Tri-State PSE
Member
charlie82 said:Sounds like the ambulette driver was driving too close/not paying attention. It is rare in my area to see a good private EMS crew. In fact I have never seen one. I would never ever trust my life or that of a family member with one of those guys. In my region, the good crews get municipal jobs. I feel especially bad for the patient on board who had no control over the situation.
Rofocowboy84 said:I worked private EMS for 3.5 years and there were a lot of us who weren't as horrible as you seem to think. Want to know why we didn't go to the 911 side? $$$ That's why, not because we couldn't, because we didn't want to. Don't get me wrong, there are a bunch in private EMS who are worthless, but not all of us are...
LightBars4Sale.com said:not to mention the multi - colored hair - and facial piercings
JohnMarcson said:The reason this isn't in the line of duty death section is because it was a medi-van/ambulette/wheelchair van not an ambulance. In Ohio that person is trained in CPR and licensed as a taxi or limo driver basically. The vehicle is inspected by OMTB ( http://omtb.ohio.gov/Checklists/lettecheck.pdf ) . The ambulance company may run it, but it is by no means an EMS vehicle... Oddly enough in Ohio private ambulance are subject to inspection, muni ones aren't. I have noticed EMS crew quality varies significantly from service to serive, but haven't noticed a trend outside of appearance in private vs paid vs muni 3rd vs fire etc.
It's too bad someone in medical transportation died. Let's stop debating whether their shirt was tucked in at the time.
charlie82 said:Sounds like the ambulette driver was driving too close/not paying attention. It is rare in my area to see a good private EMS crew. In fact I have never seen one. I would never ever trust my life or that of a family member with one of those guys. In my region, the good crews get municipal jobs. I feel especially bad for the patient on board who had no control over the situation.
charlie82 said:It is rare that I have seen quality crews in my area. I define quality as possessing multiple facets:
There are certianly 911 crews that do not meet standards, but in my observations, the rate is much lower in most areas in which I have worked. I have found very few private crews who consistently meet all of the above requirements. There are, however, many 911 crews who do. Certainly good and bad cases exist on both sides, but I think it is better on the 911 side. I have also not heard of private companies that are paying better than 911 services in my area? Perhaps that's just a Montgomery County thing.
LightBars4Sale.com said:not to mention the multi - colored hair - and facial piercings
Must be your state, because regardless of the company, they were a certified EMT. It doesnt matter where you work, the training is the same. There is no private EMT cert or municipal cert. :duh:charlie82 said:Sounds like the ambulette driver was driving too close/not paying attention. It is rare in my area to see a good private EMS crew. In fact I have never seen one. I would never ever trust my life or that of a family member with one of those guys. In my region, the good crews get municipal jobs. I feel especially bad for the patient on board who had no control over the situation.
theroofable said:Must be your state, because regardless of the company, they were a certified EMT. It doesnt matter where you work, the training is the same. There is no private EMT cert or municipal cert. :duh:
FireEMSPolice said:Actually, I am of the mind that EMS should be private, or at least a 3rd service. I often get sick of seeing firefighters go to EMT or Medic school for no other reason then to be a firefighter. I dont think firefighters should be forced to be EMS workers unless they want to. Its because of this reason I see some darn good private EMS workers. Its where their heart is.
5309 said:thats because they all jumped on the post 9/11 band wagon. want the fame and glory but dont care about anything else.
yea but you know... That person might just happen to be the Best Darn EMT OR Paramedic there is. Shouldnt judge them by appearance.
RBRONKEMA GHTFD said:What happens when you go on vacation some where and something happens and you need a ambulance? Around here its all private ambulance companies. Just remember not everywhere you go has department run ambulance company. If you are in need you basically get who is closest, unless otherwise specified, but most pts who are priority 1s don't really care whos coming aslong as they are going to get cared for. I do feel bad for the pt aswell.
charlie82 said:Not all municipal EMS is fire based. My county is mostly strictly municipal EMS.
charlie82 said:You have no idea how ems works. You may take the course but that does not make you a good EMT. All doctors have MDs or DOs does that mean they are all amazing? NO. In my area private companies run inter-facility NOT 911. In places where they do run 911, that is different, they tend to be better. If you want to see it, go sit outside a philly hospital. These guys are a bunch of hacks.
theroofable said:No huh? I guess im not an EMT, oh wait... So if private and municipal services have the same qualifications, what makes one better than the other? To me, they are both paid, and both are equally trained.
Dont judge everyone, judge your area, dont say private ambulance companies suck. Say they suck where you are. I dont say that municipal ambulance companies suck just because my town has a private one and there isnt a municipal ambulance. :nono:
charlie82 said:Sorry, to be the best you have to look the part. Doctors and nurses in hospitals dont get to look this way, why should we. You can do all the skills you want, but if your patient does not trust you, you may as well be worthless.
5309 said:i disagree... You have to build the ra-pore with your patient to get them to trust you??
If your agency doesn't require you to have a hair dress code then it shouldnt matter. All agencies are different.
So if my agency want us to be clean shaven and squared away i am suppose to be better suited for the job than the medics and EMT's in the next county over who can have beards and goe-tees? Or wear there hair down than up in a pony tail?
charlie82 said:I will also rephrase. By private I mean interfacility and nursing home only. Not 911. So I guess there are technically private companies that run 911, not in my area though (except for non profit ambulance associations with municipal names)
Klein said:I work for a 911, non-fire, county based, non profit, EMS service. We run the 911 calls for the NW part of my county. No fire, no city, no transfers, just 911 calls. We have a city to the south with a FD/EMS system and the EMTs that are crap, are the ones that want to be a FF. I get that. I would hate to be forced to care for a patient when I want to fight fire But some of the transfer services we have are good. We actually have a transfer company that will mutual aid if we get busy. They use our medical director and same protocols. They are top notch. Most others in the city and county...well, you will be lucky to see both crew members wearing the same uniform with the patches on correctly.
5309 said:i disagree... You have to build the ra-pore with your patient to get them to trust you??
If your agency doesn't require you to have a hair dress code then it shouldnt matter. All agencies are different.
So if my agency want us to be clean shaven and squared away i am suppose to be better suited for the job than the medics and EMT's in the next county over who can have beards and goe-tees? Or wear there hair down than up in a pony tail?
So this brings about another question. What about volunteers? If I take a call today, I haven't shaved since Wednesday morning, because I don't want to. I'm not going to stop and shave before I go on a call.charlie82 said:If services do not have appearance requirements, they should. It is disrespectful to be with a patient when you are 2 days out of a shave
charlie82 said:I will also rephrase. By private I mean interfacility and nursing home only. Not 911. So I guess there are technically private companies that run 911, not in my area though (except for non profit ambulance associations with municipal names)