Call Volumes

[FarNorthMedic]

At my base we have one 12 hour days shift 0800h to 2000h followed by 12 hours on call shift.

Our call volume ranges from 75 to 150 calls per month. This is for a population of only 1800 people. Lots of violence and a very very unhealthy population. Also a lot of "taxi" runs between the "good ones".

Zach get going on the bachelors. Also you base may have workout equipment. I bought a bowflex, pretty amazed with what it can actually do. And as hard as it may be I have done more networking from my fly-in only community then I probably would have done in a larger EMS center.

[Mediclcems]

Rural sounds great to me right now. I work for a very busy county EMS in Fla, and we have already had 16,000 calls this year county wide. We have been running non-stop 24-7!!!! It keeps your skills sharp,but makes you very tired. :flower:

[emsdave]

16,000 calls in 11 weeks? That's around 208 calls a day, everyday. :scratch:

[Guest]

Ive been offered a job (pending completion of the pcp course that is) at the service I rode with during my highschool co-op. Call volume at the base I worked at was 1300 calls/year. There was one base with a higher call volume Im guessing around 1800 calls/yr. Yes, this is in the sticks. My base was a 7-7 day shift then on call from 7-7. There was the odd day that we just sat around but being on a very accident-proned hwy with no ALS backup, just you and your partner- FD was volly and only came to MVCs- we got some amazing calls. It isnt a huge call volume but enough to keep busy (obviuosly its rural so some of the transport/response times were quite long).

During the down time- the crews worked on their 'upgrading' material- they are adding IVs and Intubations etc. One of the medics was the base hospital coordinator so he would do mini-lectures and one of the guys was an EMA so he had plenty of time to do homework and all that fun stuff. Lots of good suggestions for the down time in previous posts!! Even as a new medic, Id still consider a slower service- still get to use the skills but not stuck at a hospital with a 3 hr offload delay Wink

[akroeze]

Ive been offered a job (pending completion of the pcp course that is) at the service I rode with during my highschool co-op. Call volume at the base I worked at was 1300 calls/year. There was one base with a higher call volume Im guessing around 1800 calls/yr. Yes, this is in the sticks. My base was a 7-7 day shift then on call from 7-7. There was the odd day that we just sat around but being on a very accident-proned hwy with no ALS backup, just you and your partner- FD was volly and only came to MVCs- we got some amazing calls. It isnt a huge call volume but enough to keep busy (obviuosly its rural so some of the transport/response times were quite long).

During the down time- the crews worked on their 'upgrading' material- they are adding IVs and Intubations etc. One of the medics was the base hospital coordinator so he would do mini-lectures and one of the guys was an EMA so he had plenty of time to do homework and all that fun stuff. Lots of good suggestions for the down time in previous posts!! Even as a new medic, Id still consider a slower service- still get to use the skills but not stuck at a hospital with a 3 hr offload delay

What area was that?

I'm going to guess it probably was with Hasting-Quinte right?

[Guest]

No, this sounds more like Algoma DSSAb actually ...

Don't get me started on the PCPs doing ACP skills though. Same argument has been presented in other threads about being able to provide ALS services at BLS prices.

Yes, I'm aware that some services *cough*HastingsQuinte*cough* allows their PCPs to do tubes and push ACLS meds (Epi, Lidocaine, Atropine ...), but atleast they're smart enough to state that it's only for VSAs and they must be working with an ACP.

If services want ALS provision, then they should pay for ALS providers. EMS is not a 'per-diem' industry.

Zach

[akroeze]

No, this sounds more like Algoma DSSAb actually ...

Don't get me started on the PCPs doing ACP skills though. Same argument has been presented in other threads about being able to provide ALS services at BLS prices.

Yes, I'm aware that some services *cough*HastingsQuinte*cough* allows their PCPs to do tubes and push ACLS meds (Epi, Lidocaine, Atropine ...), but atleast they're smart enough to state that it's only for VSAs and they must be working with an ACP.

If services want ALS provision, then they should pay for ALS providers. EMS is not a 'per-diem' industry.

Zach

Just wondering where you draw the line on ALS services? 12-lead and IV are becoming standard BLS skills and those that don't do them will become the exception, not the rule. Do you disagree with BLS doing these?

Not trying to sound confrontational... just curious.

[bandaidpatrol]

I do a fair amount of scanner listening, the local crew seems to do a little over 800 calls a year.. It's usually reported in the paper as to how many calls per municipality... for the tax payers.

[Guest]

I think it may be hard to draw the line somewhere, as some things truly are beneficial. Pre-hospital 12-leads are proving their worth in gold, and regardless of the person who puts the daisies on and pushes 'acquire', if you're able to transmit a copy to your receiving ED, the 'door to needle time' will greatly reduce.

On the other hand, if paramedics (whether BLS or ALS) are acquiring 12-leads pre-hospitally and interpreting them, then I would also argue to arm them with appropriate therapy. What good is this piece of paper, if you don't have the thrombolytics at hand to do something about it? Just to confirm your suspicions that the patient is suffering from ischemia or is truly having an infarction? Bad medicine in my opinion ...

That's another issue, Ontario has (I would argue ...) some of the highest education standards for paramedics in North America, but also the most limited with scope of practice. Most base hospitals require their ACPs to maintain current ACLS, PALS, NRP for certification, but, how many ACLS meds are carried on an Ontario ambulance? Ooo, so we have Epi 1:10000, Atropine, Lidocaine and perhaps Sodium Bicarbonate. WOW! What about adding other more pertinent medications? Beta/calcium channel blockers, wider variety of antiarrhytmics, more options for pain management and patient comfort.

And then, what 'advanced airways' in Ontario is common practice? Naso/Orotracheal intubation and seldinger cricothyrotomy. The latter is even rarely used. Not to mention digital intubation, lighted stylette, gum bougie ... but who actually uses those regularly? I understand their more of a rescue airway, but I don't buy it. I would much rather see the addition of RSI into the provincial protocols.

I suppose my point is that I truly see the day when paramedics in Ontario will be entering school, graduating three of four years later with a degree and at the ACP level. To me, it just seems like the services are trying to make it sound like their providing better service, but in reality, they're not.

Zach

[Rezq304]

I work for a fairly rural service, however we do run more calls a month than what your describing. Last month my partner and i ran 50 calls. we were the busiest ambulance that month but we do average 20 to 25 calls a month per crew. However we do respond in city also. We have two ambulances 24 hr's a day running so. hope this helps

I rode the busiest ambulance last year. The dept ran somewhere around 1100 calls for the year. I think I averaged out at about 15 calls a month. Mind you that this is a fully volunteer department too.