is RESCUE an EMS or fire department function?

[PRPGfirerescuetech]

New people here, so im bringing this post back for another round...good discussion last time.

Should RESCUE be an EMS or FD function?

Base your opinions on some sort of tangible reasoning.

XoXo

PRPG

[Ridryder 911]

Officially, it is a joint venture, however; Fire Department is better trained, equipped an have more manpower to function at this role. As well, I am a firm believer of having a charged line, haz-mat. availability as well. This is not EMS primary role, rather after the patient is in a safe environment to render treatment.

R/r 911

[Scaramedic]

I agree with Rid its a joint venture, the medic should be with the pt and making decisions regarding their care & safety. The FD should be in charge of the logistics behind the extrication. I personally have never been the type of medic that will stand back and watch the extrication, I am usually crammed into the vehicle with the patient. :?

Peace,

Marty

:joker:

[hfdff422]

OK, this is where I feel that a fire dpeartment having EMS transport capabilities is a real assett. I work in a system that all 911 EMS is run from the FD's and I think that this is the situation that best suits that type of system. Your medic (ambulance) arrives with an engine and rescue right behind them. They are used to functioning together and know how to stage equipment and apparatus to coincide with the needs of the situation. They are dispatched together, on the same radio frequency and under the same IC. But even in this system, the medic off of the ambulance is the primary patient care provider, the engine crew is in command and does protection and will assist with other things as needed, and the recue crew does the actual extrication. So the ambulance is in charge of patient care, and the FD does the extrication. The manpower issues limit the ability of any ambulance crew from being any more involved in extrication than patient care.

[SSG G-man]

I am at a combined station and the fire side handle all the extrication. Good thing is that many are cross trained as EMTs or P's so they see the medical side of the job also. Also comes in handy when the patient is out, they can help with patient care.

Sarge

[PRPGfirerescuetech]

Im aware of what it is.

But should it be this way? Should it be a joint venture?

[SSG G-man]

I think so. Do we want ambulances with Extrication equipment? Maybe? I think the division of work is good. I especially think it is good when it is a combined service. IF there is a 3rd party EMS they might not be a well trained in extrication. I think the division of tasks is a good thing.

[tinman694]

We also do both, but we do carry limited manual tools on the rescue if they are needed (Porta Power, prybar, sawzall et al)

In the event of a rescue, the medic is in charge is responsible for pt. care at all times (read IC) when there is a viable pt. to be rescued--otherwise, the FD handles the scene, logistics, heavy tool use (jaws, shears, airbags) All EMT's or better are technical rescue trained-several are HAZMAT Techs-but we defer HAZMAT to the combined team rather than perform it 'in house'.

The idea of at least getting started in a rescue has been a good thing for us--at least you can begin to stabilize the crashed equipment (we carry cribbing) and get a better look at the scene---many times we can SAFELY extricate with the mostly hand tools on the rescue (ambulance). The ambulance is always staffed by at least a Paramedic and Driver.

The heavy rescue is still rolling to the scene for additional help if needed (It also has a 500 gal tank and 500gal pump on it along with a generator on a PTO...Got everything but a toilet--and we can make one if necessary...)

For the life of me, it would be hard to understand why a 1st response unit would not at least have some basic hand tools on board to handle simple stuff...

[madmedic8522]

in my situation we (fire/EMS) are 2 different entities, and the way we do things is the pt care is my responsibility and extrication is the fire's responsibility. we work well together in this manner. fire takes care of the "rescue", IC, LZ.....this allows me to focus on my pt(s). if i need something and I'm able to go to IC, I do. If not I have someone else make the request for me. In my district we have 3 fire departments that we work with, and all joking aside (other topics discussed here at the city) we WORK well together to get the job done.

Now with the above said, I have minimal training on extrication.....in the official sense, but we do take as much time as possible to train with the FD's to understand better how they see the same scene......this does help, it's not perfect, but it does work for us.

madmedic

[EMT857]

Around here its a joint effort. Fire takes care of the heavy tools and rescue, where EMS tends strictly to PT care. Everyone is volunteer. I know two towns over EMS will handle rescue and and pt care.