oklahomamedic

I know the larger systems have it, but what do the smaller companies do, say 2-6 units? My supervisor is constantly getting on my case for responding no L&S on B.S. calls, because we are level 1 or 0. We were on our 5th call after midnight and dispatched to displaced peg tube. Both of us were exhausted and had no business driving C3. He never said anything, but I could tell it in his voice when I said, "we will be enroute C1." Some people complain about transporting dead bodies C3 for no reason. What about the number of unecessary C3 responses we make? Dispatched to urgent care for DKA and find the patient with a sugar of 115. Obviously they did not make the effort to check on their own.

I am obviously new to this site, but born and raised in Oklahoma and proud of it. I have also served as a volunteer basic and now a full-time paramedic. The Oklahoma EMS system is a mess. Yes a lot of smaller communities utilize volunteer services. The problem is most small communities are shrinking in size, and lack the people needed to run the service. Most small volunteer services utilize people who were born and raised in those communities. Their children leave the family farm/small town and never return. It is sad, but a fact of life. Also, the ever increasing amount of training required to become an EMT is killing our volunteer services. People have lives of their own, and less time to dedicate. Yes, most communities have volunteer fire departments. I think I read somewhere there 600 volunteer fire departments in Oklahoma. Most of the people involved want nothing to do with an ambulance service. Monetary issues are often the excuse. I have never understood how our small communities always find the $$ to support police and fire departments, but draw the line when it comes to EMS. Police and fire are zero $$ generating entities, but if the ambulance service does not at least break even, the city council will shutter the doors as quick as possible. There are some ridiculous situations here. Community A will pay the extra tax $$ needed to have and ambulance service, then that ambulance spends most of their time responding to communities B, C, D, and E who are unwilling to do the same.