorer with b4 i joined the air force has a transport capable rescue. It actually has a gurney and all in it. But it is similar to the one shown. You can see a picture of it at :http://www.cgfire.org/media/rescue3pass.jpg.

Or

http://www.cgfire.org/rescue3.html

[THE_DITCH_DOCTOR]

Like was said before, it all depends on the circumstances. We've transported people in the cab of then engine at my former VFD because there was no ambulance available. So if push comes to shove, do what you need to do.

We all know your affiliation with a Canadian paramedic union or some such group, and that you're simply toeing the party line in regards to this issue, but I don't see it as a terribly big problem. Personally I'd have more problem if the firefighters were sitting around with their thumbs up various orifices waiting for an ambulance rather than getting resourceful.

Of course the issue that firefighters in Canada aren't EMS trained (at least from what I was told (correct me if I am wrong)), adds another side to the story, but remember that there are several police departments in the US that will throw shooting victims into radio cars and haul butt for the nearest ER (not so surprisingly with equal or sometimes better survival rates than for those patients transported by ambulance).

[STC MN Medic]

Spartan fire apparatus and Road Rescue now make a hybrid vehicle that has the front 1/2 of a fire engine and the back 1/2 is a box. they look pretty slick and i ahve always been happy with road rescue boxes...

btu what about the ER's garage?

[K9kazoo]

We all know your affiliation with a Canadian paramedic union or some such group, and that you're simply toeing the party line in regards to this issue, but I don't see it as a terribly big problem. Personally I'd have more problem if the firefighters were sitting around with their thumbs up various orifices waiting for an ambulance rather than getting resourceful.

No party or union lines here as you suggest... straight from the heart... I, nor my family would like to be transported in a Fire/Rescue vehicle to the hospital. The Province of Manitoba, and the City of Winnipeg need to address our city's rising call volume by adding Medic units. I as a citizen deserve the same treatment as any other citizen. I want that same treatment done by a full time Medic... someone who eats and breaths EMS everyday...

We increase in call volume by 8000-12,000 /year. Where does all that extra money go? At $275/Cdn a trip that's $$$. Other cites are doing less with more and not running the wheels off the Medic units or the feet of the Medics themselves. In the last two years we've seen huge increase in sick time usage, injuries, and long and short term disability claims... not to mention stress leave.

Moral is in the toilet, especially after a 12 hour night shift and roughly 10 - 12 calls later; return to the hall for shift change and see that the Engine has done 1 call in 14 hours, and the Rescue was booked off duty due to vacancy management. Maybe it's time to shift resources or (union hat off) layoff on the Fire side and rehire on the EMS side of operations?

[Guest]

No party or union lines here as you suggest... straight from the heart... I, nor my family would like to be transported in a Fire/Rescue vehicle to the hospital. The Province of Manitoba, and the City of Winnipeg need to address our city's rising call volume by adding Medic units. I as a citizen deserve the same treatment as any other citizen. I want that same treatment done by a full time Medic... someone who eats and breaths EMS everyday...

We increase in call volume by 8000-12,000 /year. Where does all that extra money go? At $275/Cdn a trip that's $$$. Other cites are doing less with more and not running the wheels off the Medic units or the feet of the Medics themselves. In the last two years we've seen huge increase in sick time usage, injuries, and long and short term disability claims... not to mention stress leave.

Moral is in the toilet, especially after a 12 hour night shift and roughly 10 - 12 calls later; return to the hall for shift change and see that the Engine has done 1 call in 14 hours, and the Rescue was booked off duty due to vacancy management. Maybe it's time to shift resources or (union hat off) layoff on the Fire side and rehire on the EMS side of operations?

Amen to that Brother. You have Edmonton EMS support.

[xlq771]

I'm a little confused about this apparatus. Is this truck capable of transporting a patient on a conventional wheeled ambulance cot, or is it designed to transport a patient on a folding stretcher, basket stretcher, etc? If the unit has a stretcher mount, it is designed to transport the patient in something.

While I wouldn't want to see the fire service transport a patient this way on a regular basis, the only way to decide if it was appropriate for them to transport in this situation would be if much more detail was provided as to what exactly happened, preferably from a source that is independent from either the fire service or paramedic union, as both are biased. Did the patient suddenly deteriorate to the point where waiting for EMS would endanger the patient more than transporting him/her? Was the scene unsafe? Was EMS response time too long? If EMS can't arrive for 20 minutes, and the fire service can have the patient at the hospital in 2, waiting is not in the patients best interest. Did the patient have only a minor injury that an EMR/Firefighter can handle, and the fire service decided that tying up a paramedic unit would be a waste or resources? Not enough information about what actually happened is provided in the press release by the paramedic union to make any kind of decision. All the press release seems to be for is for political purposes, to gain support for their cause.

Laying off firefighters, and hiring more paramedics is not the answer. Hiring more paramedics is the answer. To suggest laying off members of one service to increase the staffing of another is unprofessional. EMS is a young service, compared to police or fire services. Such suggestions make paramedics look childish in the eyes of the public. Paramedics are supposed to be on the same side as the fire service. Both are supposed to be looking out for the patients best interest when handling medical calls, not union, or job security, or funding, or other issues. Paramedics should also remember that it just might be them that requires the services of the fire department. Cutting those services so more paramedics can be hired might just come back and haunt them, should they have a house fire, and trucks take longer to respond because a closer firehall was closed to hire more paramedics.