Rising Fuel Costs

Medic9

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How are your agencies handling the soaring costs of fuel? We have made it a policy that the rigs can only go out once during your shift to get something to eat. Since most of us are trying to help with keeping the fuel consumption down we drive our own cars or bring stuff to fix from home.
 

Ridryder911

EMS Guru
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We so far.. are not changing our routine, but I look for that to change as we routinely place $1200-$1500 of fuel a day in a small service. Unfortunately, this is going to impact rural EMS even more so. Increased costs due to mileage. as well as decreasing the ability of recruiting potential employees from other outside area.

I know this has increased our employment applicants at first, those that were commuting a long distance now wanted somewhere closer. Now as the fuel costs have increased even more & we are about 25-30 miles from the major city, it has now caused us distress as more & more employees do not want to commute that far. Also, since the costs of operations is up and reimbursement rates are not off set, I doubt raises will be issued. Again, another horrible double edged sword... this time we are the one hemorrhaging and there is no one to save us...


R/r 911
 
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rmellish

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this time we are the one hemorrhaging and there is no one to save us... R/r 911

Agreed, 6 months ago the private service I work for was spending $17k monthly on fuel for our fleet of 10 ambulances with 8 normally on the road.

The 911 service I also work for doesn't have the drive those distances and runs less trucks, but they've cut down on driving while in service.
 

EMTBandit

Forum Lieutenant
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Hasn't effected us so far at all. Everything is still as it usually goes. But I foresee some problems coming in the future.
 

jordanfstop

Forum Lieutenant
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We're running about $4.5k/mo. What we've done is haven't allowed non-duty crews to not take a rig out, also now we have to shut the trucks off at standbys and at the hospital.
 

mikeylikesit

Candy Striper
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We're running about $4.5k/mo. What we've done is haven't allowed non-duty crews to not take a rig out, also now we have to shut the trucks off at standbys and at the hospital.
We shut the trucks off when not in use which i hate to see sometimes, it can be very hard on a starter and the motor to do that many cold starts a day...i guess a $5000 motor swap is better than the $3000 a month that we probably lose just idling.
 

mdkemt

Forum Lieutenant
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Gas prices are sitting at $6/g here now. We are still operating as normal with no changes.

MDKEMT
 

McAllinder

Forum Probie
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Heh, we drive way too much and it's probably not going to change.

Funny story though: on a call yesterday afternoon our patients neighbor came out and yelled at the fire department for leaving their engine running and wasting fuel and 'tax dollars.' :rolleyes:
 

Free-B-EMT

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This may be a little off topic but just last week one of the volunteer squads in my area had a rig stolen from in front of the hospital while they were bringing the patient into the ER. Some bonehead left the keys in the ignition but the situation has raised all kinds of controversy over whether rigs should be left unlocked and running at the scene. Post 9/11 fears of terrorism are the main topics raised. I was just wondering if leaving the rigs running is common practice for many areas.
 

CFRBryan347768

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This may be a little off topic but just last week one of the volunteer squads in my area had a rig stolen from in front of the hospital while they were bringing the patient into the ER. Some bonehead left the keys in the ignition but the situation has raised all kinds of controversy over whether rigs should be left unlocked and running at the scene. Post 9/11 fears of terrorism are the main topics raised. I was just wondering if leaving the rigs running is common practice for many areas.

Its not THAT off topic....hehe if the rigs are left running, it's still burning gas. And as for leaving them running, let them run just flip the security switch.
 
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Medic9

Forum Lieutenant
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Well, now we can't take a rig out to get food anymore. Our fuel bill for a two week period was $1800.00.We have to shut our rigs down at the hospitals, its posted policy at all the hospitals. We do leave the rigs running on scenes to keep them warm/cool depending on the season.
I have a question, just how far did they get with a stolen ambulance????
 

Free-B-EMT

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How far did they get? All the way home! As it turned out, the person who stole the rig was a patient that this crew had brought in a few hours earlier for intoxication. He decided he wasn't going to hang around any longer. When he saw the crew come in with another patient he pulled his IV and headed for the door, hospital gown and all. The police found the rig about 25 miles away in a parking lot, just blocks from the guy's home.
 

Jon

Administrator
Community Leader
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No changes at the full-time job, yet. The part-time job's supervisors are shutting off any rigs left running in the parking lot... and asking crews not to post with the rigs on (but how can I power my laptop to watch DVD's?).

At the vollie squad, we are being encouraged to turn off our 2 front-line trucks whenever we are out running errands, rather than leaving them running... our front line rigs can start without shoreline support... our backline rigs are a little older and less eager to start.
 
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