Words are not sufficient to describe this FAIL!

[chaser]

They are quite capable individuals in many ways. These people are not hobbyist. They are simply citizens helping their community...

My friend's daughter is excellent at talking on the phone and texting, do you think with one night's training she could step in and be a volunteer dispatcher at no compromise or danger to anyone?

...Just because they have some other full time job does not make them less of an EMT, ECA, or Paramedic for that matter...

It doesn't? I would say the fact this is not their career and they have not gone through the education, training, and experience to be Medics or EMT's would make them "less of an EMT, ECA, or Paramedic".

Do your homework before...

Good advice. Why don't you do that and then see if you feel the same way about this.

[Happiness]

Here we go again. I started out as a volly and now Im paid 2 bucks an hr pager pay and then when I get my call I get paid for 4 hrs. I think there are alot of people who start their career as a volly and decide to carry on and get the education that is neede.

I do agree with not having the driver only idea. We have a few here and I have to say that yes I appreciate that they are driving for me but when it comes down to the brass facts I want someone that I DONT have to ask for every dam little thing I need. I want someone who can see that I need something and have it there or get it ready for me. Truely when a driver say's to the attendent "Thats not my job" there is something wrong with that system.

Like I said I have nothing against volleys but driver onlys is not a good idea. I have a hard enough time thinking for myself little own for two.

[joesph]

It's a bad idea because a CPR card does not make you "qualified" to drive an ambulance. I don't care if they're vollies or paid $100k a year. The driver is more liable to kill someone than any medic is, so s/he needs to be a professional, not a hobbyist who's in it for the lulz.

Not to mention that the State of Texas will probably shut this idea down quite quickly when they get wind of it. Chances of them allowing a variance for a non-certified driver in a town that is quite capable of providing certified people are slim to none.

The point of a driver being a bad idea is only appropriate if that person is not trained to drive a emergency response vehicle. If the idea of having only one EMT in the back is the goal of this agencey then that is wrong. But to put a qualified and trained person solely responsible for safe driving will two EMT's work in the back i can see no problem with it. If they need to utilize volunteers to accomplish there mission, well then let me see I know ' Get Over IT.

[maverick56]

Now, back to the OP... this is exactly the risky situation that this service is heading for. It appears that they would rather have a warm body, that is unskilled and uneducated, than nobody. There are times, when it is better to have nobody. At least then your community is not under the mistaken impression that they will get quality care when they call 911.

Exactly!

[CBEMT]

I'm surprised that Texas allows ECAs to transport patients. My understanding is they're essentially First Responder level. I can't support that.

I will say, however, that I'm FAR more comfortable in the back of the truck with a retired CDL driver with 30+ years in the seat but no EMT license, like we have, driving me to the hospital versus to an 18 year old EMT with less than 2 years experience driving mommy's SUV back and forth to school.

Neither one of them can do very much to help me once the wheels start turning anyway, so what's the difference? The difference is, I'm much more likely to not get dead with the experienced driver. As Dust always tells us, it's when the vehicle is in motion that we're getting killed- and killing patients.

[FireMedic65]

It's not hard to drive an ambulance, not hard at all. Being an EMT doesn't make you a better driver. Being a medic doesn't make you a better driver.

I just think you people need to find something more interesting to bitch about.

Edited May 15, 2010 by FireMedic65

[capfiremedic]

It's not hard to drive an ambulance, not hard at all. Being an EMT doesn't make you a better driver. Being a medic doesn't make you a better driver.

I just think you people need to find something more interesting to bitch about.

Hallelujah!!!!

[emtannie]

It's not hard to drive an ambulance, not hard at all. Being an EMT doesn't make you a better driver. Being a medic doesn't make you a better driver.

I just think you people need to find something more interesting to bitch about.

I think you are missing the point on this thread. This thread isn't about being a better driver... it is that a service is getting volunteer drivers with no EMS training rather than staffing units with more educated providers. When many of us are working hard to not only educate new providers to be qualified and more than competent, and are also working to educate the public that we can do more than just drive, departments that staff like the one in the original post are doing nothing to advance the profession. Yes I realize you had commented that having a driver with 2 providers is a good idea, but I truly suspect that isn't the case with this service.

So, instead of posting "you people need to find something more interesting to bitch about" maybe you could research this service a little more for those of us who are "just bitching" and provide us with confirmation that they are actually running 3 to a car. And, maybe you could explain to us how this service is improving care and improving EMS with this move.

If you don't like the thread, or don't like the posting, you can ignore the thread, or you can provide valid arguments against the other posts, other than "you people need to find something more interesting to bitch about."

Edited to add: I can hardly wait to see the negatives I get on this post.....

Edited May 15, 2010 by emtannie

[DwayneEMTP]

...you can ignore the thread, or you can provide valid arguments against the other posts...

Have you ever seen him do either? His ability to contribute ends with idiotic quips and self-righteous bitching.

No worries girl. Those that have no education believe that the the rest of us should simply allow the uneducated to flow into our field as they see EMS as a club and not a profession...I can't find way to discuss these things intelligently with the ignorant.

Send firemedic and capfiremedic a Tshirt with a fireman carrying a baby from a burning building, or an angel crying over a helmet, and they'll go away happy.

Dwayne

[Dustdevil]

They are quite capable individuals in many ways.

There's only one "way" that counts, and that's driving. They are getting no training on that.

These people are not hobbyist. They are simply citizens helping their community, a term apparently vacant from the vocabulary of many on this network site.

Yeah, and people who buy alcohol for an alcoholic are "helping their fellow man" too, right? Enabling a person or community to continue upon their destructive path is not "helping" them. In fact, it is the direct opposite of help.

Do your homework before you go bashing on other EMS agencies ways of working.

Right... because in thirty-six years of working in Texas EMS, I'm sure there are lots of "ways of working" that I have yet to encounter. It sounds like you are the one with an extremely limited frame of professional reference, if you honestly have never seen a community that size provide professional EMS. I have. But really, I don't care what kind of service they provide. I don't care how many people are killed or otherwise die due to their negligence. You get what you pay for, and they ain't payin' shyte.

This particular service can not afford to staff that many paid providers, not to mention they have 2 medics, 2 WHOLE MEDICS!!!

Yes, they can afford it. They simply don't want to. And the reason they have a whole 2 medics (actually, only 1 according to the articles) is because they don't want to pay for them. Imagine that. Cause and effect. What a concept.

These are not stupid or lazy people.

Nobody said they were. It seems that you are the only one implying that they are. But the really stupid people are the politicians that lack the common sense and community commitment to do the right thing for their citizens.

By the way, the State of Texas is perfectly aware of systems that work in this fashion.

It is illegal for a system to "work in this fashion" without a written waiver from the State. They don't provide too many of those waivers. I'd be pretty surprised that they would do so for a community in a county that has a hospital-based ALS service. But yeah, they've done stupider things.

Because they have sense enough to realize that not every area will be needy of fully staffed and paid services. Nor could they afford it if they wanted to. There is far too much terrain to cover.

Too much terrain for 2500 people? Nope. Think again. I don't know what your medical education was comprised of, but it obviously did not include any concepts of system management, or you'd know just how clueless you sound right now, and why everyone is arguing with you.

If your county is underpopluated, you simply can not afford paid services to the extent of what some people on here are suggesting.

Bullshit. They can afford school teachers, and bus drivers, and janitors, and guys to mow the parks, and guys to change the oil in the city vehicles, and police dispatchers, and city attorneys, and a city and county judge, and all the other non-glamourous jobs that people won't volunteer for. They can afford EMS.