Should Volunteer Squads Be Eliminated ?

[Nate]

I'm still wondering why I pay taxes for a volunteer EMS/Fire department when he average price of a home is $120,000 to $1,000,000 in my area. I'm still wondering why we are paying taxes for a volunteer EMS/Fire department and they can't provide me with a four man crew on that pumper or a double paramedic truck. Funny thing is that everyone above firefighter or paramedic gets their own Expedition, complete with a million different little LED's. Freaking planes have to double check to make sure the airport isn't moving down the road at 55 mph.

Now here is the kicker, if you leave my little community in Katy, Texas and head to the South side of Houston (30 miles away) all of the services down there are paid. Funny, most of my patients have no insurance, no medicare, no medicaid...yet the cities down there manage to pay for their EMS. :?

I was once told by a "captain" of the volunteer department that services my area that I was a "bad person" (edited it for "children") because I refused to volunteer. Then lets combine this with the fact that I've had to file two hit and runs with the Harris County SO's office after being hit by one of their volunteers speeding in a school zone to get to a call. Funny thing is that he was never charged with a felony (the department did fix my bumper, and I demanded a luxury car for a rental because I said that I could not be seen driving a Dodge because I had an image to up hold. ), instead he was given a slap on the hand. Do you know what would have happened if I could have only been caught speeding in a school zone working for the city? I would have been fired on the spot, no questions asked. So what I'm getting at is accountability, there is less of it in the volunteer world because most departments are put in a bind. Do I A remove this guy forever and make an example out of him, then have to worry about trying to staff the 96 hours a week he volunteered. Or...option B, do I punish him, sweep it under the rug, and hope the guy who got hit forgets about it?

[akflightmedic]

They are beginning to realize it is a losing battle.....

MOUNT OLIVE -- Rescue volunteers are still answering calls when the alarm sounds -- when they can. They're also meeting and competing -- when they can.

Their numbers are fewer today, and the meetings are less formal, said Mount Olive rescue volunteer Debbie Hennessee shortly before she became the first woman to receive a lifetime membership in the squad during a recent meeting. She has been a volunteer for 20 years.

"We're small in number now, but we're really big in heart," she said. "It's not just the individual who touches rescue. We know it takes the entire family. Alone we could not do what we do. I used to ride all the time, and I had a very understanding family."

She told the story of rescue wife Grace Lane, who would get the boots and gear ready for her late husband, Dempsey, when he responded to calls in the middle of the night.

Employers used to help, too. Older volunteers have said employers used to let them off work to respond to calls.

Back in the late 1950s when the Mount Olive squad began, the volunteers depended on the local funeral home for some of their transports to the hospital, especially when there were more than one or two injured, until the early '60s when they got their first ambulance, a Ford truck the squad still has.

"It evolves. It changes daily," Ms. Hennessee said. "We've seen a lot of changes through the years, but there is a lot of honor and a lot of dignity on these walls."

But today, the volunteers have to ask permission from the paid emergency medical technicians to use the building. And since Wayne County took over operations of EMS with paid staff, the other trucks have been dispersed throughout Wayne County.

The volunteers have fond memories when they see the yellow trucks.

"We think about the joy and the friendship we had when we see our truck on the highway," Ms. Hennessee said.

The Mount Olive volunteers were highly respected throughout the U.S. and took home many championships, said Buddy Shaw, who installed the officers.

Shaw said he got into rescue one year after the Mount Olive squad was organized. He's been in rescue ever since.

"People ask what happened to Wayne County?" he said.

He said he has nothing against paid EMS workers.

"There are things they can do we can't, because the volunteers can't get off their jobs."

He urged the volunteers to not give up. He said he doesn't think their role will ever be what it used to be -- including the old days when $6,000 would buy a truck.

Today, that same vehicle costs more than $250,000.

"There's no way volunteers can keep up with that," Shaw said. "Not enough turkeys and pigs can be killed to keep up with that."

It's becoming more difficult to be a volunteer, but he told the Mount Olive rescuers they can still go out into the cold night and hold somebody's hand on the way to the hospital. Sometimes, years later, that same patient might come up to his or her rescuer and say "thank you" for the care he or she received.

Shaw said it has been the thank-yous that kept him going through the tough years.

Dempsey Lane's son, Jerry, said one of the reasons he joined the Mount Olive squad was the kindness the volunteers showed his wife's uncle.

Brenda Lane's uncle, Bill McCullen, had a heart attack.

"The rescue people showed up at the house" Lane said. "They fought a valiant fight to keep Mr. Bill alive."

McCullen succumbed to the heart attack. Dempsey Lane went on to become a state EMT examiner.

Even though they understand the changes might be necessary, the volunteers say they will continue to serve where they can -- and be proud of their accomplishments.

"I don't know why decisions are made to change things. I guess that's progress," Lane said. "It takes a lot of training to keep things going now. I can remember my dad sitting over there studying for the EMT exam. When he passed that thing he was so proud of that."

That is a legacy his son says he will continue by helping others to achieve the same goal.

[akroeze]

Just courious what your folks opinions on volunteer FDs is? As in ones who don't do EMS but are first responders that go to "major" calls where EMS will be delayed?

Is that a worthwhile EMS element?

[cosgrojo]

I firmly do not understand anyone who would volunteer to do EMS without getting paid. Furthermore, I don't understand why the volunteers wouldn't want to be paid for their efforts. If your areas went with a paying service, you could sign up. If you already have a job.... sign up on a per diem basis. Keep your skills, keep the adrenaline boost, keep the "hero" status if that's what floats your boat.

Volunteer departments are good people, they are doing it because they love it (for most part). Wonderfull... but there are people out there trying to make a living at this industry, and volunteer departments make it harder for people to find a paying job in the industry of their choice. I work in an area that has a lot of volly squads, heck, a lot of my co-workers on the private ambulance service I work on are volly's as well. I like them, I respect them.... but I wish they wouldn't volunteer. They drive their own value down (as well as mine).

As for care, there are just as many private services with terrible care givers as there are volly squads. I don't think that on a whole, volly squad personnel are poor providers. But I do feel that their extended response times do cause there to be a delay in care, which can be worse than poor care.

I love the volunteers, I'm friends with a lot of them.... but they make it harder for me (and others) to make a living and support my fledgling family.

[ebemt]

Volunteer squads should only be terminated if they can't keep up with the call volume. For example my town answers a large amount of mutual aids to the bordering town. My town however is too busy to keep sacrificing a rig to another town. At this point I do believe a paid squad should take over the volunteer squad in the next town.

[tacmedic.se]

Don't you find it a bit like getting kicked in the head? You go to work for nothing (or next to nothing) attempting to say you are a professional demanding the same respect as our fellow health care providers that work in the hospital.......but they get paid for doing the job they are trained to do. I know plenty of doctors and nurses who volunteer but I don't know a single one that does it as their primary job or career. If we want the same respect as other health care providers we need to be able to stand together as a profession and say we are trained, we are skilled, we are worth the pay we get for what we do. If your community pays its nurses a full time wage then the EMT's and medics should be paid as well.

I put in my time working for free doing a job I was proud of but now I work as a career paramedic making enough to support my family doing the job I love. When I go to work I work, when I go home I belong to my family.

[bandaidpatrol]

You couldn't get me to live in Northern Virginia if you tried.

Add that to the list.

New Jersey and Virginia... Maybe we can trade them to Canada from some watered down beer?

[JakeEMTP]

Add that to the list.

New Jersey and Virginia... Maybe we can trade them to Canada from some watered down beer?

Watered down Beer? surely you jest!!!!!!!!!!!

[bandaidpatrol]

Surely I don't... My son began saying that in the 70's.. I don't know why, I think he was watching too much MASH.

and I only drink Guinness...

[temsp40]

Time for P40's $0.02......

I look at the volunteer services as a dying breed. In my area there is one currently all volunteer service left, but that is soon to be a thing of the past. The service has recently realized that they cannot count on donations to continue to operate. They are talking about finally paying their members (this service has a habitual problem of not being able to find enough EMT's to cover their ambulance.)

Even the fire department that I have been on-call with for the last 13 years realized that they could not rely on the on-call volunteers to cover their ambulance 24/7 anymore. About 5 years ago they had to hire 2 full-time employees to cover the daytime calls. This has worked out very well for the town and they are now actually looking to advance the level of service they provide.

Utilizing this reality, I don't think that volunteer EMS is going to last. I think that the communities that are served by volunteer services are very lucky to have the volunteers. I think the EMSers who do volunteer are under-recognized for their commitment to excellance. However, I happen to live in the United States, so as an American we are all driven by that almighty dollar, and our spirit of volunteerism does not show itself until such time as there is some sort of horrific natural (or unnatural) disaster. Even then, most people are less likely to volunteer themselves, they are more than willing to give money (loosely interpretted TAX WRITE-OFF) to whatever the disaster is. Now, no one needs to throw 9-11 at me, that was an exception to the rule.

How many of us know of a volunteer that runs EMS calls and is pleased to be awoken for the 4th time tonight at 0430 for the "flu-like symptoms for 1 week"???? I am paid to do this for a living and I definitely do not have a smile on when I show up to this particular call.

I don't think that volunteer services should be run out of town at high noon any time soon, but I do think that you will see them slowly but surely fade away. I know people who can't fathom the fact that some of us DO volunteer or work for on-call services, they are used to the private EMS or FD EMS service being no more than 2 or 3 minutes away, not having to wait 10 minutes for the ambulance to arrive (and that's on a good day) and these people are moving from the big city to the countryside to "get away from it all" and still expect all the exact same services as they find in the city.....

Maybe they can volunteer?????