Scenario 3-
A letter has arrived on your desk from the neighboring fire and ems service. In it their Chief is angry that one of your ambulances was delayed in responding to their jurisdiction and demands they be reprimanded for purposely taking too long to respond. The Chief has included a letter of complaint from the citizen in question stating that the ambulance crew was rude and "took forever" to respond.
Pulling the dispatch information you see that the unit arrived in 8:40, below your agency's target and was staffed by two personnel whom you trust and are very familiar with.
Please respond to the Chief of the neighboring agency with your plan of action.
A letter has arrived on your desk from the neighboring fire and ems service. In it their Chief is angry that one of your ambulances was delayed in responding to their jurisdiction and demands they be reprimanded for purposely taking too long to respond. The Chief has included a letter of complaint from the citizen in question stating that the ambulance crew was rude and "took forever" to respond.
Pulling the dispatch information you see that the unit arrived in 8:40, below your agency's target and was staffed by two personnel whom you trust and are very familiar with.
Please respond to the Chief of the neighboring agency with your plan of action.
Comments
After checking our dispatch records my unit arrived under the allotted time that you and I have set forth in the mutual aid agreement, I will speak with the crew when there in next and we will talk about attitudes and comments that may have been made on scene.
After checking our dispatch records my unit arrived under the allotted time that you and I have set forth in the mutual aid agreement, I will speak with the crew when there in next and we will talk about attitudes and comments that may have been made on scene.
My belief is that we are targetted with responding in 10:00. We actually arrived in 8:40, this having 1:20 to spare. Are you certain that we were being timed from when you asked for us, rather than when you first thought you may need us? Delays in calling us are frequently found when the caller panics.
I have talked at length with our crew. When they arrived on scene, they were met with some ribald comments from your staff - as is common between different branches of the emergency services. Our crew tell me they responded in kind; there is considerable rivalry but much cameraderie between our services.
The citizen in question may have taken this collegiate banter as argument which, if genuine, would be abominable. This is regrettable. However, I feel that you must realise with hindsight that nothing more happened than would be expected when our crews meet. Indeed, we have a more sophisticated version of the same banter when we meet at officer level, and in our younger days (though yours are further away than mine from the tone of your mail) we would probably have done the same. Keeping a sense of humour stops our personnel from having psychological issues. Did you miss out on that?
In summation, I feel that our crew behaved in the best traditions of our service.
I have the honour to remain your most humble and obedient servant (etc)
ALTERNATIVE VERSION
'K OFF and lighten up.
After checking our dispatch records my unit arrived under the allotted time that you and I have set forth in the mutual aid agreement, I will speak with the crew when there in next and we will talk about attitudes and comments that may have been made on scene.
do an investigation, the respond to the chief' letter with the outcome..
do an investigation, the respond to the chief' letter with the outcome..
All complaints are taken very seriously by my department; I fear there have been some misunderstandings in this case.
We actually arrived on scene in 8:40 that is under the 10:00 minutes that is in the contract with your department. When you are on scene it seem like it takes forever for the unit to arrive. The call that we received from your dispatch center takes about 1 minute to process. There is 1 minute already gone. Then from EMS dispatch to the unit there is another minute gone. There is 2 minutes that the crew is already behind on the call. I feel that this call was done in reasonable time.
I have talked with the crew that responded to the call. They stated "that member of the fire department was question the response time in front of the patient". How would the patient know that it took the EMS unit a long time, except the fire department questioning the crew?
I made a trip to the patient house to talk to the patient. The patient stated "That the crew was not rude to me but, they were upset with the fire department.
I take it very seriously when my crew questions another department in front of the patient. This is ethical and unprofessional of your department.
Chief
City Administrator
City Mayor
Lots of info on here to read about. Thanks for sharing this.
"[Insert text here]....and the horse you rode in on."
Sincerely,
Captain Candidate #1
1. mutual aid is by its very nature a response that takes longer than usual.
2. my trusted crew members would only be rude to rude people.
therefore, my plan of action is to forget you ever wrote me.
sincerely,
happy medic
My usual charming application of sarcasm is not likely to resolve this in any way that is satisfactory for the patients of either service. I would not write to Chief Tantrum. I would not mention sun dials, even if were an accurate comment. I would gather all relevant paperwork (policies, contracts, charts, history of mutual aid responses by both of our agencies), talk to the crew, and pick up the phone to call up the chief and ask when is a good time for a meeting on this situation.
Exchanging notes/letters/emails/Tweets/etc. is not conducive to good communication. I would much rather go talk to someone in person so that I can observe the way the chief describes what is bothering him. What comes across on paper as the primary problem may be something that seems minor in person.
If the chief wants to handle this over the phone, I would state that I consider it too important to handle over the phone, but if he does not consider it important, I am willing to forget that it ever happened.
Few interagency conflicts are single incident conflicts. More often there is a long history of resentment over somethings that may be years, or decades, old. Going to visit the chief on his territory, where he feels comfortable bringing up every last quibble is more likely to be productive, than anything else.
If that does not work, there may be someone else the chief is more likely to listen to. Rumor has it that not everybody falls madly in love with me, but I don't believe it.
If nothing works, after more than one attempt at resolving this, I still have the opportunity to suggest that the brand of sundial they use is not the most reliable. I might also suggest creative and graphic ways the chief, or his mother, might make this up to my crew. These suggestions can be much more enjoyable in person. They should not be the preferred form of interagency communication, but sometimes it is what is needed to point out how childish things have become.
All complaints are taken very seriously by my department; I fear there have been some misunderstandings in this case.
We actually arrived on scene in 8:40 that is under the 10:00 minutes that is in the contract with your department. When you are on scene it seem like it takes forever for the unit to arrive. The call that we received from your dispatch center takes about 1 minute to process. There is 1 minute already gone. Then from EMS dispatch to the unit there is another minute gone. There is 2 minutes that the crew is already behind on the call. I feel that this call was done in reasonable time.
I have talked with the crew that responded to the call. They stated "that member of the fire department was question the response time in front of the patient". How would the patient know that it took the EMS unit a long time, except the fire department questioning the crew?
I made a trip to the patient house to talk to the patient. The patient stated "That the crew was not rude to me but, they were upset with the fire department.
I take it very seriously when my crew questions another department in front of the patient. This is ethical and unprofessional of your department.
Chief
City Administrator
City Mayor
Lots of info on here to read about. Thanks for sharing this.
"[Insert text here]....and the horse you rode in on."
Sincerely,
Captain Candidate #1
1. mutual aid is by its very nature a response that takes longer than usual.
2. my trusted crew members would only be rude to rude people.
therefore, my plan of action is to forget you ever wrote me.
sincerely,
happy medic
My usual charming application of sarcasm is not likely to resolve this in any way that is satisfactory for the patients of either service. I would not write to Chief Tantrum. I would not mention sun dials, even if were an accurate comment. I would gather all relevant paperwork (policies, contracts, charts, history of mutual aid responses by both of our agencies), talk to the crew, and pick up the phone to call up the chief and ask when is a good time for a meeting on this situation.
Exchanging notes/letters/emails/Tweets/etc. is not conducive to good communication. I would much rather go talk to someone in person so that I can observe the way the chief describes what is bothering him. What comes across on paper as the primary problem may be something that seems minor in person.
If the chief wants to handle this over the phone, I would state that I consider it too important to handle over the phone, but if he does not consider it important, I am willing to forget that it ever happened.
Few interagency conflicts are single incident conflicts. More often there is a long history of resentment over somethings that may be years, or decades, old. Going to visit the chief on his territory, where he feels comfortable bringing up every last quibble is more likely to be productive, than anything else.
If that does not work, there may be someone else the chief is more likely to listen to. Rumor has it that not everybody falls madly in love with me, but I don't believe it.
If nothing works, after more than one attempt at resolving this, I still have the opportunity to suggest that the brand of sundial they use is not the most reliable. I might also suggest creative and graphic ways the chief, or his mother, might make this up to my crew. These suggestions can be much more enjoyable in person. They should not be the preferred form of interagency communication, but sometimes it is what is needed to point out how childish things have become.