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Should volunteer fire departments do rescue?
So recently a couple fire departments decided to go rescue and do auto extrication in their district only. I seen no problem with this because the only thing it would do is step u response time to possibley fatal car wrecks. This infuriated the Rescue squad we had in town because they lost the two busiest districts in the county. This makes me mad because we should all be doing what ever we do for the same reason "to help the citizens of our communities that are in trouble" not for the glory of saying well you cant work wit out us. Just wandering what people who live else where think about this ordeal?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Engineco913 on
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Wes, its all about the almighty dollar. They are only pissed because they are losing big revanue. They care for the patients because its their job, but with less patients they will be forced to cut back
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Permalink Reply by Ron Maddox on
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Wes,
This is a problem that I have talked to many about. In our county the DES (EMA) was running the rescue squad for years. The reason was that the money was not there for every department to recieve a set of tools. The FD would respond with the rescue squad and the local ambulance service. I am not putting them down, personally I was the Chief for about three years. What started the turn around from County Rescue Squad to the FD's were the education of local leaders and MONEY. Prime example is that one of our city councle people were at the scene of an accident and saw what we (The FD) could do, sence we were the ones that were running the Rescue Squad at that time. The next mONDAY THE CITY APPROVED $26,000 to purchase equipment needed to do rescue for the city. After that other cities in the county followed and now the Rescue Squad does specialized work, search, water rescue, etc. Everything works out but no one wants to let go of the power, unfortunatly. Be safe, and keep moving forward, it gets better.
Ron
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Permalink Reply by Bobby King on
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My County has a seperate Rescue Squad that technically is based out of the EMS although we do not do Patient Transport... Personally I believe that there is need for the Rescue squad and for VFD BOTH to be doing Extrication ... We went through the same thing here with VFDs wanting to run rescue and it upset most of the Squad Of course Madison County is all about territory although it has gotten better.. I am on both the Rescue Squad and a Volunteer FD.. I just think that We all should work together for Forward progress and get the response times down and the persons helped and saved .. up .. I think there should be More Cross training available and If One agency needs the other then There should be no hesitation about calling for help..
B King
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Permalink Reply by Liam on
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In our county the only ones with the hurst tools are the FD's. I am currently a live in while I finish my degree but also a Paramedic. When it comes to Pt. Care its the paramedic in charge. When it comes to playing with the tools I love it since I am one of 2 fire/medics at my station. I work the ambulance for pay and run the show while I am at work. I play with the toys and rip doors and roofs off in my volunteer and living conditions. There is a general understanding in our community that the volly's play while the paid guys with the training say when it becomes unsafe for the pt. The only conflict we have in the Twp. is with other types of rescues whose job it is(i.e. Trench, High Angle, Confined Space, Building Collapse).
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Permalink Reply by Tim on
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I have been in a volunteer dept. for 4 years. We have been doing rescue the whole time. As far as I know IVFD has always done rescue. We are 23 miles from the closest paid department so that only goes to figure. Our response times are a little slower than a staffed station (on the average it takes 6 minutes to get apparatus on the road) however we still make it to the scene in plenty of time to complete the job. I seem to remember in our training that it is most important to get to the scene safe and in one piece anyway. We have yet to be "too late" to a scene. So, I guess, the question "should volunteer departments handle rescues" should be answered with a resounding "Yes!". Why not allow any properly trained agency to help?
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Permalink Reply by Jim Cooper on
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Yes volunteer agencies should if properly trained and equiped to do so. We "firefighters" wether paid or volunteer are all in it for the same mission. Our district is a combination agency and I am sure it makes no difference to the victim in the mangled car or the person teatering on the cliffs edge if the rope or vehicle rescue team is paid or not paid to help them.
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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on
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We have been doing rescue since 1984; long before we could charge out-of-district for our services.
It was never about the money. It was about providing a needed service to anyone in our district or rolling through our district.
The turf wars between districts only came into being after the money became available.
So, yes; I guess it is about money.
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Brad, You are absolutely right! What is the problem here? I thought we do what we do for the sake of saving lives and property. When did it come more important to determine who gets the credit? Granted I'm not an expert, by any means, compared to some as I only have 4 years in EMS. Is it federal money these different agencies are worried about? In other words, do agencies get compensated according to their call volume? Trying to keep this relatively short, I overheard a particular incident on the radio that left me appalled. A structure fire happened in an outlying area of Grants Pass. The incident was approx. 12 miles out of town but still in GPFD's district. A rural agency responded with nothing but a type 1 engine with 3 firefighters. The rural agency was first on scene and began working the fire. An officer from Grants Pass went on scene 3 minutes later, gave his size up and then proceeded to order all apparatus from GP to stand by until the rural agency disengaged and cleared the scene. After at least 5 minutes of ranting and raving the rural crew pulled out to clear the way for GP who, needless to say, had more equipment and personnel. The structure was a total loss. It might have been anyway as when Evans Valley showed up the interior was already beyond flash over. However the structure was not fully involved yet. Still, I was appalled with the fact that these 2 agencies couldn't work together on a common ground. True, Evans Valley was short handed and had to have been close to empty on water but why couldn't GP hook their tender up to EVFD's engine therefore not interrupting the service being committed at the time? Couldn't GPFD use the resources that were already on scene and support those resources rather than make EVFD clear out all together? Is it really all about the money? This is a sad day indeed.
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Permalink Reply by Billy 2118 on
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My county has a rescue squad that gets the majority of our mva's. But I think if your dept. has the first responder training,calls should goto both depts. Whoever gets there first will assess the scene. cancell the other or work together - basically agreements should be made to help both departments. My dept. is trying to fight that battle now.
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Permalink Reply by Lawrence W on
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In my area, our personnel are trained for auto extrication as part of their firefighter training. We carry hydraulic tools and other extrication equipment on our engines. It's just part of the job for us...
Be Safe.
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Permalink Reply by dora on
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my department does all kinds of calls from mva's to medicals to structures and i think all fire departments should do rescues cause all it does is improve your training
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Permalink Reply by gary l henderson on
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are hole country is volunteer and for the longes time we have done recuses rope, car, fire it all so yes i think that a volunteer dept. should do recuses as long as they have the training. and equment.
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