Medic 99 to be decommissioned

It should be obvious by now that I'm one of those rare Firefighter Paramedics that doesn't mind working a transport unit.
That's how I started, so that was my norm.

When I finished college I went looking for a Department that still did their own transporting. I wanted to keep that aspect of what we do fresh in my mind since continuity of care is an important thing in my book.
I found a Department in the midst of a change from 2 tier to single tier and it was exciting. I was brought in just near the end of a brutal confrontation between the "Box Jockeys" and the "Hose Monkeys." Everything was settling down when the powers that be decided to shake things up.

The details have been omitted to protect my sort of secret identity, but they went back to a 2 tier system but kept a few 24 hour cars simply to keep some Engines BLS. Seems retarded, I know, and it was.

Now the bean counters figured out those 4 dual Paramedic transport units were costing them way more than a 12 hour car staffed by a Paramedic and EMT.

So now the official word is that my second home in the Fire Department, Medic "99" will be decommissioned by July. That means 100% of my days will be spent on a Fire Engine. Great, I guess.

Remember, I'm not all that bothered by an ambulance day here and there. The way dispatch is so screwy (The lawyers calling the shots anyway) we were running BS calls all night and it ruined my sleep schedule, but there was still that part of me that liked getting Erma all the way to the ER and making sure the staff knew what I wanted to emphasize about her.

Will I leave? Certainly not. I'm not going to chase my misery around, but I am a little bummed thinking about not having that extra chance to do right by my customers who need me. Those would be most of the people I meet yet you never hear about. That's a whole different kind of blog.

So in the end I guess I'm OK with it.

More to follow.

the Happy Medic (Soon to be your Happ E. Medic, E for Engine.)