God, this is beyond beating the dead horse!
Why do people insist that 2 people who have completed a 120 hour first aid course can effectively deliver high quality pre-hospital emergency care? Especially when there is a known entity out there that can far exceed that level of care.
It can be done in most communities, you just have to prioritize resources and get a little creative. As I have now said 3 times in the last month, if the two poorest counties in the State of Texas can do it, yours can too probably. As my favorite little Floridian pointed out, every primary 911 ambulance in Florida is ALS. The proof is there!
Here is a little personal story that I like to tell people when they feed this BS.............
Back in 2000, I was working in a very poor rural county in east Texas that had a small part-time ALS service (1 truck, ALS staffed about 60% of the time) that wanted (and desperately needed) to expand. The notion was rejected by the county citing a lack of financial resources. Ironically enough, 3 of the county fire departments had a budget of $100K+ and were replacing apparatus on an alost yearly basis. Now, yes some of these trucks needed to be replaced as they were 20+ years old. However, suitable used replacements were sourced at an economical cost. The departments however pissed and whined about why they needed a new truck for their less than 100 runs per year volume (EMS meanwhile was running 500+ per year with surrounding counties having to pick up an additional 200). So the county allowed each of them to buy a $150k fire truck (when they could have gotten a reliable used one for under $75k). When it was all said and done, the final sticker was over $600K!
After organizing some data, providing recent statistics of mortality for various ailments, and basically justifying the need for better service, the idea was again considered. Then we effectively showed the excessive spending and under utilization of their new half million plus fire apparatus, plus the unneeded $20-40k spent by the departments for additional training never utilized nor needed.
That county received 24/7 ALS coverage with 3 units immediately after the next board meeting! The county was able to divert almost $200k per year from uneeded fire budgets over to a much needed EMS budget. Add to it effective billing, grants, and happy employees that ensure a low turnover, and they today have a well established ALS service.
Just one example, but one that can be commonly applied throughout the US. How much money does your fire service have? Does it truly need it? Maybe, maybe not...............
