Bad time for Fla firefighter wanna be's

[mrsmall]

I live in marion county FL... I work for the EMS system here. Unfortunately our contract is up in sep. 2008, and the county will be taking us over. They tell us that we will either be a 3rd service and stay the same company we are now.. or we will become part of the fire department, and a lot of people cannot go through fire school...

here's the thing, I cannot tell you how many firefighters I've been on scene with, that tell you they can do without patient contact, they hate it! (I know some very good fire medics, a lot of them actually work for our ambulance service part time) Some people become firefighters, because they want to fight fires, and play with toys!

The same is true for EMS though. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to go into a burning building with someone that was forced into getting their fire standards, and has no motivation to go into that building.

I personally don't have a problem with being a fire medic, but unfortunately not everyone is willing to do both things!

[Niftymedi911]

The tax reform is a freaking joke I'm getting a $114 tax credit back. Not to mention I AM voting it down. It affects all of public safety in Florida. Not just FD or PD. Our budget got sliced and cut everywhere. That's why we're not just 9-1-1 anymore. We're more of becoming "Lee County Divison of Public safety/non-emergenttransfer/interfacilitytransfer divison of EMS". The transfer divison generates almost 10 million in revenue a year. That plus the added service fees for 9-1-1 transport re-coups over 68% of our expenses. The overall budget was 26 million for EMS. People here whine, whine, whine, if you want the best you gotta pay for the best. And if you want the cut, kiss your 7 minute response or less when your sandwhiched in between a gas tanker and another semi on I-75 because you wanted to save a little, Good Bye.

[JPINFV]

The tax reform is a freaking joke I'm getting a $114 tax credit back. Not to mention I AM voting it down. It affects all of public safety in Florida. Not just FD or PD. Our budget got sliced and cut everywhere. That's why we're not just 9-1-1 anymore. We're more of becoming "Lee County Divison of Public safety/non-emergenttransfer/interfacilitytransfer divison of EMS". The transfer divison generates almost 10 million in revenue a year.

Is the non-emergent side self supporting? If so, what exactly is wrong with the government providing that service, so long as it doesn't adversely affect 911 responses (on the flip side, I can see it providing for a comfortable surge capacity in case of an MCI or unusually high call volumes).

[spenac]

First of all JP, I expected people to whine about who pays more taxes, thats standard. Second I have a job working in ems, the point I was making, is that housing tax reform is not a one size fits all, and is damn sure shouldnt be based on the the South Beach Miami residents housing tax.

And as far as Spenac's comment, the rescues here dont take the hits, its the engine and ladder crews, and as much as I dont want to say it I have to, alls I hear, is complaining about fire and ems being combined from the people who dont live here in the south, well save it, we live here and this is how it is. You all live in the north or where ever. So its easy to complain about it.

Well I live as far south as you can go w/o being in Mexico and we have separate services. The fat from fire needs to be cut. Where is the biggest need? EMS. Fire is barely an issue anymore, homes/businesses are all required to meet standards that lower fire risk. Combine that with fire prevention education and fire has basically put themselves out of the fire business. Really considering how few fires FF actually work compared to how many extrications and lifting assists maybe we should even change it to extrication service instead of fire service, become known as extrication specialists rather than fire fighters. We'll let you keep the extrication equipment because we need to focus on medicine.

You can not be the best in multiple fields. Choose one and be the best. Focus on whats best for our medical profession and thus our patients.

Cut the fire fat.

[xgldcrossemt]

Maybe this post will be way out of line here, but had to weigh in on this topic. Some people "might" be "happy" working in private EMS, but lets face it, the pay sucks, the hours are crappy(usually 12 or 14 hour shifts, as opposed to 24's) and the benefits are nil. All this talk about cutting the fire dept "fat" is not gonna happen. Individual municipalities post levys and citizens vote. I would say most people would like to have their ambulance ride paid for through their taxes, and not get a huge bill from a private company. In my honest opinion(and this is just my opinion) people in private EMS that bash the fire service are pissed off because for whatever reason they cant get in. Too many times you have been on scene and a fire medic made you feel like a second class citizen. Your just the private ambulance EMT that no one will recognize as the hero. Choose you own destiny. Be what you will, but for god sake, it boils down to patient care. I thought thats why we did this work.

[JakeEMTP]

In my honest opinion(and this is just my opinion) people in private EMS that bash the fire service are pissed off because for whatever reason they cant get in.

Don't assume we all want to be hose monkeys. I for one, never wanted to be a fireman, not even when I was a little boy. EMS based fire suppression needs to stop. How about paid EMS and volly Fire? since the majority of your calls are EMS anyway. The taxpayers wouldn't even notice.

I work for the County. EMS only and it works fine. Fire and EMS are two completely different things and shouldn't be amalgamated.

There are numerous threads here on this subject. Peruse them at your leisure and you might understand a little more what we are talking about here.

[spenac]

Don't assume we all want to be hose monkeys. I for one, never wanted to be a fireman, not even when I was a little boy. EMS based fire suppression needs to stop. How about paid EMS and volly Fire? since the majority of your calls are EMS anyway. The taxpayers wouldn't even notice.

I'm with Jake, I have no desire to be a hose monkey again. Fire is washed up and needs to give up the money it is robbing from communities so it can be put to use where it is really needed, EMS.

[JPINFV]

Maybe this post will be way out of line here, but had to weigh in on this topic. Some people "might" be "happy" working in private EMS, but lets face it, the pay sucks, the hours are crappy(usually 12 or 14 hour shifts, as opposed to 24's) and the benefits are nil. All this talk about cutting the fire dept "fat" is not gonna happen. Individual municipalities post levys and citizens vote. I would say most people would like to have their ambulance ride paid for through their taxes, and not get a huge bill from a private company. In my honest opinion(and this is just my opinion) people in private EMS that bash the fire service are pissed off because for whatever reason they cant get in. Too many times you have been on scene and a fire medic made you feel like a second class citizen. Your just the private ambulance EMT that no one will recognize as the hero. Choose you own destiny. Be what you will, but for god sake, it boils down to patient care. I thought thats why we did this work.

Yep, I failed at getting into the fire department and THATS what I'm in grad school. :roll: :roll:

Oh, and 24 hour shifts are the bomb-diggity, which is why the people who whined the most at my old company about call volumn were the people on the 24's. :roll: :roll:

Oh, and there's only 2 choices for EMS around, fire and private, right?

If EMS based fire suppression was so great at providing patient care, why is Southern California (Orange and LA counties to be specific) so "mother may I" with their paramedics and why can't medics in Orange County (where there are no private ambulance paramedics) even give asprin?

Oh, and your post is full of failure with the straw man argument (all private EMTs that complain are just ones that can't get into the fire department).

[xgldcrossemt]

didnt say "all"

[JPINFV]

It's infered by using quoted phrases like "might" and "happy." This indicates that the people who might be happy in the private sector are just there because they can't go elsewhere. Furthermore, there was no such qualifier infront of your assertion requiring people who think that EMS based fire suppression is bunk.