I am a paramedic at a large private EMS company in metro Detroit. In the past year or so, there have been several cities who have lost ALS transport and in at least one case lost the ENTIRE fire department due to lack of money in that city. With private EMS taking over.
Before I begin my rant and dive into the subject, I will say this. I am a paramedic and very proud of it. I have no interest in performing the duties of a fire fighter, never have, never will. Furthermore I have an immense amount of respect for those who will run into somewhere that everyone is running out of. I will be right there waiting to render any assistance to them or whoever they rescue. With that said, as these departments have lost their transport abilities, meaning they lost men due to layoffs and positions not filled / eliminated due to attrition or retirement. When this happens, it is like clockwork the fire department goes to the media and says that the city and its citizens are now going to be in danger because "professional" firefighters will not be responding to medical emergencies. This is where I begin to see red. It has been implicated that the quality of service from private EMS is sub-par. It has been said that the individuals who are employed by these companies are all criminals and cannot do the job as well. It has been said several times that because the private companies are not union, the quality of service is not what you will get from the fire department.
My response to this is simple. I have the same training. I passed the same exam. I hold the same license to practice. I operate under the same protocols. There are no special schools that fire fighter / paramedics go to. They go to fire school, which has little to no medical training involved (my wife is a fire fighter). Then they go to paramedic school. There are no special certifications, and there is nothing different between what I learned in medic school and what anyone on a fire department learned in medic school. The difference. I became a paramedic to be a paramedic. How many firefighters became medics because it was a requirement of the job?
I will say in fairness there are differences. Lets start with staffing. When a private EMS firm shows up for 911 calls, it is just the two in the truck. Some cities run fire as first responders, some run non transporting ALS, some just pick and choose what calls they want to go on. Some don't show up at all. Anyways... those 2 crew members will typically make $25k - $35k generally speaking. There is no pension for those folks, the benifit packages are less, and depending on if it is a for profit or non profit, they have a 401-k or 403-b that do not cost the employer anywhere near the legacy costs of pensions / health benifits. When a fire department shows up, typically speaking 3-4 firefighters pop out of the rescue, and an engine rolls up with another 2-3 guys. Needless to say, those guys make more.
Next, lets talk about the trucks. Most fire departments have medium duty ambulances with kneeling capabilities. Some do use type III ambulances but a majority are the larger trucks. The private companies generally speaking have type II van type ambulances with some using type III mods. There is a cost difference there.
I figure I probably outta bring this to a close. I hate being told that because I am private, non union that my work is lower quality. I take pride in what I do, as do many of those I work with and have met at other companies. I love caring for the people, and do what I was trained to do to the best of my abilities. This is not an example of private companies forcing out city workers, it is simple economics and numbers. There are too many cities that simply cannot afford to run ALS transporting departments and the immediate as well as legacy cost involved. The fact of the matter is that none of us want to see someone lose a job, especially a fellow medic. Don't take it out on the folks on the ambulances. If there is someone who needs to take the heat for job losses, take it to city hall. The people there who have not seen anything cut out of their budgets, nor are their positions ever in danger are the ones to blame. If you lost your job because of a situation like this, please, knock on our doors. We will welcome you in with open arms. Yes there are more rules, yes the pay is lower, yes we do IFT from time to time, but its better than unemployment. Lets all just get along for god sakes!
** end of rant ** :wacko:
Before I begin my rant and dive into the subject, I will say this. I am a paramedic and very proud of it. I have no interest in performing the duties of a fire fighter, never have, never will. Furthermore I have an immense amount of respect for those who will run into somewhere that everyone is running out of. I will be right there waiting to render any assistance to them or whoever they rescue. With that said, as these departments have lost their transport abilities, meaning they lost men due to layoffs and positions not filled / eliminated due to attrition or retirement. When this happens, it is like clockwork the fire department goes to the media and says that the city and its citizens are now going to be in danger because "professional" firefighters will not be responding to medical emergencies. This is where I begin to see red. It has been implicated that the quality of service from private EMS is sub-par. It has been said that the individuals who are employed by these companies are all criminals and cannot do the job as well. It has been said several times that because the private companies are not union, the quality of service is not what you will get from the fire department.
My response to this is simple. I have the same training. I passed the same exam. I hold the same license to practice. I operate under the same protocols. There are no special schools that fire fighter / paramedics go to. They go to fire school, which has little to no medical training involved (my wife is a fire fighter). Then they go to paramedic school. There are no special certifications, and there is nothing different between what I learned in medic school and what anyone on a fire department learned in medic school. The difference. I became a paramedic to be a paramedic. How many firefighters became medics because it was a requirement of the job?
I will say in fairness there are differences. Lets start with staffing. When a private EMS firm shows up for 911 calls, it is just the two in the truck. Some cities run fire as first responders, some run non transporting ALS, some just pick and choose what calls they want to go on. Some don't show up at all. Anyways... those 2 crew members will typically make $25k - $35k generally speaking. There is no pension for those folks, the benifit packages are less, and depending on if it is a for profit or non profit, they have a 401-k or 403-b that do not cost the employer anywhere near the legacy costs of pensions / health benifits. When a fire department shows up, typically speaking 3-4 firefighters pop out of the rescue, and an engine rolls up with another 2-3 guys. Needless to say, those guys make more.
Next, lets talk about the trucks. Most fire departments have medium duty ambulances with kneeling capabilities. Some do use type III ambulances but a majority are the larger trucks. The private companies generally speaking have type II van type ambulances with some using type III mods. There is a cost difference there.
I figure I probably outta bring this to a close. I hate being told that because I am private, non union that my work is lower quality. I take pride in what I do, as do many of those I work with and have met at other companies. I love caring for the people, and do what I was trained to do to the best of my abilities. This is not an example of private companies forcing out city workers, it is simple economics and numbers. There are too many cities that simply cannot afford to run ALS transporting departments and the immediate as well as legacy cost involved. The fact of the matter is that none of us want to see someone lose a job, especially a fellow medic. Don't take it out on the folks on the ambulances. If there is someone who needs to take the heat for job losses, take it to city hall. The people there who have not seen anything cut out of their budgets, nor are their positions ever in danger are the ones to blame. If you lost your job because of a situation like this, please, knock on our doors. We will welcome you in with open arms. Yes there are more rules, yes the pay is lower, yes we do IFT from time to time, but its better than unemployment. Lets all just get along for god sakes!
** end of rant ** :wacko:
