999:What's Your Emergency

[Martyn]

Click on the 'Free User', wait a couple of seconds and watch...THIS is how it's done, you're hurt...call 999 and you get (wait for it)...AN AMBULANCE!!! You are getting mugged...call 999 and you get (wait for it)...THE POLICE!!! Your flat (apartment) is on fire...call 999 and you get (wanna guess?)...A FIRE TRUCK!!! This is how it should be done, none of this fire/ems or police/fire BS

http://www.putlocker.com/file/FF6F681C61A24EC8#

 

[NYMedic828]

Not sure what I am missing here...


Where I come from, if I call 911 and ask for the police, I get the police. If I call to report a fire, I get the fire department...

 

[Frozennoodle]

When I dispatched I was with police. 911 rang to our call center and we would then transfer the caller to EMS or Fire if it wasn't a police matter and monitor the call incase we needed to roll or if it was a medical we would call fire and roll them while EMS was still taking the call.

 

[Chris07]

Honestly, besides the cool video I don't know what the point of this topic is? To bash (yet again) the fire/ems, police/ems, sanitation/ems (joke) combination services that make up most systems in the US? This seems to be a very HOT topic around here lately. Having read several threads that have turned into the fire-based ems vs third service/private ems debate I'm personally a little tired of it. In all honesty, I'm with you. I believe a dedicated third service is better than say a fire/ems combination system, but if you want to know everyone's opinion on the matter, just look at the other topics that have erupted into this exact debate.

Even if all 18,500 members of EMTLife hated fire-based EMS, I doubt the entire country would scrap that model and implement third services (especially if the IAFF has a say in it). I mean look at how we view education here. It's almost unanimous around here that educational standards need to improve for EMS to improve, yet it seems that the system has to crash before anything is done about it.

The public and policy makers don't care. As long as an ambulance shows up and there is a person with a bunch of medical equipment, they're perfectly happy. It doesn't matter to them if the ambulance says "Podunk County Fire Dept." or "Podunk County EMS".

 

[fast65]

Like others, I'm a little confused about what the point of this topic is? Our dispatch center does police/fire/EMS without too much of an issue. However, we don't have priority dispatch, but that's another issue.

Neat video though, thanks for posting it.

 

[Martyn]

Honestly, besides the cool video I don't know what the point of this topic is? To bash (yet again) the fire/ems, police/ems, sanitation/ems (joke) combination services that make up most systems in the US? This seems to be a very HOT topic around here lately. Having read several threads that have turned into the fire-based ems vs third service/private ems debate I'm personally a little tired of it. In all honesty, I'm with you. I believe a dedicated third service is better than say a fire/ems combination system, but if you want to know everyone's opinion on the matter, just look at the other topics that have erupted into this exact debate.

Even if all 18,500 members of EMTLife hated fire-based EMS, I doubt the entire country would scrap that model and implement third services (especially if the IAFF has a say in it). I mean look at how we view education here. It's almost unanimous around here that educational standards need to improve for EMS to improve, yet it seems that the system has to crash before anything is done about it.

The public and policy makers don't care. As long as an ambulance shows up and there is a person with a bunch of medical equipment, they're perfectly happy. It doesn't matter to them if the ambulance says "Podunk County Fire Dept." or "Podunk County EMS".

Yep

 

[CFal]

I volunteer with a third service, but I have no problems with fire based ems. It really depends on the needs of the town.

 

[CFal]

also, did I hear them say they will get an ambulance in about an hour?