System Status Management - SSM

[cruiseforever]

I have read in many posts that SSM is bad or evil. I feel that there are many types of SSM and to label all types of deployment as SSM is wrong.

I agree if you start your shift and are sent to a street corner and then moved a short distance to post because of another unit getting a call is not wise. But if you are at post or base in a very slow area and resources are low it makes sense to me to shift coverage to give everyone a fair response time.

I know there are some very bad types of SSM out there. The service I work for was one of them. But a few years ago they saw the light. Yes when we get down on units we move to a street corner. Might happen 2-3 times in a 16 hour shift. Used to be hours on end.

Even Fire Depts. will use it when they run out of trucks. They will have another department come and cover some of their stations.

Am I just goofy?

 

[Sasha]

Yup.

 

[JJR512]

What the heck is "SSM"? Supersadomasochism?

 

[Sasha]

What the heck is "SSM"? Supersadomasochism?

System status management. I like your definition better.

 

[usalsfyre]

What the heck is "SSM"? Supersadomasochism?

With Jack Stout acting as King Dom...

Flexible deployment is one thing. SSM is another. Any one who tells you it's designed to do anything other than save money is blowing smoke up your @ss. From the ludicrous claim of "predicting where the next call will be" (ask a statistician how good that works with a five year data set) to the refusal to recognize that vehicle wear and tear, employee sick days, injuries and turnover are all increased by sitting in a truck for 12-16 hours at a whack SSM is one of the worst things to ever happen to EMS. Or as Kelly Grayson puts it, it's "why high performance EMS systems use paramedics for fuel".

 

[JJR512]

System status management. I like your definition better.

Ah, I see. I also see the thread title now says that. I'd swear it didn't before...Did I miss it or was the thread title changed? Anyway, I've never heard of it. I don't think I've ever experienced it...when I worked for private companies, if we had no calls to do, we either waited at wherever the last call ended to get another one, or the dispatcher would sort of guess.

 

[46Young]

@OP, Jack Stout tried to say that every dept uses SSM to some extent. Read myth #7:

http://www.stouts.org/jack/EMS/JEMS0489.htm

Many depts use "flexible deployment," mutual aid fil ins, or whatever you want to cal it. Shifting units to the next station to cover a momentary coverage gap is not the same thing as predicting calls, and moving units to certain locations expecting these calls to come in.

Read the truth about SSM here:

http://www.emsworld.com/print/EMS-World/EMS-Myth-7--System-Status-Management-lowers-response-times-and-enhances-patient-care/1$2030

I experienced SSM firsthand working for my former hospital based EMS employer on the IFT side (the 911 side was NYC EMS, which is controlled by FDNY). We went from five buses to three, if no one banged in. Where we might get 2-3 hours of downtime on average, now we were constantly having to move to different posts. Many of us worked multiple jobs, and could use the rack time if there were no calls. One crew gets a call, and the other two had to relocate. More often than not, the emergent STEMI, balloon pump, vented sedated neurosurgical txp, trauma txp, etc would come in close to where the bus was previously posted. In addition, if we had spikes in call volume, our three buses could be tied up real fast. Our CCEMT-P supervisor would have to run the call with one of our dispatchers, leaving only one in comm. We had to turf out a lot of business due to the unavailability of our units. We saw increased vehicle maintenance costs, increased fuel costs, increased bang ins for the overnights, and several tenured members left the dept in disgust. We paid the highest in the area, too. We even had our CCT bus running routine x-fers to keep from turfing out those calls. That's why the sup. had to run several calls a night.

They had to keep increasing the number of buses they ran at night, which went back to five, go figure. there's no excuse as to why an EMS agency should not seek to provide adequate staffing and deployment. If I was an employee in that type of system, I would get together with my peers, and take as much time as possible to turn over each call. By working feverishly night after night to turn over calls to get back in service, all you're doing is artificially reducing response times, making the decision to go SSM look like a wise one. Matter of fact, I'll say that any FT employee in a dept that chooses to understaff and underdeploy their fleet with respect to call volume, should not try and help them out by working as fast as possible to turn over calls (at the ED, not during pt care). Take a little time with PPW, meticulously decon the bus after every call, etc. If the dept shows low response times, they have no reason to add units. If response times are on the rise (I know that response times aren't the end all be all, but that's what depts use when factoring deployment), they have to add units. Of course, add on to a critical call, though.

I would have to be pretty desperate to work for a place FT that does SSM.

Every time a dept uses SSM, Jsus kills a kitten.