EMS independant of fire or joint?
- Thread starter Afflixion
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am not here to start an argument or bash anyone, but here is my 2 cents worth from past experience and talking with fellow EMS brothers and sisters:
1) An independent ambulance service, either paid or volunteer is the way to be. In my area, there are very few services that are attached to the fire service. There was some volunteer ambulance services that were a part of the fire dept, but broke away. There was two paid fire departments in the county that ran ambulances, but dumped them, one was in the late 80's, the other in the early 90's. The fire companies want the ambulance to either save their jobs, or use the money to buy fancy equipment while treating the ambulance people like s*** and giving them piss poor equipment. The fire dept can care less, as long as it is bringing them in money.
2) In my town where I volunteer, our ambulance is independent from the fire service. I first joined the fire dept, then later on the ambulance. I used to get harassed by my fire company because I joined the ambulance. The one time I was at a fire company meeting and I got pulled aside and was asked why when we had a working fire in town that I was with the ambulance instead of the fire company. Talk about leaving a bad taste in one's mouth.
This is my opinion, like I said I am not here to offend anyone here or bash the firefighters that are here, because I am one myself. In my area that is the way it is.
1) An independent ambulance service, either paid or volunteer is the way to be. In my area, there are very few services that are attached to the fire service. There was some volunteer ambulance services that were a part of the fire dept, but broke away. There was two paid fire departments in the county that ran ambulances, but dumped them, one was in the late 80's, the other in the early 90's. The fire companies want the ambulance to either save their jobs, or use the money to buy fancy equipment while treating the ambulance people like s*** and giving them piss poor equipment. The fire dept can care less, as long as it is bringing them in money.
2) In my town where I volunteer, our ambulance is independent from the fire service. I first joined the fire dept, then later on the ambulance. I used to get harassed by my fire company because I joined the ambulance. The one time I was at a fire company meeting and I got pulled aside and was asked why when we had a working fire in town that I was with the ambulance instead of the fire company. Talk about leaving a bad taste in one's mouth.
This is my opinion, like I said I am not here to offend anyone here or bash the firefighters that are here, because I am one myself. In my area that is the way it is.
James 61
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In response to the original question. (I hope this is what you were wanting to know.)
I'm really new to this field so I may not have all my info completely correct but here goes. In Clark Co WA the majority of fire and ambulance is completley seperate with two exceptions.
AMR provides the ambulances through contract with the County. The fire depts do the fire fighting thing and respond to medical calls but do not transport.
The two exceptions that I am aware of is Camas FD which has their own ambulance service and also provides that service to Washougal. I don't know how the staffing works. I've been told (I'm fairly confident in my info) that AMR backs them if they are already tied up and can't respond.
The other exception is District 13/NCEMS. I took my EMT ourse through them and what I figured out is that they are a both a FD and a EMS agency. I think they have one command structure but they have both EMS and FF staffs. You can belong to either or both but don't have to be both if you don't want to. They also have a volunteer SAR team and you can be a part of the EMS and/or fire or just a volunteer. It makes for an interesting mix but from what I have seen it works very well for the rural communities they serve.
The SAR team I belong to used to operate an ambulance staffed by volunteers many years ago but we got out of that before my time. Not sure why but operating costs, changes in required equipment and age of the ambulance I'm sure were contibuting factors. Also the areas we provided services to is less rural and increasingly suburbun and I think the creation of a single large fire district had something to do with that.
I'm really new to this field so I may not have all my info completely correct but here goes. In Clark Co WA the majority of fire and ambulance is completley seperate with two exceptions.
AMR provides the ambulances through contract with the County. The fire depts do the fire fighting thing and respond to medical calls but do not transport.
The two exceptions that I am aware of is Camas FD which has their own ambulance service and also provides that service to Washougal. I don't know how the staffing works. I've been told (I'm fairly confident in my info) that AMR backs them if they are already tied up and can't respond.
The other exception is District 13/NCEMS. I took my EMT ourse through them and what I figured out is that they are a both a FD and a EMS agency. I think they have one command structure but they have both EMS and FF staffs. You can belong to either or both but don't have to be both if you don't want to. They also have a volunteer SAR team and you can be a part of the EMS and/or fire or just a volunteer. It makes for an interesting mix but from what I have seen it works very well for the rural communities they serve.
The SAR team I belong to used to operate an ambulance staffed by volunteers many years ago but we got out of that before my time. Not sure why but operating costs, changes in required equipment and age of the ambulance I'm sure were contibuting factors. Also the areas we provided services to is less rural and increasingly suburbun and I think the creation of a single large fire district had something to do with that.
DV_EMT
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SB county-
Air Ambulance - Cal Star 7 (stationed in Santa Maria)
AMR - Ambulance
County Fire - Fire Dept only - EMT's and Paramedics
City Fire - Fire Dept only - no paramedics
I dislike it because AMR runs a monopoly on the city... hence the idea of starting a separate ambulance company that does thing differently
Air Ambulance - Cal Star 7 (stationed in Santa Maria)
AMR - Ambulance
County Fire - Fire Dept only - EMT's and Paramedics
City Fire - Fire Dept only - no paramedics
I dislike it because AMR runs a monopoly on the city... hence the idea of starting a separate ambulance company that does thing differently