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Car Accidents
Maybe a stupid post, but here it goes.
When we get a MVA in our county our dispatchers use their discretion to page out Fire and EMS. Our dispatchers don't have medical training neither do some our Deputies.Yet they are the ones making the decision to cancel us. It has happened on rollovers and multicar accidents. I feel it is going to bite someone in the rear soon. just looking for some thoughts on this..
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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A few years back we had the same issue. Since then both the FD and the PD worked it out. We get dispatched to everything but the very most minor of accidents. Most times we are turned around once a chief gets on scene, but we generally continue, usually flow of traffic just to make sure. Any time there are fluid leaks, injuries or air bag deployment we are dispatched, a 911 call warrants our dispatch as well. Most times the PD on scene will request us, based on the above criteria. Your Chief needs to sit down with Dispatch and (I'm assuming) the Sheriff's Dept. and set out some guidelines.
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Permalink Reply by masonfire30 on
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I have heard of some criteria for that multicar accidents, air bag deployment, rollovers and escaping fluids. i have dicussed this with our chief and assistant chief and they say that it's better this way then we don't have to deal with it. I just see something bad happenong in our futere
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Permalink Reply by Rod Irvine on
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we here in NZ have a 2 pump response to all MVC and are lucky cos we are the only ones that can turn us around
we respond to every thing from the most minor to the most serious .it seems to work well for us and it means tat we are rolling and on the way pretty quick .
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Well it runs counter to what we as fire departments provide, but your Chief's decision may be based on available manpower for these calls. We see a lot of MV's and they can suck up time and resources. But the reason for the sit down (as I mentioned earlier) was because there were MVA's with injuries, entrapment or other issues and we weren't dispatched until later in the incident. I guess all parties agreed that it made more sense to have us and not need us than to need us and not have us. So yes, I can see your present policy sometime down the road biting your department (Chief) in the ass.
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Permalink Reply by John Dobson on
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We have that happen alot and I have said the samething. I was told that if we were paged and disreguarded inroute make sure to note it on the report who did the disreguard. Because the one that disreguarded it owns the responsibilty of there actions.
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Permalink Reply by Gregory Borg on
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We go on every car accident, regardless of severity. The ambulance company cannot cancel us neither can the police. Going on calls (for a paid department) is what keeps us employed so we (the union) have tried to get a response on everything we can. Whether is is protecting the scene, cleaning up spills, EMS, cutting battery cables or extrication we do it. If staffing or response of your people is an issue then you have to consider that. But concern for the possible patient is a primary concern and the public deserves to have someone with some training to make that decision. Jack is right about your chief sitting down with dispatch and the sheriff, that really is the only way to solve it. We are lucky in that dispatch is part of our department, SFD employees.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Weber on
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We get tripped to everything from vehicles in the ditch to mulitlple vehicle MVA's.We run traffic control to extrication.Once we get a unit or officer on scene we run the scene.State police come out for reportable accidents but we can cancel the BLS/ALS,MA....whatever the case may be,not the dispatch center.
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One of the reasons I asked this was their was a rollover in our county person left the scene when the officers found the person they said ems not needed. The patient seen a doctor the next day took xrays and had a fractured C4 and C3 was Deformed had to have surgery MM's away from paralyzation. oh well
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Permalink Reply by Barry Copley on
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yeah we sometimes get cancelled on wrecks as well.Sometimes when we do make it to the scene if their are a lot of law enforcement on scene they'll tell us they've got it under control if the incidents not too bad.A member of our own FD was involved in a single car rollover(His Truck.lol) matter of fact he was the one who called it in.We didn't know it was his vehicle until we arrived on scene.Everyone was ok though he was taking a load of junk in when he flipped his truck.
The main problem we have though in my town is theres a Middle School up the road that their fire alarm goes off all the time and its a a nuscience because it happens atleast every other week we arrive on scene to check it out and its just some sort of malfunction.Last time it happened someone was testing the alarms and failed to report that they were "Just testing it".
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Permalink Reply by Norm Tindell on
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What about continuing to the scene even though they try to cancel you. That way you know for sure. Best way to handle that, like Jack said, is in a first responders or chiefs meeting at the county where everybody works it out together.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Tanguay on
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Our department is dispatched to all auto accidents, often just to direct traffic or to check for leaking fluids, unless PD gets there first and decides we are not needed. If its a rollover, jaws are also dispatched from mutual aid as well as Rescue. If it comes in as a crash with possible entrapment a helicopter is also put on standby. All decisions as far as cancelling or bringing more recources in is handled by the ranking FD officer or FF on scene. As we are a small dept. I have been on a few calls where I was the only FF on scene accompanied by a probie.
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Permalink Reply by Bill Anderson on
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We are dispatched on everything. If it's on the interstate we get everything from people taking a break up to the big one. S.O. and DPS will occasionally try to cancel us, but we usually continue since cross overs don't exist here.
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