I almost missed this thanks to the football game tonight, but was able to get it online. the previews for this story were completely different than the story they tell in the video.
I think this is a foot in the door to address the abuses of the 911 system and possibly reach out to our communities about what an emergency is.
I think the most interesting part of this video was the dispatch in the beginning sending 2 engines and an ambulance to a trouble breathing call. 2 engines...10 people...1 patient...
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I think this is a foot in the door to address the abuses of the 911 system and possibly reach out to our communities about what an emergency is.
I think the most interesting part of this video was the dispatch in the beginning sending 2 engines and an ambulance to a trouble breathing call. 2 engines...10 people...1 patient...
Comments
Don't tease me like that.
:)
EMS needs to get in a preventative role in health care. The fire service has already shown that prevention & education works. Look at the statistics for structure fires. Thanks to many hard working fire mashals the number has decreased over the last century.
EMS needs to adopt a similar role in preventitive medicine. Doctors no longer make house calls, but we, as paramedics, still do and we can make a difference.
Call me crazy, but I think DCFD ought to get a better grip on their day-to-day operations before they start striking out into a world of primary care that none of their people are properly educated for.
(For those that don't know, the NBC story is a very, very poor attempt to cover this story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/us/04firehouse.html?_r=2 .)
The article mentioned above I think is in the same vein, but the video has less firemen complaining.
EMSless FD? Could work, but a lot of FFs are going to lose a job. Including me.
However, the question of the appropriate place to place the administration of EMS is a very good question. According to some of our city council people 80% of EMS systems are under the supervison of the fire department. To this audience: does that sound right?
As an ER RN and former EMT, I want my ambulance service to be well run, whoever runs it.
By the way, good on DC to try and intervene with those frequent fliers. We'll need to watch that and see if it works.
I put the names of the apparatus in quotes cause I have noticed some regional differences in terminology. Even after 20 years in KCMO, I still slip and refer to "engine" when I mean "pumper"!