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.