Fire Crews Refuse Help to EMS On-Scene

[karaya]

The outcome of this hole-shot will be interesting:

http://www.ems1.com/fire-ems/articl...upts-after-Tenn-fire-crew-refused-to-help-EMS

 

[medic417]

Egos have no place in the field. Disputes need to be dealt with in meetings not when on scene.

 

[Sasha]

Mr. Davis said there was no indication that patient care was "compromised in any way" by the incident.

Well perhaps now it wasn't compromised, but what about the next time the chief decides to throw a hissy fit and be a child?

 

[frogtat2]

Firefighters refuse to help

After reading this article I'm really glad for the relationship EMS has with the Fire Dept.'s in my area. They are always very willing to assist us in whatever way they can. We have a mutual aid agreement with them and they respond to all of our MVA's and we respond to all structure fires.

We also have joint trainings with the Fire Dept. We get a bunch of wrecked cars, have people climb inside them and then we practice extrication. The firemen get to "play" with their tools and new ways of doing things, while we also get to practice our techniques. Its a fun experience for everyone, and makes patient care that much better.

 

[Layla_Blue]

I read a different article on this. It was the second time in a week the two had issues.

http://www.clevelandbanner.com/index.cfm?event=news.view&id=FF40744C-19B9-E2E2-67A3FE83367DE724

 

[EMTCop86]

Wow, just wow! When I was on with my FD we went out of our way to help EMS. We didn't think we were superior or better then them. We got along great and were a great team. It is hard for me to comprehend stuff like this happening when in my area something like this would be unheard of. Not to mention the fact that if you refused to help EMS or anyone else for that matter the fire captain and fire chief would hand your butt to you.

 

[jester_1269]

After reading this article I'm really glad for the relationship EMS has with the Fire Dept.'s in my area. They are always very willing to assist us in whatever way they can. We have a mutual aid agreement with them and they respond to all of our MVA's and we respond to all structure fires.

Agreed and seconded. I think most services are like that, this seems to be an exception. Why the fire chief had a bug up his *** would be beyond me.

Attitudes in the field get people killed.

 

[Ridryder911]

I hope the patient will personally file a grievance against the Fire Service. Although they may not helped, I bet they hand out to grab the money for financial and part of that was EMS training and equipment within the Fire Service.

As usual, nothing probably will come out of this... their heroes...

R/r 911

 

[RESQ_5_1]

I actually had a firefighter from one of our response ares call my District manager and complain because I "yelled" at them during an extrication at an MVC.

Here are the particulars: Called to a 2 vehicle MVC. Driver of one car has an angulated fracture of his left ankle. We controlled c-spine and proceeded with extrication with the fire crew. Got the pt boarded and were getting ready to move the board to the stretcher. As we were pivoting and starting to move towards the stretcher, my feet became tangled in the wool blanket the fire crew had put over the pt prior to extrication. I repeatedly asked them to stop (since they were continuing in the direction of the stretcher whether my feet were going or not). I was at the pt's head and realized if I went down, so was the pt. I had to repeat myself several times at gradually increasing voice volume. They finally stopped when I completely lost my balance and fell against the car, still holding the board and impeding their progress. As all this was occurring, the firecrew member that called and complained was pulling on the blanket in an attempt to get it out from under my feet. I explained to my DM that I hadn't intended to be rude, just trying to get someone's attention before we dumped our injured pt on the ground.

We have responded a few times with that crew since the incident with no hard feelings at all. I have even treated a couple at fire standbys.

 

[PapaBear434]

We have a fire captain over at our substation that I absolutely HATE working with. I am still in my ALS quals, and so still work as a basic when not working with a preceptor.

This guy hates a couple things:

1)BLS. Feels that we are under trained and have no place out there, completely neglecting the fact that 85% of his crew are only trained BLS.

2)EMS. He is one of those that thinks a separate EMS service should not exist, and Fire should just get paid more to take care of everything.

3)Volunteers. Even though we are a professional service fully incorporated and recognized, we do it for free and not-for-profit. Feels that if you aren't doing it for pay, you probably won't care enough.

4)Women. He feels that women have no place in any emergency field, and all but ignores them on scene. Even if they are the primary medic on hand.

Now, that leaves me with three out of four things that seem to piss him off. Guy will have a patient only two minutes before our arrival, complete BLS call, and will actually refuse to turn over to an EMS crew. As in, he won't tell us anything about the patient, what is wrong with them, or acknowledge our questions. He'll try to walk out without saying anything to us. He'll yell at us if we try to do our assessment if he's still in the room, because he feels like we are stepping on his toes and wasting his valuable time. If you're a woman, he won't even acknowledge you, and outright ignore you.

Funny thing is, he's not even an old-school guy. He's only in his early 40's at most. He's just an angry, antisocial putz. The rest of the substation are great guys that are friendlier than most at other stations, but the guy in charge needs to be repeatedly slapped until he talking.