California Fire Station Receives Pet Oxygen Masks

[DwayneEMTP]

But is the once or twice in a lifetime saving of that dog, or another, justify the stocking of pet stuff and the hastles that that will cause? I'm going with no, but you, without intending to maybe, certainly swayed me off of my argument more than I'd thought possible...I'll have to think down that line...

And, I mean, even if it is? We all know that that isn't why Fire is doing it...I'd be willing to bet that once that newspaper article ran that within two weeks there won't be three guys there that have any idea where all of that crap went to..

[DFIB]

But is the once or twice in a lifetime saving of that dog, or another, justify the stocking of pet stuff and the hastles that that will cause? I'm going with no, but you, without intending to maybe, certainly swayed me off of my argument more than I'd thought possible...I'll have to think down that line...

Actually I was agreeing with your argument that even if animals have value, there is no reason to stock the gear to save them. I guess I was saying that an afterthought turned out well. That is not our job. In the other post the kid would have been fine without the dog. No need to leave the argument because they are two separate issues.

Saving the dog was a tremendous hassle. So, we are at the hospital with a broke leg dog in the ambulance. We all look at each other with a "what do we do now?" look.

I took it to the station and when my shift was over, took it to a vet friend that set the leg for free (I still owe him one). I didn't even take the dog back to the little girl. A policeman did. I might do it again but then again I might not.

I think what you are getting at is that what FF do for publicity borders on dishonest if not outright. If I take my picture with a doggy non rebreather I would publicly be implying that I intend to designate training and resources to saving animals. There are only two logical conclusions, they will honor their implication and it will spread into a standard operating procedure or they have no intention of doing anything with the equipment and it was just a good photo op. If I designate resources to saving dogs, I am misusing taxpayer money because that is not my job, If I do nothing I misrepresented my intentions in a photo-op.

It is the same as that dude that took the ladder truck to propose to his chick. Misuse of taxpayer money. But it is magically OK because that got the news to cover it. It's OK because they are firemen and would just be sitting around anyway. It is OK because it makes them look cute. It is OK because good publicity makes money. Really? All bogus arguments but somehow generally accepted. I don't intend a hijack here but I see what you are getting at.

I also understand your point of the danger of doing things like taking pictures with doggy mask gives the public a false expectation that has in the past, and could again become a ridiculous reality.

No more rambling for now ...

Edited September 26, 2012 by DFIB

[DwayneEMTP]

Exactly!!

If only I could make my own points so well...

Thanks Brother...

[triemal04]

Dwayne calm yourself. You are being just a tiny bit paranoid right now, and misinterpreting what is happening. This isn't a fire department trying to become a field veterinary medical provider (though that would probably actually pay more and bring in more money than normal EMS ) this is a fire department doing the same thing that many, and I do mean MANY have been doing, and are doing, for years, probably decades. It's nothing new; from having animal specific equipment for those very rare situations to being written up in a local paper when it get's used; nothing new. Calm down. If there was going to be any changes because of this, it would have happened long ago. All it is, is a nice publicity bump for this department, and whatever department get's seen actually doing something for fido and fifi after a fire.

Is it being dishonest to the public? Not really. All they've said is that they can now provide oxygen, the physical part of which require very little training. So are they properly trained? Probably. Have they (or any other department that does things like this, and once again let me remind you of how many are out there) tried to pass themselves off as some kind of animal rescue tech? Nope. That's not what this is about.

What this is about is a feel-good-puff-piece story. That's all articles like this ever are; either a very slow news day, or a very local paper. But would a fire department with a shred of sense take advantage of that? Fuck yeah. And if an EMS agency was in this same situation and was really interested in elevating the public's perception of them instead of taking the easy road and crying about the big bad nasty firemen they'd do the same.

Really, to think that it's the start of something else is just plain silly. And paranoid.

[Just Plain Ruff]

But when the big ole fire guys save my son's dog Ace Bender Ruff (yes that's his name), I'm gonna remember them in my will.

If the ambulance guys save my daughters dog Abigail Von Buren Ruff I'll remember them in my will as well.

So they both will win, it doesn't matter that they both are taxpayer supported departments and they both run out of the same station and are named the same "South Metropolitan Fire and Rescue"

The Publicity that they will gain more than makes up for the sacrifice that they will give by getting their pictures in the paper. I do believe that maybe one or two of their members might (and I'm in full congecture mode here) be members of the witness protection program or they may be aliens who are living among us.

I'm not sure which it is right now. My paranoia is getting the better of me right now. I think I need to take my medicine.

[island emt]

Let's take this down a slightly different path for a minute:

We complain because the fire departments get better publicity.

We know that we can't be "heros" in the public eye, because we can't really talk about what we do outside of the vaguest terms. Why? because of privacy laws and issues we can't discuss what we provide to our customers.

The fire service learned long ago to get the media involved in covering their calls and what's more newsworthy than a fully involved building with flames reaching hundreds of feet into the night sky??

Try to get your local TV reporter to show up the next time you go & help grandma up off the floor or assist someone in a diabetic emergency. OH wait we can't. Thats why they get all the press.

There is a department in our state who always submits footage from car crashes and many other interesting everyday rescue calls. They come off as self serving glory hounds and it's always the same person who's mugging for the cameras. He's trying to promote their service in the public eye, as being just as much "heros" as the firefighters.

In my opinion we should do our jobs and leave the Hero worshipping to the fire departments.

Getting good press for us is a thank you letter from a family who lives you touched upon by providing the best care possible , even in a difficult situation.

[DwayneEMTP]

The problems with that Island, as I see it anyway, is that where EMS is concerned there is truly a tax base "Pie", and while we accept our 'thank you' letters, the fire depts accept the tax dollars that EMS needs to grow, improve, and cover properly and uses them to buy another giant truck that they rarely (Again, nationally speaking) use except to go and watch the privates do medical calls...

Know what I mean? I'm not pretending that there's an answer. Fire has been pretending to be heroic for...well...a really long time now. Most of the rest of us have decided to try and be more realistic, but the fantasy is getting paid while the reality is still plugging along broke...So it's not really working..Right?

[triemal04]

The issue isn't so much trying to make the public percieve non-fire EMS as hero's, but that the public should know that it is out there and is a viable, competant alternative to fire departments that can offer some advantages over a fire-based system. But without being willing to embrace publicity, seek it out (in an appropriate way; some jackass sending in clips of every car accident is counterproductive), forge contacts with the media and learn how to use it to an advantage this get's harder and harder to do. Fire departments are a long established entity; EMS as a whole has moved beyond being able to use our newness as an exscuse, but non-fire agencies have done a piss-poor job of letting the public know what they're about and that they are out there. And let's face it; a burning building is sexy. Makes for a great 45 second clip on the news. Unless EMS actively seeks out the media in a smart way...gonna lose every time and in every way.

And the people that should be blamed are looking back from your mirror. This thread is a prime example. (not pointing any fingers or anything, but it really is)

The original article is a nothing piece. That's pretty clear. Reading it my first reaction was embarrassment, bemusement and a bit of disgust for the paper. Other people's were seemingly anger towards the fire department. Why? The reaction should have been "damn! that's the kind of publicity WE need. Those things might never get used, but when the time to raise the tax rate/levy/go for a bond comes around, some people are going to remember this article and think a lot better about that department. Or if we step on our dicks in a public way, this'll still help offset some of the damage because people will be looking more favorably on us. Or if we ever are facing an unwanted merger, etc etc etc"

HIPAA and patient privacy are not the big bad monsters everyone thinks they are; there is still plenty of information that can be distributed or training that could be filmed and/or spun that would put EMS in a very favorable light. People just don't do it. Call it taking the high road, expecting the media to come to them (aka being stupid), having faith in the public's overall intelligence (hah!) or sticking your head in the sand, the result is the same: Fire=1, EMS=none.