Does It Get Any Dumber Than This

[hatelilpeepees]

http://www.ems1.com/communications-dispatch/articles/1176018-After-childs-death-family-questions-Houston-ambulance-response/

[Just Plain Ruff]

Wait a second, so the protocol is that you send a fire truck to the scene to assess whether an ambulance is needed?

Is that what I read?

So what had to happen is after the lady said she ran over her daughter (how the hell did that happen - whole different thread), she calls 911, the dispatcher dispatches a fire truck first to assess the situation and then they call the ambulance?

Sounds pretty F'd up.

now if this truly is what happens in Houston now, and we are only getting the newspapers side, and of course news agencies are never biased or they always print the truth, but this seems to be a horrible process. Sounds like the a new SSM system to me.

child run over by a car, let's just send a pumper and let them decide if the child is in need of an ambulance. But in the cities defense, the ambulance did arrive in less than 9 minutes which is a pretty damn good response time even for this type of system process.

Where I used to work, response times out of the city were routinely 10-20 minutes to get there. If the furthest area of the county we went to were upwards of 30 minutes.

[Kiwiology]

Houston Fire are the world's worst EMS system hands down

They used to send their Firefighters to HCC Paramedic school but it was "too hard" so now they send every Firefighter up to some horrendously fucked up patch factory for a total of 12, yes twelve, weeks of instruction followed by a few hundred hours of skills "internship" and viola, they get their red patch

Makes my eyes bleed seriously

http://www.firehouse68.com/page2503419.html

Edited November 4, 2011 by kiwimedic

[Just Plain Ruff]

But didn't Paul Pepe tout Houston's EMS system as one of the greatest at one time? I think he was instrumental in their profound out of hospital code save record. Or am I thinking of someone else?

I actually met Dr. Pepe one day at a conference, he appeared to be a pretty good guy.

[nypamedic43]

It seems that the city needs to rethink this new system they implemented. How can a dispatcher, who cannot see the patient and can only hear the mothers cries for an ambulance, properly "triage" an ambulance? At the very least should have dispatched both apparatus at the same time.

I cant speak to the quality of Houston EMS and I cannot fault the ambulance for their response time, or the dispatcher who dispatched the call. It sounds like hands were tied behind the console by the cities changes. Is it a shame? Yes! And a tragedy! Can they learn something from it? Absolutely! Will changes be made? I sure hope so...for everyone's sake.

[Just Plain Ruff]

And are we sure that an ambulance wasn't dispatched at the same time as the fire truck. less than 9 minute response time is pretty good and they must have been relatively close to the scene. Maybe the ambulance came from the fire station the pumper came from.

Again, until the investigation is complete these are all speculation.

[Kiwiology]

But didn't Paul Pepe tout Houston's EMS system as one of the greatest at one time? I think he was instrumental in their profound out of hospital code save record. Or am I thinking of someone else?

Yes, and it was, in about 1991. Unfortunately times have changed and the old "not enough Firefighters want to be Paramedics so now we are going to make everybody be a Paramedic and that means minimum education is required coz we're sorta forcing it on them" thing y'know

And WTF? A ladder truck is a massive, gargantoun piece of equipment that weighs many thousand of pounds and is designed for getting people down from high places, remind us why they are being sent to medical calls?

[Just Plain Ruff]

because you have to have a utilization of all equipment and since those guys are just sitting around waiting for the need of a ladder why not send em on a medical call. Seems like the absolute best way to utilize your resources.

[Richard B the EMT]

Even when I started, in 1973, the concept of sending either the LEOs or FD to determine the actual need of the EMS was an assinine excremental antiquated idea. Send both, perhaps, but sending one to determine the need of the other? Heads in the city hall should roll!

[JakeEMTP]

Quote from the ems1.com article, therefore the credit goes to them.

"The new system is designed to triage ambulance calls by dispatching the closest fire engines, ladder trucks and other Houston Fire Department vehicles to "non-life threatening" EMS calls. If an ambulance is needed, one is then dispatched."

I'm wondering what part of a 4 y/o hit by a car wouldn't automatically require a ambulance response based on MOI alone.

Another place to put on the "Do Not Travel to" list.

The answer is simple, but will never, ever happen. Replace the 750,000 dollar fire apparatus with 5 ambulances and the system won't be so stressed.