Seattle FD prepares for AMR EMT strike

DrParasite

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I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned by anyone else, considering how Seattle Medic 1 is considered to be one of the best EMS agencies out there.

Some interesting highlights
If a strike occurs, Seattle Medic One would handle more non-emergent calls, meaning the fire department would have fewer resources for emergencies.
and
A recent letter from AMR to its employees said the company is offering a new starting wage of $17 per hour, a 9.39 percent increase from the current starting wage of $15.54 an hour.

However, union members said the company pays an average starting wage of $19.40 an hour in other comparable cities.

"The future of the Seattle Fire contract … is at stake," the AMR letter said. “Operation has been losing money for several years. Any work action … will cause the company to exit … the Seattle Fire District contract."
Why would any for profit company continue with a contract where they have been losing money for several years, especially when they would exit the contact at any time?

read the rest in it's entirety here: https://www.ems1.com/american-medic...8-Wash-fire-dept-prepares-for-AMR-EMT-strike/
 

PotatoMedic

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The Seattle fire contract they lose money on. But it allows them to have enough resources to make a lot of money from the hospital contracts they have. If they did just the hospitals they would not make as much as they do by also doing the 911 for the city.

Least that is how it was explained to me.
 

NomadicMedic

I know a guy who knows a guy.
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Seattle EMS is a ****show. And has been for ages. The AMR trucks run willy nilly around the city with lights and sirens to haul BLS calls to the hospital. Its a joke of a system. They cant make contact until Seattle fire calls for them, so they stage around the corner and scream in L&S when they're requested. Why does Seattle fire send a ladder or engine to every EMS call and make the EMTs on the ambulance wait until the fire EMT evaluates the patient? Its ridiculous.
 

RocketMedic

Californian, Lost in Texas
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Seattle EMS is a ****show. And has been for ages. The AMR trucks run willy nilly around the city with lights and sirens to haul BLS calls to the hospital. Its a joke of a system. They cant make contact until Seattle fire calls for them, so they stage around the corner and scream in L&S when they're requested. Why does Seattle fire send a ladder or engine to every EMS call and make the EMTs on the ambulance wait until the fire EMT evaluates the patient? Its ridiculous.

Because everyone knows you’ve got to be Fire to be smart at medicine lol
 

ITBITB13

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Seattle EMS is a ****show. And has been for ages. The AMR trucks run willy nilly around the city with lights and sirens to haul BLS calls to the hospital. Its a joke of a system. They cant make contact until Seattle fire calls for them, so they stage around the corner and scream in L&S when they're requested. Why does Seattle fire send a ladder or engine to every EMS call and make the EMTs on the ambulance wait until the fire EMT evaluates the patient? Its ridiculous.

$$$

They don’t want the public to know that non-fire EMTs can do the same EMT work just as well, sometimes better.
 

NomadicMedic

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There's a fair amount if that. They also like to maintain the illusion that Seattle Fire EMTs are somehow better trained than the private BLS folks. It's helps fuel the "we're lifesavers" mystique.
 

VentMonkey

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Our county’s FD now has a squad running around one of the battalions, I’m told at least another of their engines is in the midst of transitioning to an assessment engine. And our city FD has an assessment engine up and running as well.

...because, you know?...More medics on calls.
 

Skeeler

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So I guess I should wait to consider hiring back on with AMR? I quit in Oct '99 for Respiratory Therapy school.
 
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DrParasite

DrParasite

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Seattle EMTs reach tentative deal with employer, averting strike
In last-minute bargaining, the two sides met until midnight Thursday and resumed talks again Friday at 11 a.m. The details of the deal have not yet been released.


Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) who nearly went on strike this week have reached a tentative deal with their employer, American Medical Response (AMR).

The two sides met until midnight Thursday and resumed talks again Friday at 11 a.m., according to Teamsters Local 763, which represents about 450 AMR employees. “When two parties come to the brink of a major strike, the issues go beyond the simple details of a labor contract,” Teamsters Local 763 business agent Liz Brown said in a statement Friday morning.

Read the rest at https://www.seattletimes.com/seattl...tentative-deal-with-employer-averting-strike/

I'm sure this part will go over well in future contract negotiations between AMR and the city: Meanwhile, AMR paid to bring about 200 of its employees from other cities and states to work in place of the striking EMTs. But for out-of-state employees to work in Washington, AMR needed a state waiver, which local officials refused to help the company secure.
 

chriscemt

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The article from the Seattle Times said:
Meanwhile, AMR paid to bring about 200 of its employees from other cities and states to work in place of the striking EMTs. But for out-of-state employees to work in Washington, AMR needed a state waiver, which local officials refused to help the company secure.

Does anyone know how much AMR actually paid to do this, or should that read, "...AMR considered paying to bring..."?
 
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DrParasite

DrParasite

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Just going from what the article said..... my suspicion ( which is based on 0 facts) is AMR started the process rolling, brought their people from outside the area to be the strike breakers, maybe even had them start familiarizing themselves with the city, not realizing they needed the waiver for them to work as EMTs. And when when they learned they wouldn't get the much needed city support in this process, they worked even harder to make the union happy to avert a strike and a breach of their contract.

but again, that's based on 0 actual knowledge.
 

chriscemt

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I wouldn't mind finding out that they paid and actually brought employees to the Seattle area in the same way a DRT deployment would work and paid for room/board/OT out the wazzoo.
 
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DrParasite

DrParasite

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I wouldn't mind finding out that they paid and actually brought employees to the Seattle area in the same way a DRT deployment would work and paid for room/board/OT out the wazzoo.
Yes, but IIRC, for a DRT deployment, AMR is reimbursed for all those costs by FEMA.

While they likely did the same process as a DRT deployment, in this case everything comes out of their own budget, as I don't think Seattle or Kings County will be reimbursing them... nor should they.
 

chriscemt

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Yes, but IIRC, for a DRT deployment, AMR is reimbursed for all those costs by FEMA.

While they likely did the same process as a DRT deployment, in this case everything comes out of their own budget, as I don't think Seattle or Kings County will be reimbursing them... nor should they.

Right. That's like what I said.
 

PotatoMedic

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On a side note... If I was told correctly by my friends that work at Seattle amr, if they had striked the contract with the city would have required amr to hand over their ambulances to Seattle fire, keep them stocked, and I believe pay Seattle fire to staff then with sfd firefighters.
 

CCCSD

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Wait...so the NREMTs had to be certified locally..? Thank God for that National Registry thingy...
 

PotatoMedic

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Wait...so the NREMTs had to be certified locally..? Thank God for that National Registry thingy...
I didn't know we were talking about the nremt here.
 

johnrsemt

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So AMR was only paying $15.94 to start when minimum wage in Seattle is $15.00, I wouldn't be happy with that either.

And Seattle Fire was going to take the fully stocked ambulances from AMR to use if they struck? Wow, wonder who wrote that contract.
 
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Anybody have any details on the tentative agreement? I've heard some rumblings of employees getting 100% paid medical benefits but haven't had any confirmation.
 
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