Bad idea, waste of money?

[Laura Anne]

You can find this under WWW.PHILLYFIRENEWS.COM ..... local news column.

Sheriff's Department Starts Paramedic Unit

Matt Roth | Web Producer

Posted: 10:53 am EST February 8, 2010Updated: 10:57 am EST February 8, 2010

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Montgomery County Sheriff's Department

(l-r): Thomas Trojansky, Assistant Chief of Plymouth Community Ambulance Association; Kevin Thomas, Operations Manager of Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Helicopter Medivac Division; Dr. Joseph DiMino, Montgomery County Health Department Director; Chief Alfred Ricci, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department; Sheriff John P. Durante, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department; Timothy Dunigan, President of Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale; Dr. Arthur Hayes, Medical Director of Plymouth Community Ambulance Association

NORRISTOWN, Pa. -- The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department has established a fully-accredited paramedic unit.

This unit is in the process of being trained in the specialized treatment of injuries sustained by explosives and gunshots, according to Sheriff John P. Durante, who said some of the training will include working in full bomb disposal gear in adverse conditions.

Unit members have begun their training at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center for Domestic Preparedness at the U.S. Army base Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama.

They will also complete training at the Walter Reed U.S. Army Hospital and the FBI Hazardous Device Training School at the U.S. Army Ordnance Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama.

Durante said all training costs are being covered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

He said the paramedics will be able to enter hazardous areas in full protective gear and provide medical aid to bomb technicians, stabilize them, and then remove them from the scene for further treatment and transport by local paramedics.

The “paramedics and EMTs who belong to the unit will benefit by being able to progress in their careers at no cost to them other than a two-year commitment to this specialized county unit,” said Durante.

Prospective members of the new must be recommended to the sheriff’s department by their local ambulance chief and ambulance administrator. A panel consisting of representatives from the Montgomery County Department of Public Safety, the Sheriff’s Department, the Health Department, and the medical director of Plymouth Community Ambulance Association will then interview prospective applicants and review their qualifications.

Durante said the goal will be to train as many paramedics and EMTs from the various squads as possible in order to make the program a success with the money that is available and then secure additional funding in the future to provide more training.

The first volunteer members to join the unit are Dr. Joseph DiMino, former Major in the U.S. Army, former M.A.S.H. surgeon, and current Montgomery County Health Director; Dr. Arthur Hayes, retired U.S. Navy Captain who commanded surgical hospitals in Operation Desert Storm, retired Chief of Emergency Medicine for Montgomery Hospital, and present Medical Director of Plymouth Community Ambulance Association; Kevin Thomas, flight paramedic and Operations Manager of Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Helicopter MedEvac Division; Thomas Trojansky, physician assistant and paramedic, and Assistant Chief of Plymouth Community Ambulance Association; and Tim Dunigan, Montgomery County Department of Public Safety Director of Pre-Hospital Services and President of Volunteer Medical Service Corps of Lansdale.

The problem I have with this is that we already use funding from this organization to do this very job. They're the region TACT medics. Hmmmm, same organization, same equipment..heck....even the very SAME people running the show; a show that they are using Federal money for when they already basically do the same thing. To top it off, the Sherif of Montgomery County, John P Duranti, is the President of this rescue squad and uses it to promote his political standing in the county, nothing more.

[FireMedic65]

Everyone wants to get their hand in the pot to make some money. There are a few PD run ambulances. City of Allentown for example. You don't have to be a paramedic to be a cop there, nor do you have to be a cop to be a paramedic.

There are other 911 ALS services in the area there too. If the PD thinks they can make some money to doing 911 EMS, more power to them.

[Dustdevil]

Well yes... posting this thread in the wrong forum was a "bad idea".

Already being discussed here:

http://www.emtcity.com/index.php/topic/17605-news-feed-montgomery-county-sheriff%25e2%2580%2599s-department-starts-paramedic-unit-jemscom/

Edited February 9, 2010 by Dustdevil