Should Volunteer Squads Be Eliminated ?

[nsmedic393]

LMAO

[Nate]

What kind of cookie? Girl Scout Thin Mint? Duncan Hines Soft Batch? Sorry, people tell me I need to lighten up.

OMG, I love to freeze the Girl Scout Thin Mints and eat them when they are super cold. Those are the best cookies. We saw some girl walking down the street with her mom one day who had a cart full of them. We got on the PA and were like "hey little girl, give us some cookies!"

[bandaidpatrol]

If he's getting cookies... I want some too.

Which reminds me of something I should blog about..

[hfdff422]

I hate this argument. It is so divisive. There are areas of the country that really do require volunteer squads, 30 runs for fire and EMS combined for a township is not likely to need paid personnel. There are vollies that cover counties almost as big as some of our smaller states with these run loads.

Cities do require full time staffing. Period. It really does not matter if those people are paid or not, as long as they are within arms reach of their busses. That is if those volunteers approach it in the professional manner that is required. Professional does not mean paid, it means serious, dedicated, competent, and capable. I have 70 hours of EMS training this year (remember, it is only March) and more than 100 in fire training and I am a volunteer only (yes, I am already FF2/EMT-B/Hazmat ops). That is not as much EMS training as someone who is career EMS (if it is shame on you) but it is comparable with most career FD short bussers (I know- whole other can of worms). I am competent to provide BLS level care, and probably more. Would it make sense for me to be a medic- no, I would not be able to keep up with it, but it would be reasonable to get my intermediate cert. I will wait though until I we go paid and just get my medic, there is no point in getting the intermediate at this point.We are a growing township in a quickly growing county, and we are now in the process of pushing for a FD merger and territory, because we need full time bus and engine coverage instead of one or the other we currently have paid. So when we go paid many of these volunteers will become full time, then are they good enough? even thoght the run volume is the same.

If the issue is with training, I tend to agree that the sense of obligation is not there in all people. But those that are truly professional should be commended. Those career people who show up just to get paid are just as much of a scourge as those volunteers who do not advance their training (notice the word advance, as opposed to just keeping up with). I noticed the argument of "volunteers pick and choose their runs"- sadly this is true, far too many volunteers will pick and choose and they should be run out of the service. I have gotten up from "relations" with my wife to go bus the suicidal idiot who had us out previously on Christmas eve searching in muddy fields for him when he was actually hiding in the house (told SD that he was losing conciousness in a tree line), and would do it again. But when the Box is toned out those choosers better get the hell out of my engine seat. :arrow: :!: :!:

If the issue is response time, then there is still room for the second due to be volunteer, and that would allow for cost saving with fast first due response.

If you feel there is no room for volunteers who are only half commited, then you are correct. If you think that cities and large towns should pay for public safety, you are also correct. If you feel that there is no room for volunteers, then you are sadly mistaken.

[Asysin2leads]

Eliminating volunteer EMS would eliminate a lot of problems in EMS. But I still think volunteer services, in some areas, are still required.

[akflightmedic]

Emergency Responders Stretched Thin

(AP) _ The head of Emergency Medical Services in North Dakota says the workload has increased but the number of providers has remained the same or dropped.

Tim Meyer says rural emergency service operations are struggling, with nearly 20-percent of the volunteers over age 60 statewide.

He also says the services in the western part of the state have quite a distance between towns.

Meyer sees more consolidation to provide 24-hour service.

He says the state has 65-hundred emergency service providers, with 90 percent of them volunteers. He says they handle about 50-thousand calls a year.

[Ridryder 911]

Again, the debate may not be "eliminating volunteers"...but; change the roles of the volunteers. Use them as the first responders to stabilize or initiate care.

R/R 911

[chazmedic]

Some areas simply cannot afford a staffed EMS crew. Low call volume, low tax base, low transfer ability. I know of a small town north of us that has had several ALS services come in, then pack up and leave in 6 months because they were not making money. The town purchased a used ambulance and put it in the vol FD. They try to pay EMT's to staff the unit 24 hours a day.

The city FD I work for responds an engine to every EMS call to assist the medics with the patient. We provide BLS until the ALS unit arrives. The interesting thing is if we do not get dispatched, the medics usually request that we are dispatched to assist. We have a good working relationship and try to help each other out. And the majority of us do not want to take over EMS. We like it separate.

[Dustdevil]

Some areas simply cannot afford a staffed EMS crew.

You might wanna read the previous pages before you make such a silly statement. You are grossly incorrect.

[chazmedic]

Trust me, the area I am talking about does not have the money. This has been going on for 10 years. If the people refuse to pay, what can you do? Their hospital shut down 6 months ago and in today's paper their own lawyers are suing for payment.