The local news does a hatchet job on EMS

[jobberman]

The local Fox affiliate here in Jackson,MS last night ran a story about a shooting that occured here. Not once is anything mentioned about looking for the shooter, or where the PD was to secure this scene. The ambulance staged to close to the scene, and that is on them. For this station to only tell one side of the story is amazing. the video is here..http://www.my601.com/news/local/story/amr-texaco-michael-olowo-ake/tikOZ0lMykKMWfCqZS7WIg.cspx

please tell me waht you think. Fox 40 News in jackson has a facebook page and it has been bombarded by ems personell giving their opinons. a group called Fox 40 News owes AMR and its employees a public apology!! is on facebook as well. please feel free to join if you feel an apology is owed. all opinions are welcome.

God Bless

Gabe Smith

NR-EMT-B

[Jeepluv77]

From the article:

"Olowo-ake's family told FOX 40 News Tuesday they understand AMR's standing policy not to drive into potentially violent situations until police arrive on scene, but they do not understand why none of the paramedics in the AMR vehicle would help Michael after his brother Anthony carried his body to the AMR van a block away.

"We brought the scene to them," Michael Olowo-ake's Senior said."

I would think that about sums it up. There's a reason he was shot and the person holding the gun and knowing that reason was still at large with no police on scene yet. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't be opening that door either. A dead EMT/Medic will be of no use to the patient. It sucks and my heart goes out to the family, but we have to protect ourselves first. I hope this is resolved appropriately and quickly.

[HERBIE1]

From the article:

"Olowo-ake's family told FOX 40 News Tuesday they understand AMR's standing policy not to drive into potentially violent situations until police arrive on scene, but they do not understand why none of the paramedics in the AMR vehicle would help Michael after his brother Anthony carried his body to the AMR van a block away.

"We brought the scene to them," Michael Olowo-ake's Senior said."

I would think that about sums it up. There's a reason he was shot and the person holding the gun and knowing that reason was still at large with no police on scene yet. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't be opening that door either. A dead EMT/Medic will be of no use to the patient. It sucks and my heart goes out to the family, but we have to protect ourselves first. I hope this is resolved appropriately and quickly.

Based on what the story said, the medics WERE wrong.

If the patient was brought to the rig, then I see no reason why they refused to treat him. That was stupid. Unless the person was strapped with explosives, the patient is not a threat. If they felt the crowd was a threat to them, grab the patient and relocate to a safer location. If they were staged in an allegedly safe area, then how did the bystanders find the ambulance? If they were only a block away from the scene, clearly it was close enough for the family and/or bystanders to see them so they were already too close to a scene they thought was unsafe.

Sorry, I'm the first to advocate for scene safety, but once presented with a patient, I see no reason why they did not treat the patient. Nowhere did it say there was active gunfire or the crowd was hostile to the crew. Were there police on the scene?

I realize second guessing is difficult, but anyone who has dealt with these situations should know how to properly handle them.

[HellsBells]

I'm afraid that the crew here did the hatchet job on themselves They put themselves in harms way by parking within line of sight of the scene, then made themselves look foolish by not treating the pt when he was brought to them. If the unit had been parked four blocks away and out of direct line of sight, then there would have been no story for Fox to do a "hatchet job" on.

[spenac]

Get the patient in the ambulance and roll. Treat in route to hospital. Request cops join you on the way. These so called medics failed. I agree they were right not to enter scene but once they had the patient treat him.

[JTpaintball70]

It does seem the medics screwed up. If they didn't want this to happen they should stage properly.

[Lone Star]

To start, there's probably more information that needs to be brought out.

Granted, scene safety is something that is drilled into our heads from MFR on up. An injured or dead EMT/Medic is of no use.

In this case however, it was stated in the video report that the victim's brother had to step in front of a 'moving ambulance' to get the crew's attention. To me, this sounds like the crew was trying to leave the staging area to avoid treating the victim.

By doing so they blatantly breeched their duty to act. They've also opened the liability door wide open for the family.

Were they staged properly? Hard to say. But once the victim was physically taken to them, there was no reason to breech the duty to act.

The media didn't do a 'hatchet job' on AMR, AMR's employees set the company up to get whacked by the media.

The fact that it's AMR involved in something like this doesn't surprise me in the slightest. There have been countless articles that portray AMR in a negative light, stemming from deplorable actions of it's employees.

To the OP: Once the liability falls ssquarely on AMR's shoulders, watch how fast they fire the employees (as they should), and fold up their tents and leave town.

It's AMR's desire to become the 'largest provider of EMS services in the United States', but in the process, they seem to forget about employee relations and patient care.

It is my opinion that the crew involved should have their credentials stripped by the state, barred from being able to be licensed in EMSagain, and fired by AMR. After that, the local District Attorney should see if criminal charges are warranted; for the crew AND AMR itself.

[Dustdevil]

No wonder AMR is having to import medics from across the country to run that system.

[fiznat]

I agree with those that said the crew made a mistake when they chose to stage within eyesight of the scene. True the press seems to be drumming it up a bit, but the first mistake came from the crew, and it seems like they only made it worse by not opening the doors when the patient was brought directly to them.

This really doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the company involved was AMR. "Staging" policies like this are not unique to AMR, and are an important step that we all take to protect ourselves. Those taking cheap shots at the company are off topic, IMHO.

Edited April 15, 2010 by fiznat

[HERBIE1]

I agree with those that said the crew made a mistake when they chose to stage within eyesight of the scene. True the press seems to be drumming it up a bit, but the first mistake came from the crew, and it seems like they only made it worse by not opening the doors when the patient was brought directly to them.

This really doesn't have anything to do with the fact that the company involved was AMR. "Staging" policies like this are not unique to AMR, and are an important step that we all take to protect ourselves. Those taking cheap shots at the company are off topic, IMHO.

While I've never worked for AMR, I do have peripheral knowledge of how they operate. Some years ago they came in to this area, and scared the hell out of the established privates here. With the mere hint they were coming, companies folded and consolidated. AMR saturated the market, took over some contracts, and made it clear their next target was the fire based EMS 911 service. AMR clearly did not do their homework because it wasn't too long before they realized they could never turn a profit here- reimbursement is around 30% thanks to a significant number of self payers and those on entitlements who abuse the system. They completely bailed out of the area, leaving the remaining private operators to pick up the pieces and for many of them to start over.

Does it make AMR a bad company? Like I said, I've never worked for them, and I have heard people in other areas that have no problem with them. The bottom line is they are merely one of many businesses owned by Laidlaw, a huge multinational company that is only interested in the bottom line. If something does not turn a big enough profit, then they are not interested. That's simple business, and personally, I don't think that prehospital health care is the business that should be putting profit ahead of everything else.

Edited April 15, 2010 by HERBIE1