System Status Management

[Thriceknight]

So I started my first day of FTO time with a medic unit and got my first taste of system status management...and....
Booooo lol I'm not dissing the dispatchers, they're just doing their jobs. But crap we did more posting than run calls! Lol I'm tired and I'm down to the last 7.5hrs of my 24. I'd like some Zzzzz's please lol

Vent over.

 

[lightsandsirens5]

Best get used to it my friend...... h34r:

 

[Veneficus]

SSM for 24 hours?

That is an accident and lawsuit waiting to happen.

 

[Medic Tim]

ssm is the devil

 

[DPM]

Are you posting for the full 24?

 

[terrible one]

SSM for 24 hours?
.

Happens all the time.

 

[Veneficus]

Happens all the time.

That sucks in a big way.

 

[leoemt]

SSM for 24 hours?

That is an accident and lawsuit waiting to happen.

Its common, almost every private ambulance in my area does that.

Why is it an accident and lawsuit waiting to happen? Nothing says you can't sleep in the ambulance - though its not the most comfortable bed.

Anyone who has been doing S.S. for long would be able to sleep rather comfortably.

This has been going on for decades and if it wasn't safe for the providers I doubt it would continue.

You need to be call responsive on duty. I know firefighters who work 24 and never see their bunk for more than 30 mins a shift. Its not a secret that emergency responders don't get much sleep on duty.

 

[Thriceknight]

I ended up grabbing some Zzzzz's. I

 

[Veneficus]

Its common, almost every private ambulance in my area does that.

Why is it an accident and lawsuit waiting to happen? Nothing says you can't sleep in the ambulance - though its not the most comfortable bed.

Anyone who has been doing S.S. for long would be able to sleep rather comfortably.

This has been going on for decades and if it wasn't safe for the providers I doubt it would continue.

You need to be call responsive on duty. I know firefighters who work 24 and never see their bunk for more than 30 mins a shift. Its not a secret that emergency responders don't get much sleep on duty.

It isn't safe for providers.

It will continue because providers let it happen.

 

[TRSpeed]

SSM, get used to it especially if working for a private for-profit company. Think about it, if you ran a company, you would want a way to cover the largest area with the least units and fastest response times.(although not always fast).

 

[Veneficus]

SSM, get used to it especially if working for a private for-profit company. Think about it, if you ran a company, you would want a way to cover the largest area with the least units and fastest response times.(although not always fast).

So why don't we close a bunch of firehouses and have the firefighters do it too?

Companies, especially many privates, don't give a crap about their employees because EMS orkers are a dime a dozen and they are there to make money.

I have worked in SSM systems. I can tell you, sleping on the cot, bench, cab, or not, it is it causes fatigue.

Fatigue does cause mistakes and injuries in every job in this world.

Do you think these employers are going to protect you in the event of a medical error or try to shift blame from them to you?

Do you think if you get disabled they are going to provide for your cost of living?

It may be better for the company. It is not better for the employee.

Do you make so much money that it is worth the risk?

 

[TRSpeed]

I agree with you, but like you and I said. Its a reality of a "For-Profit" Company. So unless we all go third-service we will be better off.,

 

[Shishkabob]

I'm not necessarily against SSM (2 of my 3 agencies have done it) as it logically makes the most financial sense, and in busier systems it really makes the only sense.

Let's say you're an agency like mine with 40ish trucks on the road at any one time... that means to do stations, you'd have to have 40 stations. That's a lot of money. People :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: enough about the cost of transport, but having to increase it THAT much?

Second, when you're busy, you very well might not get back to the station the entire day anyhow, making it a moot point. Look at Dallas FD... they have stations, but a decent number of their houses (and more ambulances) are constantly running, some doing 30 calls in 24 hours. That's ludacris.


Now, using the ruse that SSM saves a bunch of time predicting where calls will pop up is silly, as spending a couple of months in the system, you'll know where calls will most likely come and when without using an expensive computer algorithm.




But for 12hr shifts where you run 6-8 calls on average, no, I don't see anything inherently wrong or bad about SSM, and I've spent most of my career in such systems.

 

[TRSpeed]

I'm not necessarily against SSM (2 of my 3 agencies have done it) as it logically makes the most financial sense, and in busier systems it really makes the only sense.

Let's say you're an agency like mine with 40ish trucks on the road at any one time... that means to do stations, you'd have to have 40 stations. That's a lot of money. People :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: enough about the cost of transport, but having to increase it THAT much?

Second, when you're busy, you very well might not get back to the station the entire day anyhow, making it a moot point. Look at Dallas FD... they have stations, but a decent number of their houses (and more ambulances) are constantly running, some doing 30 calls in 24 hours. That's ludacris.


Now, using the ruse that SSM saves a bunch of time predicting where calls will pop up is silly, as spending a couple of months in the system, you'll know where calls will most likely come and when without using an expensive computer algorithm.




But for 12hr shifts where you run 6-8 calls on average, no, I don't see anything inherently wrong or bad about SSM, and I've spent most of my career in such systems.

Exactly!
Even though it sucks its the best way to run it with financial sense and logically, especially with my service with over 100 units on a day

 

[Veneficus]

Exactly!
Even though it sucks its the best way to run it with financial sense and logically, especially with my service with over 100 units on a day

You think?

Acadian has stations.

It is a private company.

They have hundreds of units, across multiple states.

 

[Medic Tim]

where I work we run a province wide ssm. Up to 134 trucks on the road at any given time. As of last year there are no 24 hour shifts except for 3 trucks which are located in isolated areas (islands) with a call volume of less than 100 per year. All shift are now 12 or 8 hours. Pt and provider safety was the main reason it was done.

I have no issues with a 24 if you have adequate down time to rest(in quarters) in a non urban setting.

 

[TRSpeed]

You think?

Acadian has stations.

It is a private company.

They have hundreds of units, across multiple states.

I never said we did not have stations. We have a munch of deployment and 24 he stations. Along with stations in-house with fd. And even "comfort" stations that nobody deploys out of but we can use as some posts through the county.

 

[Veneficus]

where I work we run a province wide ssm. Up to 134 trucks on the road at any given time. As of last year there are no 24 hour shifts except for 3 trucks which are located in isolated areas (islands) with a call volume of less than 100 per year. All shift are now 12 or 8 hours. Pt and provider safety was the main reason it was done.

I have no issues with a 24 if you have adequate down time to rest(in quarters) in a non urban setting.

That is exactly the key.

 

[firecoins]

SSM is definatly no good with 24 hour shifts. 12 is okay and 8 is better.