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Should Volunteer Squads Be Eliminated ?


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ive only been in the volunteer ems system for alittle over 3 years now and i probably dont see the biggest picture. i leave in a town in northern jersey and my town and all the towns around me are volunteer. We have paid als trucks come to a call if needed. my town rides about 1100 calls a year and i dont really see the need for a paid truck up here. yes they are paid professionals and we are also professionals but not paid. we are required to go through the same EMT course and the same number of CEU classes. i know a lot of people that go beyond what is expected. We get calls answered and in a timely fashion. i know a paid crew would get there in about 3-4 in my town and we average about 5-6 minutes in response. that isnt really that bad for a 39 square mile town. i guess my point to the reply is that i believe that the volunteer organizations are good when the call volume isnt that great and when calls are answered by EMTs, why have a paid truck sit up here???

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Try this little test... hold your breath for that extra 3 minutes... now you can see the need for rapid response. Meanwhile, if your heart has arrhythmia's due to hypoxia or anoxia it shouldn't be that big a deal now should it ?... or if your laying there with 2'nd degree burns on your face, chest and arms.. or your mother or father starts having a CVA that extra 10-20 minutes for an ALS wouldn't be that bad either...

Again most that are making assumptions are ones that are not educated in medicine. Does anyone else see a problem here, except for about 5 or 6 us ?.....

Again prove me wrong ....

R/R 911

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Hey man i hear your crys about someone having to wait. but you know what i can respond to the city as quik as a volunteer can take to show up wait for a crew and be on scene as als in the same time frame. I work in the city covering the county as well. I' ve done als intercepts when a volly crew has been on scene for 15min. and still a patient isn't packaged! buy a rescue truck and be an extra set of hands. but dont cry foul when your competing for call volume and state support. just as well we need 3rd party billing. mind you geographics play a big part, what works for my county may not work for yours.

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Before all you volunteer people pull that "You never volunteered, you don't know" crapola on me, I was a volunteer, and I can write this with personal experience.

Eliminating volunteers will protect not only my paycheck but my craft. I have strict training requirements to meet to keep my job. They have optional training requirements. I have a duty to care for my patients to the best of my ability. They have providers that want to call helicopters for respiratory distress instead of waiting three more minutes for a paid ambulance to arrive. I don't want to be a hero, and have warm-fuzzy feelings. I want to do my job, not pick and choose what calls I feel like running based on the dispatch. I am a professional. We don't have hospitals of volunteer physicians, nurses, radiology techs, etc. We shouldn't have volunteer EMS.

Yes, it's about ME... It's about me arriving to a patient in a timely matter with the skills, the education, and the equipment to deliver quality care to them. The ride to the ER is a bonus. 8)

I love what you are saying. That is exactly how I would like to say it. Thanks for putting my thoughts and feelings so beautifully! I think I'm gonna cry! No seriously you said it perfect! nice job!!!

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Here is my two cents worth on this one,,,, I have been in EMS for 16 years and all these years I have done nothing but volunteer, That is my personal choice. I love EMS cant imagine my life without it . But I do understand the points of view of those that this is their carreer. But I dont think that is fair for the carreer people to not want volunteers around....well I say in this world we all need to pull together...everyone has a place in the system either way paid or volly ... We as a system in whole are our own worst enemies We bicker back and forth between each other. Just because you are paid dont make you any smarter or better than me because I volunteer and because I volunteer that dont make me any better than you because you get paid. I had to go to the same training you did, and last time i looked the states or the National Registry just dont hand out cards to people just because they want them. And to say that because I am a volunteer that makes me unprofessional is just wrong. Professionalism is not based on my payday or volunteer status it based on my attitude.

This is just my two cents

T :angel12:

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