Paid vs Volley or Volley vs Patient?

[ERDoc]

This is a blog that is lighting up the interwebz where I was an EMT. Feel free to discuss.

http://resqrev.blogspot.com/2013/06/volunteers-vs-patients.html?m=1

[mikeymedic1984]

Unfortunately, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Until the citizenry is upset and willing to pay for quality, you will be stuck where you are. I would caution you about airing to much of your dirty laundry publicly though, as you may wake-up in an AMR or RM uniform one morning (which may be better than what you have, but I doubt it is what you are seeking). The bad news is that sooner or later, your system will kill a kid or someone important, and if it is a slow newsday you will be provided a forum to discuss the needed changes.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Just remember.... 3-6 minutes goes by pretty fast

That's about as long as it took to read the article and a excellent blog post it was. I'm glad I don't live in Suffolk County NY. That's just scary.

[Chief1C]

Depends. Sometimes you don't get what you pay for.. Maybe it's just a regional thing, I get paid for my position. But I've met some sincerely stupid medics and EMT's lately. Just dumbfounded me by their ignorance. So much so, that I nearly quit b/c there was nothing to do but fire them. All of them.

I don't pay people to sit and watch, I pay people to treat patients.

[Richard B the EMT]

The Volunteer EMT or Paramedic:

I do this out of a sense of duty to the community, giving back to the community.

The Paid EMT or Paramedic:

Those folks who do my line of work for free are taking food off my family's table

.

Both:

I've worked with some real screw-ups, and seen the other guys working with screw-ups that I cannot imagine how they got certified as EMTs and Paramedics.

There is still a sense of accomplishment with what I do, a sense of loss when all I do isn't enough.

[ERDoc]

Rich, I don't think anyone is faulting either sides reason for doing it (both have their buffs/whackers/ricky rescues). The question is can a huge volley system such as Suffolk's consistently and efficiently provide the proper care. When I was a volley there we had 7 minutes to get an ambulance on the road before they banged us out again. We then had another 5 minutes until the call was given to another department. We are already talking 12 minutes and there is no guarantee that there is an ambulance on the road at that point. We used to have an area north of where I was where the EMS service was provided by FDs and we called them the triangle of death. Each dept was given their 12 minutes to get on the road before we were finally called. You are now 36 minutes into the call with no ambulance. We were so far away that it would take us 15-20 minutes with lights and sirens to get to the scene. You are talking a minimum of 56 minutes. And these would be sick pts. This scenario played out several times on cardiac arrests. We'd get there finally and PD would be out of oxygen and it would just be the PO and a family member, who were both exhausted. It was pathetic really. You better believe, 10 minutes later when a structure fire got banged out everyone and their mother showed up from the FDs.

[Just Plain Ruff]

You better believe, 10 minutes later when a structure fire got banged out everyone and their mother showed up from the FDs

That may just be the most important quote of this entire thread, it shows the priority that EMS has versus the priority that fire calls have.

Edited June 22, 2013 by Captain ToHellWithItAll

[Richard B the EMT]

I am sure that many of us have read in EMS magazines, other EMS websites, and here in EMT City, of a multi-agency dispatcher calling an EMS unit, telling them to stand by, then giving out a few LEO and/or FD calls, before giving over the EMS assignment. Even after some 43 years of even the title "Emergency Medical Services", we're the Rodney Dangerfields of emergency services

We don't get no respect!

Perhaps the first Law Enforcement in the US was the New Amsterdam "Rattle Watch", sounding the alarm if something was seen to be emergently wrong, primarily something on fire. This was prior to the British Invasion, and the town being renamed New York.

Doctor Benjamin Franklin reportedly formed the first real Fire Brigade in Philadelphia, before the War for Independence.

It took until around the late 1960s for the study as to why war wounded US Military members in Viet Nam had a better survival rate than people hit by cars in Chicago (per the way I was told. No offence to Chicagoans intended), to cause changes that became the real beginning of EMS, and what it's evolved into today, and hopefully is continuing to evolve.

Unfortunately, before 1970, many viewed working the ambulance as a punishment, not a professional undertaking, either on the paid or volunteer side. Some longtimers still expound that view, and are causing newcomers to see things that way, too.

I use as example, during the administration of NYC Mayor Edward Koch, during contract negotiations, we in the NYC (Health and Hospitals Corporation) EMS invited the Mayor to combined graduation classes of newly minted EMTs, EMTs passing EMS orientation into the service, EMTs becoming Paramedics, and EMTs and Paramedics becoming Lieutenants. To all the proud EMS graduates, and their families, Hizzoner said, "I'd like to congratulate all of you on your first steps to becoming Police and Fire Officers".

Immediately after the ceremony, when approached by union representatives, asked about pay parity with NYPD and FDNY, Mayor Crotch (...excuse me, I'm still angry), Mayor Koch told them, "Not under my administration!"

The next day, Koch was reported, in the news media, regarding the "First Steps" comment, as saying "I don't understand what these AMBULANCE DRIVERS are so upset about" (emphasis is mine).

Some EMS folks took to covering their EMT or Paramedic patches with tape, on which was written "Ambulance Driver", and a demonstration was held a week later at City Hall. We were told to wear our work uniforms without badges or name tags, and wear surgical masks and gloves to signify potential health dangers of the job (also to conceal our identities against retaliation from the top brass). My picture made the Staten Island Advance (nope, not page 1), and several Spanish speaking members told the news crews from the Spanish Language TV and Radio stations what the real deal was.

The city's retaliation was to declare the demonstration an illegal "Job Action", and ordered us back to work. It kind of backfired, when 1) EMS fired several members who were out due to legitimate Line Of Duty Injuries, some still in casts, and 2) The New York Post reported one of the telegrams ordering us back to work was delivered to the roommate of Lieutenant Kirby McElhearn. The Lieutenant had died 9 months prior.

[BushyFromOz]

I still cant get it out of my head that some people realy believe that of you recieve a paychek your somehow less dedicated than someone who does it for free.

[Richard B the EMT]

As I know I've mentioned, in many of the strings here in the city, I've seen heavily dedicated personnel, and slackers, from both the paid "professionals", and unpaid "vollies" sectors.