Pound-wise and Penny Foolish?
The City of Elgin announced yesterday (although I just saw it today), that they’re seeking information about outsourcing some ambulance and paramedic jobs. Mike Danahey from the Courier News wrote a good assessment of the situation, from what I replied with a personal experience I had (albeit, 10 years ago). I was asked to share this on Elginet.
I just posted this on Facebook…
When I had my accident 11 years ago, the hospital I was at let me lay on an ER table for over 10 hours with an open fracture of the Tibia. After them not doing anything, my wife demanded I be moved. They called a private ambulance company to transport me to Good Shepard. First…..to move me (and I think I weighed 345 at that time), they sent 2 100lb (soaking wet) little girls. They barely got me INTO the ambulance. Then once we go to GSH, I had to wait for over 30 min…IN the ambulance, with nothing more than a bedsheet covering my open wound, while the ambulance company dispatched another ambulance to assist them in getting me OUT of the ambulance and into the ER. They didn’t make the call until we’d arrived. Even as Dilauded out as I was…..I was livid, and in pain!
The moral of the story is this….Corporations doing business AS ambulance services will ALWAYS make the call that involves $$$ over what SHOULD be done in some cases . It’s a business, and they’re IN business to make money. Anyone who tells you otherwise, is BS’ing you however you cannot lump in these factors when it comes to Air Med services and personnel now, and please don’t take this as a slight to the Private Ambulance industry. This is about a dynamic of safety and lives vs. dollars in critical situations.
Fire departments and their personnel’s first responsibly is life and safety. $$$ are the farthest thing from their mind. They’re there 24/7 because that’s what they do. Pull 1 person from their crew and replace them with someone who hasn’t worked, slept and trained with them, and you’ve only increased the workload for the others….but you did save a buck or 2.
I think we’re headed for disaster if they do this and I sure as hell hope when it falters, it isn’t when I need em.
Also shared on Facebook ()and reposted with her permission) is a story from
Maura Wood Maschinski, who wrote:
Speaking as a long-time Elgin resident, when my husband had a near-fatal fall from our 40 ft roof, he was taken by private ambulance (standard practice) from Sherman Hospital to Loyola University Medical Center. During the transport, he suffered a catastrophic pulmonary embolism (blood clots to the lung). Personnel on the private ambulance were unable to provide the proper care, because they were not advanced life-support (ALS) trained paramedics (as Elgin Fire Dept are). So, instead of a hip/femur/pelvis repair, he was placed in intensive care/critical condition, for many weeks to follow. On the flip-side of that coin, had Station 5 personnel not been so quick to arrive on the scene and not ALS/paramedics, there is no question, Sam would have died. This is an unacceptable choice, when attempting to save the city money, when you should be in the business of saving lives. Regardless, of the costs.
I’d be interested in hearing peoples’ opinions on this. Feel free to post your comments below.
I have lived in Elgin, in the busiest fire and police district, for almost 27 years. I am also proud to say, I am an Elgin Police and Fire Dispatcher, for 16 of those years. As citizens, we have always been provided with excellent police and fire protection, services beyond compare. We deserve to have that protection, and have it remain the superb quality we have come to expect. To maintain that level of professionalism, the city leaders cannot continue to chip away at lifesaving services, police protection, fire prevention, advanced life support ambulance care, including dispatchers and the Communications Center. I am grateful, to have a job/career with our city, that has allowed me to provide for my family. But, everyone, including all the above mentioned, deserve to be paid for a job well done. And, if we don’t do our jobs well, lives suffer.
January 7, 2012 at 11:45 pm
I am an Elgin homeowner and taxpayer. My career started as a contract paramedic. Currently, I work as a full time union firefighter/paramedic for a local municipality.
My response to this article is to say there are good contract paramedics and bad, just like in anything else. The good are fit, empathetic, intelligent individuals anxious to start their careers as paramedics in one of the best jobs in the world. These people typically spend the minimal amount of time necessary as contract paramedics while interviewing and testing for municipal union firefighter/paramedic positions. Why is that? Better working conditions, opportunity for advancement and the ability to be a full contributing member of a professional organization – your local fire department. So, if the few quality people on contract ambulances are simply waiting for a better opportunity, who else does that leave? Those that can’t meet the rigid standards of full time municipal fire departments. Those that realize, due to their abilities or lack thereof, the sub par pay and dead end opportunities of working as a contract paramedic are as good as they’re ever going to get. And finally left, are those who simply have no aptitude or interest in responding to emergencies that involve fire, hazardous materials, water rescues or vehicle extrication – all things that the personnel on your local fire department are trained in and excel at.
My point in all this is very simple. If my mother were to have a heart attack today, I’d want her being cared for by the best people with the most experience. That is not a private ambulance. No disparagement meant, but it is what it is. We need to understand what contract ambulances are: A way to cut corners that will prevent you from benefiting from the years of experience present in your fire department. That should make you mad. If elected officials are telling you that there will be no change in the standard of care you will receive when you dial 911 – they are lying to you.
As resident of Elgin and also someone who has an inside understanding of the issue I implore everyone to press elected officials to economize in ways that don’t effect our health or safety. In the end the only thing that will prevent them from seeing this as a dollar equation will be us.
January 9, 2012 at 9:59 am
I have great sympathy for people who have had bad run in’s with the private ambulance biz, yet I am an employee of one as a paramedic. Granted, I am not the owner, so for me, I do my job my with integrity and professionalism without the thought of how much money will be brought into the company. I want people to understand that everyone of our ambulances go through the same state inspection as the 911 guys and have the same equipment, and even more due to our critical cardiac calls we do. I took the same state paramedic class as everyone else and learned the same as all the 911 buffs. I would love to be on a fire dept, but me and thousands of others are applying for the same position.
I constantly am studying my “Standing Medical Orders,” as well as have done critical cardiac calls, using equipment they don’t teach you in class, with all the confidence any other paramedic would. I also did my paramedic internship ride-time at a busy local fire dept and learned a great deal. Granted, I understand private ambulances don’t do as many critical calls as 911, but most of the calls fire dept’s get, are basically the same when it comes to the EMS side.
I take pride in my work and always treat every patient the same, no matter the nature of the call. While I understand many on the private ambulances employ people who do not care, mainly because the pay is low and benefits sometimes are lacking, but some FF/Paramedics are rigid and unhappy, even though they have the benefits and perks with being fulltime.
I understand that a private ambulance running 911 in the city of Elgin is a scare to the public, but I believe its mainly because the city has always had fully staffed, 911 ambulances provided by the tax payers, but there are MANY towns that use privates and its become the norm. I beleive if those (private) paramedics went through in depth Continuing Education (which we already do,) and constant training, they would provide as well of care, as the people of Elgin already have come to expect.
I am sorry for the bad care some have gotten from privates, but there are many great employee’s who do what needs to be done and do it right.
The stereotype, just is not fair.
January 22, 2012 at 8:17 am