If the City of Salisbury really wanted to save tax payers money they would meet with the volunteers to see what their needs were and what they could do to recruit and retain good volunteers. Then let the ambulance and EMS be completely separated from the fire department and ran as a third service. When this is done you will see astronomical savings.
Let the current firefighters and paramedics re-apply for their jobs and take the best qualified paramedics. If any firefighters are EMT's and are in school to become paramedics then keep them. Any firefighters that want to stay just firefighter EMT's are not worth the hauls. It's obvious they don't want to advance and to become a good provider. They just want to ride the big red fire truck. If that is the case then tell them to move to Salisbury and become a volunteer firefighter at one of the 3 stations.
Hire an EMS Chief with experience and let him or her be a separate department head in the city. Third service EMS agencies are the best option for Salisbury.
Find a good qualified fire chief for the volunteers and have him or her make recruitment and retention a high priority. Find good qualified volunteers and discontinue chasing the ambulance with a fire truck just to run up calls or so the little fireman can say I am command.
If that doesn't work then hire a coordinator to run the fire department and be the liaison to the mayor and council.
Sell the fire boat, the Haz Mat trailer and the oversized tower truck. The 2 trucks in the city are all they need. The air truck and the multiple SUV's can be sold as well.
Get rid of the current paid chief and deputy chief.
Maybe because EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE "FIREMAN" ARE ALSO MEDICALLY LICENSED. Each and everyone is also either a Maryland licensed EMT, CRT, or Paramedic. It's a requirement of employment.
Also every single one if those medical assists you see are either dispatched as a Delta or Echo level call. These are calls of the highest severity. Therefor the typically require more than just 1 person in the back of the ambulance providing care. So they also dispatch a fire engine which is ALWAYS staffed with another paramedic, not to mention each fire truck is equipped and Maryland certified as an ALS (Advanced Life Support) unit. To not only help with getting the patient into the ambulance but also help with additional patient care interventions. Oh and contrary to popular belief, every single fire department in the county has a medical assist dispatched for Echo calls, and nearly all have it dispatched for a Delta level call as well.
Stop believing everything you read that's posted by someone who has absolutely no experience or knowledge on how a 911 center or fire/EMS department runs and operates. It's about the same as the morons who voted for Obama because the believed all the liberal media hype. Do your own research, oh and maybe you should actually spend some time at a fire/EMS department before you post so many uniformed comments about something neither you nor the host blogger knows anything about.
You have to have them because the volunteers seldom handle calls. Medical is part of every departments call volume because the public expects it. Firefighters are cross trained to handle fire , medical and anything else that comes up. You certainly don't have an understanding of todays fire service judging by your comments everyday.
Exactly, I was criticized once because I tried telling the sheeple that not all fire calls actually involve a fire. They can't grasp the concept that ANY 911 call the requires the response of any peice of fire apparatus also requires a fire incident number, thus being a fire call.
There are some who believe the fire apparatus should never leave the firehouse unless the whole house is a blaze. Even then they think one engine can handle the Civic Center fire. You hit it on the head with the lack of knowledge and experience of the fire service. They don't want to know. Its easier to complain about something they know nothing about, than take the time to find out. Shoot,then aim.
Anyone in the know can tell you that volunteers everywhere are less active. They're hard to find and harder to keep. No Fire Chief in this country has the recipe for recruitment and retention. Whether an urban setting like PG county or rural Somerset volunteer firemen are dwindling. Salisburys system of combination career/volunteer is probably smarter than you give it credit for when it comes to service and cost effectiveness.
As I professed before ; put a BLS ambo in every firehouse to be manned by the volunteers. This way they could handle the first emergency, be it medical or fire related. By the way could someone let the blog readers know what are the fire chiefs professional qualifications- both educational and certifications held.
Anonymous said... You have to have them because the volunteers seldom handle calls. Medical is part of every departments call volume because the public expects it. Firefighters are cross trained to handle fire , medical and anything else that comes up. You certainly don't have an understanding of todays fire service judging by your comments everyday.
July 29, 2014 at 3:26 PM
You are wrong, not all departments chase ambulances. The ones doing it now is because of job security. In fear of losing paid firefighter jobs because there are no fires.
Since when does the public expect a fire truck to respond on ambulance calls? Because you say so? Most people that see a fire truck show up say I called for an ambulance not a fire truck. All the fireman do is stand around and maybe lift the stretcher to make it look like they are needed.
Paid firemen are not needed, but paid paramedics are needed. That is a proven fact.
You wannabe firemen do everything you can to protect your jobs so you can ride around on fire trucks to get your cookies off blowing intersections with lights and sirens.
Anonymous said... Anyone in the know can tell you that volunteers everywhere are less active. They're hard to find and harder to keep. No Fire Chief in this country has the recipe for recruitment and retention. Whether an urban setting like PG county or rural Somerset volunteer firemen are dwindling. Salisburys system of combination career/volunteer is probably smarter than you give it credit for when it comes to service and cost effectiveness.
July 29, 2014 at 4:20 PM
LMAO Salisbury does nothing to recruit or retain volunteers and you know it. Something tells me you are an employee of the Salisbury Fire Department.
Ironically you mention PG County, but I see you forgot to mention Kentland. 100% Volunteer 100% of the time.
Medical, Medical, Medical and the city of Salisbury thinks we need all those paid firemen. What part of fireman says medical?
ReplyDeleteIf the City of Salisbury really wanted to save tax payers money they would meet with the volunteers to see what their needs were and what they could do to recruit and retain good volunteers. Then let the ambulance and EMS be completely separated from the fire department and ran as a third service. When this is done you will see astronomical savings.
ReplyDeleteLet the current firefighters and paramedics re-apply for their jobs and take the best qualified paramedics. If any firefighters are EMT's and are in school to become paramedics then keep them. Any firefighters that want to stay just firefighter EMT's are not worth the hauls. It's obvious they don't want to advance and to become a good provider. They just want to ride the big red fire truck. If that is the case then tell them to move to Salisbury and become a volunteer firefighter at one of the 3 stations.
Hire an EMS Chief with experience and let him or her be a separate department head in the city. Third service EMS agencies are the best option for Salisbury.
Find a good qualified fire chief for the volunteers and have him or her make recruitment and retention a high priority. Find good qualified volunteers and discontinue chasing the ambulance with a fire truck just to run up calls or so the little fireman can say I am command.
If that doesn't work then hire a coordinator to run the fire department and be the liaison to the mayor and council.
Sell the fire boat, the Haz Mat trailer and the oversized tower truck. The 2 trucks in the city are all they need. The air truck and the multiple SUV's can be sold as well.
Get rid of the current paid chief and deputy chief.
Problem solved!
@ 1:50
ReplyDeleteMaybe because EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE "FIREMAN" ARE ALSO MEDICALLY LICENSED. Each and everyone is also either a Maryland licensed EMT, CRT, or Paramedic. It's a requirement of employment.
Also every single one if those medical assists you see are either dispatched as a Delta or Echo level call. These are calls of the highest severity. Therefor the typically require more than just 1 person in the back of the ambulance providing care. So they also dispatch a fire engine which is ALWAYS staffed with another paramedic, not to mention each fire truck is equipped and Maryland certified as an ALS (Advanced Life Support) unit. To not only help with getting the patient into the ambulance but also help with additional patient care interventions. Oh and contrary to popular belief, every single fire department in the county has a medical assist dispatched for Echo calls, and nearly all have it dispatched for a Delta level call as well.
Stop believing everything you read that's posted by someone who has absolutely no experience or knowledge on how a 911 center or fire/EMS department runs and operates. It's about the same as the morons who voted for Obama because the believed all the liberal media hype. Do your own research, oh and maybe you should actually spend some time at a fire/EMS department before you post so many uniformed comments about something neither you nor the host blogger knows anything about.
You have to have them because the volunteers seldom handle calls. Medical is part of every departments call volume because the public expects it. Firefighters are cross trained to handle fire , medical and anything else that comes up. You certainly don't have an understanding of todays fire service judging by your comments everyday.
ReplyDelete@ 3:26
DeleteExactly, I was criticized once because I tried telling the sheeple that not all fire calls actually involve a fire. They can't grasp the concept that ANY 911 call the requires the response of any peice of fire apparatus also requires a fire incident number, thus being a fire call.
There are some who believe the fire apparatus should never leave the firehouse unless the whole house is a blaze. Even then they think one engine can handle the Civic Center fire. You hit it on the head with the lack of knowledge and experience of the fire service. They don't want to know. Its easier to complain about something they know nothing about, than take the time to find out. Shoot,then aim.
ReplyDeleteAnyone in the know can tell you that volunteers everywhere are less active. They're hard to find and harder to keep. No Fire Chief in this country has the recipe for recruitment and retention. Whether an urban setting like PG county or rural Somerset volunteer firemen are dwindling. Salisburys system of combination career/volunteer is probably smarter than you give it credit for when it comes to service and cost effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteAs I professed before ; put a BLS ambo in every firehouse to be manned by the volunteers. This way they could handle the first emergency, be it medical or fire related. By the way could someone let the blog readers know what are the fire chiefs professional qualifications- both educational and certifications held.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteYou have to have them because the volunteers seldom handle calls. Medical is part of every departments call volume because the public expects it. Firefighters are cross trained to handle fire , medical and anything else that comes up. You certainly don't have an understanding of todays fire service judging by your comments everyday.
July 29, 2014 at 3:26 PM
You are wrong, not all departments chase ambulances. The ones doing it now is because of job security. In fear of losing paid firefighter jobs because there are no fires.
Since when does the public expect a fire truck to respond on ambulance calls? Because you say so? Most people that see a fire truck show up say I called for an ambulance not a fire truck. All the fireman do is stand around and maybe lift the stretcher to make it look like they are needed.
Paid firemen are not needed, but paid paramedics are needed. That is a proven fact.
You wannabe firemen do everything you can to protect your jobs so you can ride around on fire trucks to get your cookies off blowing intersections with lights and sirens.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteAnyone in the know can tell you that volunteers everywhere are less active. They're hard to find and harder to keep. No Fire Chief in this country has the recipe for recruitment and retention. Whether an urban setting like PG county or rural Somerset volunteer firemen are dwindling. Salisburys system of combination career/volunteer is probably smarter than you give it credit for when it comes to service and cost effectiveness.
July 29, 2014 at 4:20 PM
LMAO Salisbury does nothing to recruit or retain volunteers and you know it. Something tells me you are an employee of the Salisbury Fire Department.
Ironically you mention PG County, but I see you forgot to mention Kentland. 100% Volunteer 100% of the time.