Honolulu paramedics fired over vehicle use reinstated after flawed probe

DrParasite

DrParasite

The fire extinguisher is not just for show
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Are they SSM?
 
I mean, at my part time service, I live in the service area, so as long as my partner is cool with it and we remain available, I'm allowed to take the ambulance to my house. But that's if I need to get something at home or let the dogs out, rather than sleeping at home instead of in quarters
 
M3dicalR3dn3ck said:
I mean, at my part time service, I live in the service area, so as long as my partner is cool with it and we remain available, I'm allowed to take the ambulance to my house. But that's if I need to get something at home or let the dogs out, rather than sleeping at home instead of in quarters
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10+ years ago, I lived in my service area, and it was not uncommon for me to swing by my house to pick up stuff. Lunch, change of cloths, cell phone charger, etc. In addition, I worked in a semi-SSM system where I didn't have a base station, it was not uncommon for us to chill at my apartment. still available for calls, just we didn't need to be sitting in the truck for 12 hours straight. If was on a single responder vehicle, and I want to go home and have dinner with my spouse/family, while still in my service area and available for any calls, why should anyone care?

As for this topic, I don't care that they took the vehicles home (provided they were in service and available for calls), however I do have an issue with this part: "employees unplugg[ed] vehicle trackers."

Personally, I don't care where field units go, provided they are in their response area and available for calls. And if they need to leave their response area for a quick detour (getting food, clean bathroom, restock equipment, etc), as long as they let dispatch knows of their plans and why they are going (as it might impact the closest unit dispatch for an emergency call), I have better things to do than micromanage them.

However, if they are damaging or disabling the vehicle trackers, then that shows intent, and they knew they were doing something improper, and they deserved to be terminated. Maybe there are security concerns with leaving a vehicle outside of a home overnight.. but considering trucks are often parked outside, I think that's a really weak argument. But the intentional disabling of a vehicles tracking system? sorry, that's enough for me to say they should go.
 
I'd be annoyed if I was the neighbor and the crew brought the ambo home, then went Code3 from their driveway at 2AM.
 
Summit said:
I'd be annoyed if I was the neighbor and the crew brought the ambo home, then went Code3 from their driveway at 2AM.
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We used to have a station in a fancy mobile home park… We DID soft drives in and out, but I’m sure it was annoying.
 
DrParasite said:
10+ years ago, I lived in my service area, and it was not uncommon for me to swing by my house to pick up stuff. Lunch, change of cloths, cell phone charger, etc. In addition, I worked in a semi-SSM system where I didn't have a base station, it was not uncommon for us to chill at my apartment. still available for calls, just we didn't need to be sitting in the truck for 12 hours straight. If was on a single responder vehicle, and I want to go home and have dinner with my spouse/family, while still in my service area and available for any calls, why should anyone care?

As for this topic, I don't care that they took the vehicles home (provided they were in service and available for calls), however I do have an issue with this part: "employees unplugg[ed] vehicle trackers."

Personally, I don't care where field units go, provided they are in their response area and available for calls. And if they need to leave their response area for a quick detour (getting food, clean bathroom, restock equipment, etc), as long as they let dispatch knows of their plans and why they are going (as it might impact the closest unit dispatch for an emergency call), I have better things to do than micromanage them.

However, if they are damaging or disabling the vehicle trackers, then that shows intent, and they knew they were doing something improper, and they deserved to be terminated. Maybe there are security concerns with leaving a vehicle outside of a home overnight.. but considering trucks are often parked outside, I think that's a really weak argument. But the intentional disabling of a vehicles tracking system? sorry, that's enough for me to say they should go.
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Admittedly, I missed the part about vehicle trackers becoming disabled. I will agree that disabling location tracking not only demonstrates intentional call-dodging/work avoidance, and should be grounds for termination. It's more than an administrative and dispatch issue, it can potentially become a safety issue.

Adding insult to injury, the crew members involved ruined the ability to swing by home for everyone else who lives in or very close to the service area. That is if I understood the part about new policies correctly.
 
Huh, this is the first I'm hearing about it. No one at HFD has said anything, and hadn't heard anything thru the grapevine with the regular EMS crews we see on calls *shrugs*

So no idea if this was a regular ambulance crew or a Rapid Response (SUV, often with a single medic) or other

But I can say Honolulu EMS doesn't typically do SSM. All their units have regularly assigned stations, I think they can be relocated to cover another station if a unit is out of service for an extended period of time, but outside a few particularly outlying stations where the 2nd in unit is 15-30 plus minutes away, and to the best of my knowledge isn't commonly done outside that
 
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