I think that the answers to some of those questions will greatly depend on what a person's experience is with respect to the EMS system where he or she lives and works.
For example, in Maryland (at least the Greater Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area), primary EMS is provided by fire departments. There are private companies, but they mainly provide interfacility transport.
So given my experience, my answer to a question like, "Do you think a private EMS transport unit will have better response times than a fire department transport unit," would have to be No. Private companies have offices and their units respond either from there or, more commonly, from wherever they last dropped someone off. They don't have multiple locations spread all over the area at strategic locations. The system here is not set up for 3rd-party providers to have extremely quick response times. But if someone else comes from a location where primary EMS is provided by an entity other than the fire department, then they're answer to this question will probably be Yes, because that's how the system there is set up. The 3rd-party or private providers probably have multiple response locations.
Here's another question that's problematic: "Do you think that a private EMS transport unit will have more qualified and experienced paramedics than an FD transport unit?" Are you asking if I think a private EMS company has a higher number of qualified providers, or are you asking if I think a private EMS company has better providers? The question, as written, is somewhat ambiguous as to what the "more" is about. In other words, it could be interpreted as "more medics that are qualified" or "medics that are more qualified". That's two very different meanings.
Regarding that question, let me assume for a moment that you meant to ask if I think a private EMS company has EMS providers that are more qualified than the fire department's EMS providers. Again, this answer will vary depending on a person's experience. There is also some ambiguity regarding qualified for what. I'm going to assume, based on the nature of the survey, that you mean qualified to respond to emergencies and transport patients from an emergency to a hospital. Again, because I come from an area where primary EMS comes from the fire department, my answer will be that fire department-based EMS providers are better-qualified to respond to emergencies. That's there experience, so it just makes sense. On the other hand, the private EMS providers are better-qualified to manage a critical-care patient on an inter-facility transport. Most fire department EMS providers around here, for example, are unfamiliar with ventilators (unless they happen to work for a private EMS company on their off days, of course). Now, just as with the other question, the answer will probably be the reverse for someone who comes from a location where primary EMS is provided by 3rd parties. There, the fire department probably has little training and experience in EMS, so naturally the providers that do it regularly—the private companies—will do it better in those locations.
