Those serve also who only drive around and wait..."

mycrofft

mycrofft

Still crazy but elsewhere
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Does working exclusively with interfacility transfers (IFT) mean you work in prehospital EMS (PEMS)?

While trained and eager to respond and act, is it realistic?
 
Nope. They are an integral part of the healthcare system, but I wouldn't call it prehospital EMS, I would call it interfacility transport.

It's rarely an emergency.
 
But I still welcome them here, especially since I was one once.:cool:
 
Agreed, no emergency involved.
One more step towards defining the slippery term "EMS" (which I like to refer to as PEMS since we usually think about ambulance drivers:rofl: and firemen :rofl: calling back to Ramprt General for orders).

:P
 
What about ALS IFT? If you're taking someone from a community hospital to the city that is a mess, is that not an emergency? I bet the sending facility thinks so.

BLS IFT maybe not so much. I don't have to use my toes to count how many times I've diverted to an ED on a transport.

Though the majority of my call volume is not really EMS, we still do 911 backups for the city and occasionally catch calls while covering the 911 town when the medics are out. We have many healthcare (and otherwise) facilities who call us instead of 911 because we get there faster, are nicer, and provide CPR and First Aid classes at a reduced rate.
 
Tigger said:
What about ALS IFT? If you're taking someone from a community hospital to the city that is a mess, is that not an emergency? I bet the sending facility thinks so.

BLS IFT maybe not so much. I don't have to use my toes to count how many times I've diverted to an ED on a transport.

Though the majority of my call volume is not really EMS, we still do 911 backups for the city and occasionally catch calls while covering the 911 town when the medics are out. We have many healthcare (and otherwise) facilities who call us instead of 911 because we get there faster, are nicer, and provide CPR and First Aid classes at a reduced rate.
Click to expand...

SO you can be EMS and have a percentage of IFT.
 
Farmer2DO said:
I do IFT and 911 for the same company. Many of the transfers I do are in fact emergencies. I take a lot of sick, sick patients. So I disagree with you there.
Click to expand...

Good point. The term "Urgent BLS" comes to mind...
 
I remember IFT's called by nursing homes where we were supposed to "load and go" and let the pt die in our hands rather than on their statistics.
 
Perhaps a categorical distinction between IFT and critical care transport might be warranted -- IFT for stable patients, CCT for unstable? Or is that too broad?
 
abckidsmom said:
Nope. They are an integral part of the healthcare system, but I wouldn't call it prehospital EMS, I would call it interfacility transport.

It's rarely an emergency.
Click to expand...
What she said. nursing home 911's don't count, because if the patient is sick, the SNF should call 911 not the IFT company. CCT is a completely different animal.
 
DrParasite said:
What she said. nursing home 911's don't count, because if the patient is sick, the SNF should call 911 not the IFT company. CCT is a completely different animal.
Click to expand...

Except that around here, most SNFs do not, they call their contracted provider. From us they automatically get medics on more calls than they would from the city (if no medics than they get me and my BLS truck). Same response time if not better, and our medic trucks can take vented patients on their vent instead of just bagging them.
 
I work ALS IFT currently.

SNFs call us for their emergencies. Most are not emergencies. The patient is not capable of an RMA. It ends up being a transport to the ER. NO need to bother the already busy 911 system with this nonsense. It has more to do with SNF politics etc

Occassionally, these patients are legit emergencies. Usually the SNF are requesting ERs that not appropriate to the needs of the patient. I just nicely divert to the correct facility. Yes 911 should have been called but I am there. Oh well. Local 911 doesnt care. I have the same tools and training. I do what got to do.

Occasionally get flagged down for MVAs and other outdoor stuff. Doesn't look good when your an ambulance and you bipass them. End up doing the job if life threatening or pass it off the local BLS bus.
 
firecoins said:
I work ALS IFT currently.

SNFs call us for their emergencies. Most are not emergencies. The patient is not capable of an RMA. It ends up being a transport to the ER. NO need to bother the already busy 911 system with this nonsense. It has more to do with SNF politics etc

Occassionally, these patients are legit emergencies. Usually the SNF are requesting ERs that not appropriate to the needs of the patient. I just nicely divert to the correct facility. Yes 911 should have been called but I am there. Oh well. Local 911 doesnt care. I have the same tools and training. I do what got to do.

Occasionally get flagged down for MVAs and other outdoor stuff. Doesn't look good when your an ambulance and you bipass them. End up doing the job if life threatening or pass it off the local BLS bus.
Click to expand...

Local 911 loves and praises privates who come when the SNFs call. When I drive past our SNF on off hours and see a private ambulance there, I sigh and head back to the station, happy with all the sighing in the world.

I've worked in IFT, and I've worked a public utility model that included IFTs. It's good stuff, a necessary service, and somewhere you can learn a LOT.

The CCT IFTs are to IFT what ICUs are to hospitals. Where the fun is at. :)
 
We have many healthcare (and otherwise) facilities who call us instead of 911 because we get there faster, are nicer, and provide CPR and First Aid classes at a reduced rate.[/QUOTE]

Wow! I would love this. The SNFs around here get an ETA from any number of private transport companies that is simply too long for them, so they call 911. We routinely transport non-emergent SNF calls to the ED, and sometimes they go to the waiting room.
 
Trashtruck said:
Wow! I would love this. The SNFs around here get an ETA from any number of private transport companies that is simply too long for them, so they call 911. We routinely transport non-emergent SNF calls to the ED, and sometimes they go to the waiting room.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do not see how anyone loses in this arrangement. Dispatchers and management have enough backbone to tell a facility that our ETA is too long and to call 911 instead if there are no units available.

All of this is perfectly legal mind you, so long as (in Boston at least), the facility and ambulance service have a contract signed ahead of time. If it's a contracted facility, it is not illegal to provide primary ambulance service there.
 
Acronyms!:wacko:
 
Well, one. RMA. Like REW?
 
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