parobmedic

:roll: First and foremost, let me state that if the units were driving as poorly as you suggest, then yes, there needs to be some looking in to their actions. I do submit though, as most of us know, they would tell a different story, and somewhere between the two would be the truth.... Secondly, this post smacks a little of the attitude we are desperately trying to get rid of on a National scale and that is Fire and Ems MUST MUST MUST work together in a smooth, seemless fashion or EMS will not survive another 20 years as a non-fire department functioning entity. FD get there faster, are becoming better trained, and have the resources in place to take over EMS in many places, and are doing it on a regular basis. As you can guess, I am a senior staff officer with a large FD in South Carolina. We have a County EMS system that transports our patients, but they staff one, yes one, ALS ambulance in a city of close to 70,000. Call volume last year was 5500 calls. We run Paramedic engine companies out of each of our stations, Ladder Trucks are BLS, Rescue and Boats are ILS levels. We consistantly arrive on scene 5-20 minutes before our County EMS units and we save lives every single week running ALS engines for our taxpayers. It is an affluent community and they demand the service. EMS fought us when we first started calling it a duplication of service because it was making them look bad (in their eyes), we only took this on to provide better services for our community. You should all be ashamed of yourselves for not being grateful there is a shiny red truck on scene when you get there to help asses, treat, carry, and HELP your patients. If nothing else, Im sure we've saved some backs.....Please re-think in the future your thoughts on working with and not against your local FD's......ITS NEVER A WASTE OF RESOURCES IF WE'RE RESPONDING TO YOUR HOUSE !!!!!