How Bad Do You Want to Volunteer?

[It's Dora!]

Wow, I mean I know when i'm not down in the City working, I like to help my Volly house out...but really? I don't think I would ever (not that I have them) leave my kids at home! That's what Mutual Aide is for. I'm sure there are others responding / already running on this call, yea extra hands help on certain calls, but to a point......you just get in the way. So you might miss some cut time with the tools...oh big deal...lol they're plenty of idiots in this world to give you another chance...wow --- F-A-I-L

[Chief1C]

I wonder if they run a "clown car crew"? We've all seen that. I have 12 years mixed service under my belt. We're in the process of taking a volunteer service, sixty years of EMS based EMS, and turning it into a paid service. One of the biggest factors in gaining support for this decision, is that we only run two man crews. Granted, we have less than ten personnel, and a pretty good call volume for the population and area covered. But the only reason I can see to have more than two people on an ambulance, is a cop - for a dangerous patient; or someone to switch hit on a cardiac arrest. The most active people are 1. self employed, 2. single, 3. childless. Nights, the people with kids and spouses run; days, the other folks run. It works perfectly fine, about 98.8% of the time. Never miss a call, once we had to use an EMT from another service for CPR. That accounts for the 9-1-1 response percentage of our calls. We also do Technical Rescue, but that takes a full team, and the ambulance comes for "rescuer safety". So, I didn't calculate them into my percentage of purposeful low staffing.

[Medic2588]

I had a volunteer squad chief who used to bring her kid to the scene with her. She'd leave the kid in the car and check on what the crew was doing inside the house or the wreck. I never understood that, especially when she showed up for an accident with ejection with her 7 year old in the back.

[NYCEMS9115]

That's so stupid.....

http://m.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/carjack_kid_cool_nlfBlKUrd3py0RxQM8GXwL

[usmc_chris]

I wonder if they run a "clown car crew"? We've all seen that. I have 12 years mixed service under my belt. We're in the process of taking a volunteer service, sixty years of EMS based EMS, and turning it into a paid service. One of the biggest factors in gaining support for this decision, is that we only run two man crews. Granted, we have less than ten personnel, and a pretty good call volume for the population and area covered. But the only reason I can see to have more than two people on an ambulance, is a cop - for a dangerous patient; or someone to switch hit on a cardiac arrest. The most active people are 1. self employed, 2. single, 3. childless. Nights, the people with kids and spouses run; days, the other folks run. It works perfectly fine, about 98.8% of the time. Never miss a call, once we had to use an EMT from another service for CPR. That accounts for the 9-1-1 response percentage of our calls. We also do Technical Rescue, but that takes a full team, and the ambulance comes for "rescuer safety". So, I didn't calculate them into my percentage of purposeful low staffing.

They run with whoever shows up, on a scramble system. They may or may not "assign" crews to respond at night. There was also a full ALS/BLS ambulance responding from another agency as this agency is BLS only...

[HellsBells]

I don't find it particularly productive to speculate on punishment for this guy But it is absolutely necessary that he be dropped from his position for displaying a gross failure in judgement. He simply cannot be trusted anymore.

More importantly, his agency needs to assure that there is written policy against this kind of thing. If there isn't, the director also needs to be fired

I completely agree, this gentleman should never be allowed to work for this agency again, such a lapse in judgement makes him an enourmous liability to the entire service and community it serves.

I disagree that the director needs to be fired if there is no policy against this particular action. Personally, If I ran this service, I'd have never written a policy against leaving very young children at home anymore than I'd have written a policy against driving with ones eyes closed. One would expect it to be a given.

However, now that this character has proven once again that common sense isnt all that common, I'd be sure to write a policy regarding this, and equally importantly, a policy forbidding children, or any other non-approved passengers from riding along on 911 calls.

[Don1977]

Volunteering is okay...but then they take advantage of you...