mikeinet

They did the same thing with the CT division. 

They're overall consolidating most of the company - closing a call center in CT too 

I don't think anyone is complaining about "helping people"... I think they are saying are we the right ones to be helping...

If you fall and can't get up in your home/private residence... I have 0 quarams.

If you fall and can't get up at an assisted living facility and the staff who are well trained refuse to help... THAT is where I have the issue.

Aren't there laws around charging for an RMA though...? At minimum, insurance won't pay it because "it's not a medical necessity" (hence the reason for the RMA)

I agree if you start charging it'll drive change... but hands are tied a lot of times in doing that

7 hours ago, sympathomedic said:

I don't think 911 dispatches respiratory therapists.

I have run 12 leads for free for friends, because going to their PMD = $50 copay. I didn't complain about it. Does that qualify for the example in the last sentence of your post?  I was acting as an EKG tech because the PMD office next door to the station would charge $50 insurance co-pay for the identical procedure.

If you want me to complain about having to take care of people, you will have to try harder. It is what I signed up for. It is what I do. Volly and paid for 30 years. 64 hours on a quiet week.

Maybe I am on the wrong site?

you've totally missed the intent of my statement.

6 hours ago, sympathomedic said:

   As per an article in the NY Times a few years back, nationwide EMS call volume is up 247% in last 30 years.  More since then I bet.

  I have NEVER seen an EKG tech complain that a patient that needed an EKG was not sick enough for them. Never seen a RESPIRATORY therapist  complain that the lungs were not wheezy enough for them to give a treatment. Never had a PHLEBOTOMIST say that they were wasting time on drawing blood on a particular pt. It is ONLY the EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECH who feels that they are only there to serve pt's they feel are worthy.

  

I think I agree to disagree with this... 

Do you see a respiratory therapist treating a patient at 2 in the morning because their mother on the other side of the country thought they "didnt sound right" on the phone so called 911? Did you see an EKG tech being called to run an EKG because the local one that was sitting next the patient couldn't do it because of "insurance reasons" so they had to call someone else who was just as qualified as themselves? 

On 5/1/2016 at 11:20 AM, Dinosaur said:

 

Can you quantify this "major tax" on your system and explain how it is "causing you not to be able to cover everything in your own towns"?  What are the actual numbers?

 

Is this a major burden on the system or an inconvenience because somebody missed a "pin job" while on a fall call?
 

As has been discussed in numerous areas of this thread - we're all getting called for things that are not "emergencies". 

If you live in an assisted living facility and you need to call 911 because you fell and can't get up...? Even down to needing to have a cath replaced... why is that an ambulance call? Why don't these facilities have proper staffing to deal with the needs of their patients. 

It has nothing to do with "wanting to go on the GOOD calls" (like a pin job) - it has to do with allowing our emergency services personnel  to serve those that are in an emergency situation. 

To the above scenario of the assisted living facilities... i've personally been on those calls where i've been patient side and hear tones drop for a cardiac arrest and it being the Xth call in town where we're out of resources... and we end up having to pull in mutual aid... which takes more time than if we were able to respond. 

I had a family member get pulled over in the Catskills... cop had a driver pulled over and another cop was monitoring and watched for cars not pulling to the other lane.... though there were cars in the left lane (2 lane highway) and my family member couldn't pull to the left so slowed down instead but still got pulled over and got a ticket...

Many regional protocols are moving away from requiring backboards except for extreme indicators... research found that the backboard didn't cause as much benefit as previously thought and more often than not, a patient is already moving around and had compromised C-Spine if there were an issue. With that being said, a lot of the protocols still require collars to be used, just not full immobilization.

I think we're discussing a major tax on our system that's CAUSING us to not be able to cover everything in our owns...??

Wow...says unlimited beer!

I've seen this as well. A lot of facilities won't even assist a patient if they fall - it becomes a medical emergency and gets a 911 call (oh, and they'll probably charge you for calling 911 on your behalf...)

There really should be some sort of protocols that stop these type of EMS abuses. If a patient has no symptoms, no true MOI and "slipped out of a wheelchair"... why do you need a 911 ambulance to pick them back up and put them back in it? Most staff have plenty qualified medical professionals that can make a judgement call if there's an injury and care for them.

But the nursing homes don't want the liability...they'd rather pass it off to EMS to deal with

i'm confused how news articles are saying that the fire is not spreading inside the building... article on NBCNews made it seem like only the fire floor has interior fire...

I'd think there's a little more to it than just "let millwood respond" -- don't forget, this is district lines... so the concept of "let millwood first respond" is also "let millwood auto dual-respond/first respond for us for free"

I think the RIGHT strategy would be to look at the fire district lines and understand what makes sense and where the best coverage can be provided - not just keeping existing lines and buildling up to support an imginary line in the ground

And it goes both ways - maybe there's areas where YFD is faster than MFD (and there are)

The above is a "big picture" statement though and holistically looking at things...but why would we bother to do that

i feel like a lot of this thread is people grandstanding for their own opinions and feelings rather than looking at the facts / looking at what folks on hand had to deal with.

Well, on the bright side... at least there's an "active" thread again on this site :-) woohoo.

Agree- watched an episode or two and it seems 'decent' so far. Not overly dramatic, not far fetched, etc.

Curious to see how they maintain it / where it goes

Cnn reporting 6 killed and 12 injured

Perfect example why these "mega complexes" are scary as can be. They get built super quickly, super crappy, and to huge scale.

Wonder what type (or lack of) fire stops were in place...

Interesting concept... seems like an awful lot of coordination to do.

I like the idea of someone sitting behind the patient so you can begin CPR with the pack still on...though I kind of feel like doing 2min of compression, stopping and then quickly everyone pulling off the scba and mask and helmet may be faster than trying to have a ton of different bodies and hands doing multiple things at the same time.

They have reciprocity, not a huge process

Saw another episode... this is quite possibly the worst active i've ever seen.

I like the concept, but they're SO over dramatic... and they keep repeating their story over and over

I think the manpower aspect alone is valuable.

Automated stretchers...those don't give any patient value, but save a ton of wear/tear/injuries on our EMS staff... as noted before, you now have an extra pair of hands to do other things than CPR (and get tired doing it...let's be honest, a lot of EMS isn't in "top shape" to do CPR continually for an extended period of time)

At a minimum... imagine two back to back codes and doing CPR and then still having another 5 hours on your shift...

Not debating there's actual patient value here too, but it looks like per the above there are studies that debate whether or not its worthwhile - so let's at least consider other positive aspects of this.

Great article I came across with what I think is a pretty strong message... felt it would be good to share:

http://www.leatherheadmafia.com/2014/04/29/are-you-a-leader-or-just-a-boss/

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/12/09/21841229-major-ambulance-service-shuts-down-without-notice-in-six-states?lite

A private ambulance service that transported more than a half-million patients a year in six states abruptly shut down without explanation, leaving dozens of cities and towns scrambling for medical transportation options Monday without a word of warning.

First Med EMS, based in Wilmington, N.C., served hospitals and other medical facilities in more than 70 municipalities in Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. It operated under the names TransMed, Life Ambulance and MedCorp, boasting in publicity materials: "We take pride in our performance and the safety of our patients. We refuse to compromise on this."

Dispatch services in several cities reported that First Med called them Friday night and Saturday to stop all requests for emergency runs. Workers who were in the middle of their shifts were told to turn around and go home.

As someone who full time works in IT Security... it's interesting to see this make the news.

There ARE a lot of threats out there around us that we don't realize - we (as a society) have the stupidest things connected to "The Internet" (power plants... critical infrastructure... etc.) and it just takes the right person, at the right place, at the right time, to cause chaos.