Fire or Ambulance District? Which do you prefer?

Fire Based EMS or Ambulance District?

  • Fire

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Ambulance District

    Votes: 9 100.0%
  • Total voters
    9
SplintedTheWrongLeg said:
I can totally see that. St. Louis County is majority fire based EMS and the suburbs and rural areas are Ambulance districts. What's kinda funny is that even where I live we have an Ambulance District, but most of our firefighters are ALS equipped now. They had so many Medics applying for BLS Fire jobs that they just decided to carry ALS equipment on their trucks. Fire jobs are RIDICULOUSLY hard to get out here.
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Like 90% sure STLFD hires non fire fighters for their ambulances. But otherwise, yea it's majority fire based.
 
DEmedic said:
As long as he gets issued turnouts and an IAFF sticker for the back of his Chevy 2500, life will be good.
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WTF!!??? I literally just bought a Chevy 2500, joined the local VFD and bought a SNOW PLOW!!!

Way to stereotype and point out that I fit in it....LOL.
 
I left Florida in August...kept my house there but relocated to my "retirement" house.

I, AK, as of August 2016 am now an official Maniac. I have used the plow once already and we have wicked storm hitting Sunday and continuing through Monday...school and everything has already been cancelled in advance.
 
I am adding more chapters to my already varied experiences...now in a small town on a VFD and am the second paramedic in the area. The first one has been around for years and, well ummm, I am gonna upset the regime for sure to say the least! LOL
 
akflightmedic said:
I am adding more chapters to my already varied experiences...now in a small town on a VFD and am the second paramedic in the area. The first one has been around for years and, well ummm, I am gonna upset the regime for sure to say the least! LOL
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Sounds like a fun little side gig
 
All part of my grander plan....those who know me personally, know what I speak of.

Sorry for thread derailment. :)
 
I enjoy that my service focuses on providing medical care. We have the tools needed to provide that care in a variety of environments, because that is what we do. Fire based EMS makes EMS just one of many jobs, and to me at this point in my career I just want to be good medic. The fact that I don't issued bunker gear or have tools on the ambulance really does not sadden me that much (they give us other nice clothes.) Our people are really good at EMS, which is good for me. The local fire based places are not. They might have a few good providers, but on the whole they are merely average.

That is not to say I would never work on an ambulance that says FIRE on the side. Some places that I want to live come with that compromise, one day we shall see.
 
VentMonkey said:
A valid point worth highlighting, IMO.
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Hard to be as good at the #1 responsibility of your job if you spend most of your training time learning about only 20% of your job...
Fire-based EMS has some benefits. EMS-focused training is not generally one of them.
 
This may attract some scrutiny as I wear both fire medic and private transport medic hats:
When I work as a fire medic, I try to get a good idea of what is going on while assessing for (and treating) the few conditions that need attention before moving to the ambulance (unstable dysrhythmias, low BGL etc). I do not try to dictate how continued treatment during transport will be conducted nor do I waste time at scene as I complete "my assessment". My goal is to determine if the pt is stable enough for the move to the ambulance and if not, I make efforts to correct that. I generally do not start IVs at scene unless I think I need to put something in them. If I ride in, I try to assist the transport medic unless they seem obviously overwhelmed and then I will retain care
I believe this comes from the fact that when I transport, that's what I (ideally) want from the fire medics at scene; I want to show up, get a basic idea of what's going on and get on my way. I want to determine how that pt arrives at the hospital and what tx has been rendered.


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gotshirtz001 said:
This may attract some scrutiny as I wear both fire medic and private transport medic hats:
When I work as a fire medic, I try to get a good idea of what is going on while assessing for (and treating) the few conditions that need attention before moving to the ambulance (unstable dysrhythmias, low BGL etc). I do not try to dictate how continued treatment during transport will be conducted nor do I waste time at scene as I complete "my assessment". My goal is to determine if the pt is stable enough for the move to the ambulance and if not, I make efforts to correct that. I generally do not start IVs at scene unless I think I need to put something in them. If I ride in, I try to assist the transport medic unless they seem obviously overwhelmed and then I will retain care
I believe this comes from the fact that when I transport, that's what I (ideally) want from the fire medics at scene; I want to show up, get a basic idea of what's going on and get on my way. I want to determine how that pt arrives at the hospital and what tx has been rendered.
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In an all ALS system, I would venture to guesss this is the ideal approach to being an effective engine paramedic, and hardly see any reason for scrutinizing this method.

I am also willing to bet most of the interactions with the transport paramedics in your area appreciate this, which in turn would produce a smooth well-oiled call, and environment.

Of course, this is all hypothetical:rolleyes:.
 
StCEMT said:
What do you mean? Medic vs ff is basically the same pay range? Compared to other departments though, they arent paid as well if that's what you meant.
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(temporary) thread hijack:

Could you give a quick overview of how EMS works within the St. Louis FD?

What's the in-house culture between the fire guys, and single roles?

It seems like they hire almost constantly. I looked at them briefly when I was a new paramedic as well.
 
StCEMT said:
What do you mean? Medic vs ff is basically the same pay range? Compared to other departments though, they arent paid as well if that's what you meant.
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FF Private at $32,981—$ 51,168 versus medic at $34,164 - $51,272, you're right. I would quibble wit how the top range is roughly the same, though, unless you're promoting your medics somehow (considering that FF private is probably for the true entry level FF)?
 
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