Resource management questions: 911 vs IFT

[Jim37F]

Our Third Service is funded from the County and the State, just like all the other county departments are. I do think they di some billing to recoup some costs, but are primarily funded the same way all the other depts are.

 

[NPO]

Our Third Service is funded from the County and the State, just like all the other county departments are. I do think they di some billing to recoup some costs, but are primarily funded the same way all the other depts are.

In a very different way though.

You work for a county dept (I believe), which reports to the county board of supervisors and has to play nice with the needs of the while county.

A district is a self governoring body and answers only to themselves.

 

[DrParasite]

Interesting... Third services are not common in my state so I'm unfamiliar with how they're usually funded. Is that a common way of doing it? Are you guys familiar with how other third services get their funding?

It varies really. If the third service is part of the county, then the county funds it. if the third service is part of the town, the town funds it. if the third service is a non-profit entity, or a volunteer agency, it can be funded by donations. if the third service is a district (similar to a fire district), than there is usually a tax levied on all the occupants of that district to fund the operations, and overseen by district commissioners. It varies by your state and how the laws are written.

There is an old saying: you get what you pay for. If you don't pay for something, you won't get it. If you provide crappy funding, you get crappy people (because the good people go elsewhere), crappy equipment, and crappy service. if you don't get guaranteed money, than you don't get guaranteed service. If you provide good funding, you get good people (because you can fire a bad apple knowing a good person will step up and take their place), good equipment, and good level of service.

But if you provide a free service to someone, than they will never want to pay for it. If you don't charge someone for the service, they will constantly take advantage of it since it isn't costing them anything. If it costs them something, than they have some "skin in the game," and they will make sure their money is being used well, because it's there money. So if you want to put on another truck, to provide better service, you will have to demonstrate the justification. And yes, I saw it all happen early on in my career with my first few EMS agencies.

I appreciate all the thoughtful responses! Staffing a third truck, especially a dedicated transfer truck, is something that we have been trying to make happen, although our manager seems convinced that no one would willingly staff a transfer truck.

He's probably right. seriously. however, the new people who want to work for your agency can all start on the transfer truck, until a 911 spot opens up. and since you will require them to be trained as well as the 911 staff, and maintain competencies similar to the 911 trucks, you can use them for 911 calls too. and OT is OT, whether on the 911 truck or transfer.

Many years ago, my agency expanded greatly in a short amount of time, and they were approving OT for anyone who wanted it. One of the senior medics picked up a BLS IFT shift, and while in the ER, one of the private IFT EMT made a slightly disparaging remark about a medic doing BLS IFT work. His response was "I'm getting paid OT, at $38 an hour, do to BLS IFT.... how much are you getting?" Said private EMT's tune changed quickly, and he quietly went about his business.

Many/most EMS people do not get into EMS to do IFTs; however it's very common to work IFTs until you get a job on a 911 service, or a positions opens up on a 911 truck. Or you run a closest unit system, where everyone does 911 and IFT calls, it all depends on who is up next for an IFT or who is closer to the 911 call.

 

[Tigger]

We also pitched a transfer car to the hospital that would be based there and the crew would assist as tech's in the ED as needed. They were not interested in this (they rightly wanted their own increase in internal staff), but your facility might be? It sounds like a regulatory challenge but apparently it was not for our facility. We are able to provide treatment in their ED and floor under the physician's orders if we are transferring the patient so that was their way around that.