mfkap

It is a joint venture between the DFFD and the DFVAC. It is not intended to be for patient transport, at least at this point (the DFVAC only owns two stretchers). I also do not think it is certified (no stretcher) but it might be listed as a first response vehicle. The unit number that was assigned to it, 56-B2, has been reissued to the new ambulance, so I do not think it currently has a unit number.

I was going to say...isn't soft billing illegal?

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From what I learned as we went through the third-party billing process, "soft billing" isn't illegal but third-party billing is. You can't send a bill to the insurance company without sending a bill to the patient (which is what third-party billing is). So all the third-party billing companies send a bill to the patient but take no collections actions against the patient. That is what the soft-billing is: send a bill to the patient without any follow-up or collections.

The problem with blaming the motorists is that they are something out of our control. If I have the option of adapting my lighting scheme to reduce the chance of me becoming roadkill, or turning my car into one big light bulb and then blaming the motorist after I am hit, I know what I am going to go for. Saying you have to change how people drive is like saying your approach works except for in the rain/snow, so it is the rain/snow's fault if your plan doesn't work. You have to have a strategy that is useful in real world conditions, and this includes correct scene placement, blocking, safe methods by your crew (like staying out of the traffic lane), and lighting that lets you been seen without blinding everyone behind the wheel of a car within a mile. Really, if you think that the person is going to crash into you because you didn't have LED's 19 thru 35, you need to consider something else as your problem.

For those of you brave souls that would like to read the county mutual aid plan, it is online at http://www.westchestergov.com/emergserv/EM...lanDec03-v5.pdf

In appendix F, it says that your agency code is first, than 0 for command unit, than 1,2,3, etc for rank order, with 1 being the ranking officer. I don't know why county would have you change over to 11, 12, 13 when they were updating their CAD system. But again, we don't know why county does a lot of what they do.

According to the latest copy of the Westchester County Mutual Aid agreement, line officers are assigned to -01, -02, -03. Any reason that they didn't follow this?

Gee, civilain interventions and defib within 8 minutes can help to save lives????? DUH!!!Are they joking with the above? That just shows me the merit/quality of this  so-called "study".

I, too, will hafta look at the actual study.  I do not and will not trust the poor quality, biased, agenda based, and "pop" reporting of the USA Today.

You have to remember that this stuff is going to the general public. And if articles like this can help convince people to learn/perform CPR or use an AED instead of waiting for EMS, it is a good thing.

The core of the article is decent and makes sense, it is just the usual media exploitation that makes the article stupid. We all know they don't care about the 1000 patients you get to in under 5 minutes if they can get a good story out of the one that it took 15 mins to get to.