Seattle Fire Dept Ride Along

[emt27]

I know the policy that SFD has on ride alongs (found on their website, I cant post links yet). It seems pretty straight forward, but I was wondering where the best place to request to ride would be. I'm from a fairly rural community in WA, so I was thinking it might be a great opportunity to see how EMS/Fire work in a very large system. I was thinking it would be kind of cool to ride out of the Medic One HQ in Harborview, if SFD would allow it. My goals are to see stuff that's rare in a rural system, and again to see how larger systems work. I'm a fairly new EMT (took class in spring, had state cert since early october), so i'm just trying to get a feel for what's out there.

 

[NomadicMedic]

Either medic 1 or medic 10. Both are busy.

Or, ride with a South King KCM1 medic.

 

[emt27]

I have no idea how their system works over there, but I thought it might be really interesting riding out of harborview since it's the only level 1 trauma center around here.

 

[leoemt]

What you will see is on the BLS side is a lot of AMR. Seattle Fire doesn't transport BLS.

On the ALS side you will see everything from diabetic calls (ALS has to do glucometry in King County) to Cardiac Arrest. Most of the Medic calls I have been on have been diabetic or ALOC related. Truama wise not really anything you wont see anywhere else, just a higher volume.

Seattle Medics are busy but its mostly medical stuff. I think you will enjoy it. You can go here http://www2.seattle.gov/fire/realTime911/getDatePubTab.asp and see number of calls they go on. Anything that is a "7 per rule" is CPR.

If you do end up riding you may get me showing up to one of your calls as AMR transports a lot of stable ALS patients as well.

 

[NomadicMedic]

If you actually want to see EMTs and Paramedics working together in a busy system, go ride along at ALS in Yakima.

Seattle fire EMS is just not a great example of cooperative EMS.

 

[emt27]

What you will see is on the BLS side is a lot of AMR. Seattle Fire doesn't transport BLS.

On the ALS side you will see everything from diabetic calls (ALS has to do glucometry in King County) to Cardiac Arrest. Most of the Medic calls I have been on have been diabetic or ALOC related. Truama wise not really anything you wont see anywhere else, just a higher volume.

Seattle Medics are busy but its mostly medical stuff. I think you will enjoy it. You can go here http://www2.seattle.gov/fire/realTime911/getDatePubTab.asp and see number of calls they go on. Anything that is a "7 per rule" is CPR.

If you do end up riding you may get me showing up to one of your calls as AMR transports a lot of stable ALS patients as well.

I'm coming from a system where there is always an ALS response to all calls in our district. All transporting is done by a private, and our medics go along in their rig if it's ALS transport. Our call volume is 5500-5700 calls a year, so nothing compared to Seattle, but quite busy for our community. A lot of our calls are falls (geriatric, retirement community), diabetic distress, ALOC, chest pain. Vast majority of our calls are medical, very few serious trauma calls. Only ones I've been on have been caused by falls, so head lacerations, abrasions, finger fractures, etc.

That website is very cool btw, had no idea they had that. Whats the reason for using "7 per rule" for CPR calls?

If you actually want to see EMTs and Paramedics working together in a busy system, go ride along at ALS in Yakima.

Seattle fire EMS is just not a great example of cooperative EMS.

I almost wouldnt mind seeing a system thats pretty different from my own. Like i said above, calls in our district always get an ALS response with BLS private response (if available, which ~95% of the time they are), with private transporting. Yakima definitely sounds like a good place to ride though for a more high volume system than my own.

 

[NomadicMedic]

The "med 7" dispatch is for CPR manpower. A medic unit, engine and aid car. A battalion usually self assigns, as well. They also dispatch a "med 5" response for potentially violent patients.

I'm curious what you want to see? Are you just interested in riding in a big city? Because sick people are the same everywhere.

 

[emt27]

Mostly how EMS systems in bigger areas work. If I can't get on with the private service out here then i'll have to start looking elsewhere for work. So mostly a higher volume of calls, a different system. I've heard medics here say that you can get the same amount of experience in 3 months in a bigger city that would take 3 years here. That's probably an exaggeration, but the point is valid. I like our system out here, my dept is awesome and our protocols are fairly progressive, but it never hurts to see how other departments do things and learn from the perspectives of different EMTs/Medics.

Is the number in 7 per rule, 5, etc, the number of people sent?

 

[NomadicMedic]

Mostly how EMS systems in bigger areas work. If I can't get on with the private service out here then i'll have to start looking elsewhere for work. So mostly a higher volume of calls, a different system. I've heard medics here say that you can get the same amount of experience in 3 months in a bigger city that would take 3 years here. That's probably an exaggeration, but the point is valid. I like our system out here, my dept is awesome and our protocols are fairly progressive, but it never hurts to see how other departments do things and learn from the perspectives of different EMTs/Medics.

Is the number in 7 per rule, 5, etc, the number of people sent?

Yes. CPR is dispatched as a "med 7 response". That means at least 7 fire department folks. If you do ride with Seattle, pay close attention to the choreography of cardiac arrest resuscitation. I'm not a huge fan of the Medic One system, but they do have SCA resuscitation down to an art form.

If you're just looking to see "new stuff", you'll probably be disappointed with Seattle. No IOs. No CPAP. A huge disconnect between ALS, fire EMTs and private EMTs. It's got some really good points, but you have dig for the gems.

If you want a completely different view, ride with an agency outside of Washington. If you can, make a trip to the Midwest, Texas or the east coast. It's a whole different mindset and will give you a new perspective on how EMS can be delivered.

 

[emt27]

Yes. CPR is dispatched as a "med 7 response". That means at least 7 fire department folks. If you do ride with Seattle, pay close attention to the choreography of cardiac arrest resuscitation. I'm not a huge fan of the Medic One system, but they do have SCA resuscitation down to an art form.

If you're just looking to see "new stuff", you'll probably be disappointed with Seattle. No IOs. No CPAP. A huge disconnect between ALS, fire EMTs and private EMTs. It's got some really good points, but you have dig for the gems.

If you want a completely different view, ride with an agency outside of Washington. If you can, make a trip to the Midwest, Texas or the east coast. It's a whole different mindset and will give you a new perspective on how EMS can be delivered.

I can see a lot of the more advanced stuff out in my own system, so i'm not super concerned with that. Would be awesome to see how they works codes though. I've only been on 3 so far, but it would be great to see how the EMTs over there work on them and see if it's different from what we do here.

I don't have a lot of opportunities to travel, but if I do I'll definitely try and make a ride along part of it.

 

[leoemt]

Yes. CPR is dispatched as a "med 7 response". That means at least 7 fire department folks. If you do ride with Seattle, pay close attention to the choreography of cardiac arrest resuscitation. I'm not a huge fan of the Medic One system, but they do have SCA resuscitation down to an art form.

If you're just looking to see "new stuff", you'll probably be disappointed with Seattle. No IOs. No CPAP. A huge disconnect between ALS, fire EMTs and private EMTs. It's got some really good points, but you have dig for the gems.

If you want a completely different view, ride with an agency outside of Washington. If you can, make a trip to the Midwest, Texas or the east coast. It's a whole different mindset and will give you a new perspective on how EMS can be delivered.

I wouldn't say there is a larger disconnect between us private folks and the Seattle Folks. Maybe things have changed since you were here but I have had nothing but good experiences with Seattle thus far.

I was at a chest pain that was cleared by medics as not being Cardiac so we were taking the patient. The medic provided me a strip and asked me if I knew what I was looking at. He took about 5 minutes to explain the strip to me. I had another medic explain to me why his partner was giving an IV to a Hypoglycemia patient.

The Medic students at Harborview are always helpful to us as well.

As for Fire, I have never had an issue with them. I have always found them to be respectful to us. Though I can tell you their patient care is directly related to how interested in EMS that particular Firefighter is.

 

[NomadicMedic]

I'd say wait until you've been there a year or two. You're still pretty new to the whole thing.

 

[Luno]

leoemt, it is always easier to accept a clearly defined role, rather than to let your assumptions of self importance dictate your disappointment. Unfortunately, too many EMTs do not understand the vision of the Medical Director as it pertains to their role, and where exactly they fall into the continuum that is EMS. This leads to high burn out rates, overall disappointment and in extremis a toxic reaction to the system. As someone who has been involved in one role or another with EMS in King County for 10 years, they are pretty good at what they do, and how they do it. Is there room for improvement, absolutely! Is there other countys/jurisdictions that I think they are making significant strides in? Absolutely, but the key is to know your role and to get a glimpse of the bigger picture.