EMT348

     No one should be out of a job. Simple math is that the number of calls has not gone down, just the number of companies  answering those calls has gone down; by ONE.
     The staff will  need to shift to other providers that are expanding into the Transcare void. Sadly though, many will lose  vacation pay, salary, seniority, schedule and partners. ALL of which is very sad. A forced job change is always traumatic.
    Company names no longer in the picture:
Abbey-Richmond, A1, AA, Approved, Ambassador, Empire, Care 1, Park, Admiral, Metropolitan, Metro-North. Hudson Valley, Transcare, National... any others? Still lots of open jobs and hiring despite all those companies going away.
 

 
 
You seem bitter. 

The Bureau of EMS was notified late Friday afternoon that the Trustee handling the TransCare EMS bankruptcy  ordered Transcare Hudson Valley to cease operations and to pull their units from service in Putnam.  The Bureau was immediately authorized by County Executive MaryEllen Odell to Implement its contingency plan. This evening we are transitioning the County ALS FlyCar system from TransCare to EMSTAR. Fortunately most of the TransCare staff have accepted positions with EMSTAR.  Due to the last minute notice we were only able to initially activate 3 EMSTAR Flycars to replace the four TransCare Units. We are hopeful we can have the fourth ALS Unit and a BLS Unit in service at some point this weekend or early next week. This has been a trying time for the TransCare staff and Bureau staff as well. We will do everything in our power to maintain an ALS system that continues to assure the health and safety of all our residents. Please be patient with us as we move forward with our new ALS provider. Thank you.  Commissioner Sutton

Ummm.  Hmmmm.

If you're in northern Westchester near the Putnam / Orange line in lets say Peekskill, Cortlandt Manor or so... You can always request Fort Montgomery which has a large quantity of large diameter hose on a reel.

If you're in northern Westchester near the Putnam / Orange line in lets say Peekskill, Cortlandt Manor or so... You can always request Fort Montgomery which has a large quantity of large diameter hose on a reel.

So for the past 24+ hours that Care1 has been ALS this thread has been silent! All of these people seemed to "know" so much when this issue started, why is everyone so quiet now?!

First, I'll start by saying that the fact that it is sad that very skilled and experienced paramedics are losing money because of someone else's mistake. There's no way to officially know who is at fault. I use the word officially because unless you're an administrator at Care1 or an official with the Regional EMS Council(s) or the State DOH BEMS all you can do is speculate and even if you were in one of those three catagories, I doubt seriously that you would be on here discussing this. That brings me to my second point. The rumor mill. I noticed a few 'speculative' posts before mine here and I just want to say that those who know nothing should say nothing.
Instead of gossiping and talking trash about another company, how about we work to correct the completely screwed up method in which things are done by the EMS system in place in this state? EMTs being limited due to the fact they can't carry certain equipment because it's too expensive or because people are too concerned with their own agencies losing business. We do what's right for patients, not what's right for business. Period.

While I agree with the majority of your post, without doing what's right for business we can't treat patients. At the end of the day, if an agency has to choose between buying an epi pen or paying the insurance on their ambulance, we all know what the choice is going to be. It is sad that it comes down to this, but due to the current economy and crap insurance reimbursement rates, EMS (and more specifically our patients) are having to pay the price. Some agencies have more money than others, but I highly doubt many EMS bosses would say that they're 100% comfortable with the current financial state of their company.
I also need to say that there always seems to be gossip in the EMS community about Care1. I'm not going to pretend I know all the details of the current situation. I have yet to see any memo from the company, region, or state regarding the circumstances, so anything said about it on here is purely speculation. What we do know though, is the suspension of ALS services took place almost two weeks ago, and the company is still running and doing calls. That in itself is something to be said for them. I also saw several posts on here about how the company is allegedly only paying paramedics at the EMT rate. If anyone has a memo or a pay stub from the company proving this, please feel free to post it. I have spoken to several employees regarding this and found out it is in fact not true at all. The company has cut a few trucks day to day, however they ONLY cut shifts from part timers. All the full time employees are still bringing home their regular pay check and benefits, which I'm sure they are very grateful of. I fail to see how the company has done wrong by their employees in this current situation.

Date: 11/15/12
Time:0010
Location: 92 Roe Ave
Frequency: UHF Firegrounds
Units Operating: Highland Falls C2, E428, E429, R430, West Point FD T465, Ambulance 392, Storm King Engine Co., Fort Montgomery C1, C2, E422, R424, M426, Highlands EMS 385, 386, 389, V/Highland Falls PD, OC Car 1, OCFI
Weather Conditions: Cold, Dark, Slight Breeze, 32 degrees
Description Of Incident: 2nd floor fire
Reporters: EMT30

Date: 8/2/2012
Time: 12:18
Location: 205 Cantebury Rd
Frequency: Multiple; OC911 EMS and PD, Highlands Talkaround, NYSP freqs
Units Operating: Highlands PD, New York State Police, New York State Police tactical units, New York State Park Police, Highlands EMS 385, 386, 388f, 389f, Mobile Life 279m, Cornwall EMS 325, Lifenet on standby
Weather Conditions: clear
Description Of Incident: subject barricaded in house with unknown occupants, 1 German Shephard with unknown amount of weapons.
Reporters: EMT30

Why not just go to Empress? You will be MUCH happier.

Seniorcare is still hiring full-time, Citywide just picked up a whole bunch of new people, but I don't belive they are hiring at this time, and the same goes for Lifeline.

Date: 5/26
Time: 0730-1400
Location: West Point
Frequency: 155.715 (NYS Disaster/MCI Channel)
Units Operating:
West Point Fire Department (Multiple Fire Apparatus on location)
Castle Point Hazmat 3 (Dutchess County 91-69)
City of Newburgh Engine 3
West Point FD EMS 391, 392, 393
Town of Highlands 385
Cornwall 326
New Windsor 174
New Windsor 180 Utility
New Windsor 188M and 189M
Mobile Life 288M, 290M
Orange County Mobile Communications Center
Orange County EMS 13
US Army MEDDAC Command
US Army Military Police
Weather Conditions: Approx 80 degrees with high humidity
Description Of Incident: West Point Graduation with nearly 30,000 people inside a stadium. Multiple injuries and illnesses occuring at the same time. Units transported to Keller Army Community Hospital and St. Lukes - Cornwall Hospital (Cornwall Campus)
Reporters:EMT348

Call for a "Tanker" on the East Coast, your going to get a lot of water on wheels. Call for a "Tanker" on the West Coast, your getting a lot water flying thru the air. We cant standardize on much of anything in the fire service...

Date: 5/26
Time: 0730-1400
Location: West Point
Frequency: 155.715 (NYS Disaster/MCI Channel)
Units Operating:
West Point Fire Department (Multiple Fire Apparatus on location)
Castle Point Hazmat 3 (Dutchess County 91-69)
City of Newburgh Engine 3
West Point FD EMS 391, 392, 393
Town of Highlands 385
Cornwall 326
New Windsor 174
New Windsor 180 Utility
New Windsor 188M and 189M
Mobile Life 288M, 290M
Orange County Mobile Communications Center
Orange County EMS 13
US Army MEDDAC Command
US Army Military Police
Weather Conditions: Approx 80 degrees with high humidity
Description Of Incident: West Point Graduation with nearly 30,000 people inside a stadium. Multiple injuries and illnesses occuring at the same time. Units transported to Keller Army Community Hospital and St. Lukes - Cornwall Hospital (Cornwall Campus)
Reporters:EMT348

Date: 5/26
Time: 0730-1400
Location: West Point
Frequency: 155.715 (NYS Disaster/MCI Channel)
Units Operating:
West Point Fire Department (Multiple Fire Apparatus on location)
Castle Point Hazmat 3 (Dutchess County 91-69)
City of Newburgh Engine 3
West Point FD EMS 391, 392, 393
Town of Highlands 385
Cornwall 326
New Windsor 174
New Windsor 180 Utility
New Windsor 188M and 189M
Mobile Life 288M, 290M
Orange County Mobile Communications Center
Orange County EMS 13
US Army MEDDAC Command
US Army Military Police
Weather Conditions: Approx 80 degrees with high humidity
Description Of Incident: West Point Graduation with nearly 30,000 people inside a stadium. Multiple injuries and illnesses occuring at the same time. Units transported to Keller Army Community Hospital and St. Lukes - Cornwall Hospital (Cornwall Campus)
Reporters:EMT348

Dr. John A. McGurty, Jr. He had a City of Peekskill issued response vehicle. He now devotes most of his time to his military commitments, however, he still does a few shifts at Hudson Valley ER. A true supporter of EMS, Police, and Fire.

I just received my results and list number on Thursday.

Some clarifications. First, the city doesn't give a rats behind who runs the ambulances. Neither does the city council. The fire department would like to run the entire system, but that is a very expensive proposition. The only people actively pursuing an all FDNY EMS system is Local 2507. EMS DOES NOT TURN A PROFIT IN NYC. Not for the FD and not for the hospitals. The only people making money are the commercial operators, and their 911 profits are razor thin. Senior Care only began going after 911 when their growth in the transport sector stagnated. By becoming a hospitals 911 provider they also become the primary transport provider.
No matter what anyone working for FDNY*EMS says the dept has no desire to suddenly take over EMS. They don't have the equipment, budget, or staffing to make it happen. The usage fee that is to be assessed upon all of the hospitals was not designed to chase them out of the system. If it was, then why not charge something astronomical like $1 million per unit rather than the thousands per unit they settled upon? Because they wanted to get as much money without any added responsibility. This was a measure to close a budget gap. If you think chasing voluntary units out of the system helps that, please see above.
The dept has no ability to unilaterally take over EMS. They tried to kick transcare out of the system years ago, but lost badly in court. The hospitals have a contract with the city and as long as they uphold their end of the deal they keep their units.
EMS is currently "overstaffed". We were approved to hire above head count for two reasons. The first is the financial house of cards many Brooklyn and Queens hospitals are currently dealing with. Several hospitals are very close to bankruptcy proceedings or outright failure. There have been informal conversations about shuttering EMS operations and what that means to hospitals and their bottom line. The second reason for being flush with members is the revolving door that is EMS. For the past 6 years except for a few pauses we've been hiring constantly. Part of that has been the expansion of the system but a lot is also in response to a hiring binge and system expansion 25 years ago. We have a large number of members coming up on retirement. We also have members frequently leaving for other careers. The biggest destination in the coming years is going be to fire where we will see several hundred current members go.
Since St Vincents closed NY Downtown has been chomping at the bit to pick up more tours. They added an overnight coverage to one of their ALS and another 24 hour BLS. The rumored addition of a Rescue unit to lower Manhattan is not to prevent another unit from operating. Their operation is funded by federal grant money and at this point is still a rumor. The dept is not preventing anyone from running more units. Bronx Lebanon added an ALS and I believe there were two new voluntary units in Brooklyn last year.
I would expect EMT hiring to continue at its current pace. Another 60 EMTs were pulled from the streets to go to paramedic training starting today and there has been more and more BLS overtime available recently.

*DISCLAIMER* This is not a Hospital vs FDNY response.
Currently, there is about 125 Voluntary units in the system. Montefiore North (Old OLM) so far has been the only hospital to drop their EMS system without the entire hospital closing.
While I have heard the same stories about fdny pushing the hospitals out of 911, I don't think at this point in the City's budget or FDNY resources, they would be able to handle putting out 125 trucks to cover all at once. I do know that the fire department does want all 911 EMS to be run by them eventually, but when is hard to say. You have large networks like NY-Presby and LIJ that won't get pushed out by operating fees.
As for staffing, they would need to hire a lot more EMTs and Paramedics.

Some hospitals are to big to push out like Presby, but i belive the city will eventually run about 80-90%. FDNY picked up all of OLM (Monti North) 100% both ALS and BLS and has been pumping out classes like rabbits. Granted alot of members are expected to go to fire. Cassono is very pro EMS because they make ALOT of money for NYC. I heard that FDNY stopped one of the downtown hospitals from putting out another ALS by the fire department making a new rescue medic unit. They can charge a hospital up to 1 Million dollars a year to run 911 units. Once people stop paying there hospital bills or medicad stops paying out as much i belive you will see a decline in hospital based 911 units. Tho i don't want to see anyone lose there jobs in this shitty situation, its good to have the job securty.

One thing I've noticed as of late; something I thought had finally been passed over as being antiquated, is the disagreeing that is still occurring between the mighty forces of Emergency Services Unit and Special Operations Command.
Disagreement expressed on these pages could to be a good thing, as it might foster better understanding between those agencies who likely cooperate 98 percent of the time without incident, but disagree occasionally, and it comes off like a competition on those rare events.
But thinking about it, is this situation any different than what occurs in a majority of places, between emergency personnel?
Isn't it true that a contingent of volunteer firefighters still look upon their career counterparts with some sort of disdain?
Aren't there a few career firefighters, who cannot see any gray areas in the fire service and therefore conclude that ALL volunteer services are undermanned shams? (and how many of them were formerly volunteers with the exact opposite views)
Aren't there some cops who will always view the fire department showing up as just another inconvenient blocking of their highway?
Aren't there obstructionists in every branch of emergency services who would rather die or watch as constituents continue to die, than give up one inch of their authority or admit that changes need to be made to operations?
The imperfections of the systems in place in the greater New York area, serve to demoralize ALL who work within the systems. The ability to adapt to simple operational changes, that in many cases wouldn't cost an additional tax-dollar, or donation-buck, and many times would save money overall, are continually looked at with disdain. With inaction. With resistance.
Each individual however can still have an impact on positive change; if they would direct their energies toward the positive improvements and shun the negative energy. None of us alone will change the emergency services world during our careers. Let me repeat that; none of us alone.....
But collectively, smaller positive contributions all add up in the end toward building momentum for inevitable and productive change.
Most of the positive changes that have come about have been those individual contributions. Think about Chief Haligan. He invented a tool. Think about the guy/s gal/s who thought up 2in 2out. The person who invented exhaust extraction systems. Sure, some were collective improvements made by groups of people tasked with inventing that improvement.
But Chief Haligan went back into the shop somewhere at a firehouse and pulled out a length of hardened steel and started thinking about it. Coupled with his experience at defeating doors and locks. So you keep it simple, like he did and the sky is the limit. It's about an idea, more than what you can do in a steel shop. Your contribution might be ideas, gathered on paper; ideas about how to consolidate a bunch of smaller departments into one larger one, that would become a vast improvement in delivery of fire services. Captain Nechis's ideas, analytic thinking is his haligan tool. Whether it get built or not is still in question. Time however will prove he and his counterparts were years ahead of their time with their ideas.
Ideas are empowerment. What can you do individually to improve emergency services? Think about it, you might just be on to something big.

I pulled #199. I was told that we would be getting contacted via telephone/mail soon regarding physical/mental/ect examinations by a friend that's down there. I hope this is the case.

Umm, why is this news?
Maybe i am wrong, but arent we hear to respond to alarms? Yes, a high percentage of alarms are false, so what? Smells and bells and in many places EMS runs, make up a large percentage of responses. But again, this is why we are here, no?
There is a reason the alarm went off, this is why we need to respond and investigate. If we find it was "food on the stove" or dust or what have you, so be it.
What is the alternative? Send a PD unit or just a Chief to "check and advise?" Like the boy who cried wolf, there will be the 1 time its an active fire and you'll be caught with your pants down.
Im sorry if you get annoyed at false alarms, but its part of the "job." You dont like it, go join a slower department i guess.
Personally, i dont see how false alarms really can bring down morale. Maybe guys are getting burned out on these runs and if so, suck it up!
I look at it this way; every and any alarm that i respond to is a learning experience. Its a chance to gear-up and get out there and practice all the basics.
So what if only 1 in a 1,000 alarms are the "real thing." It will be that 1 time that counts.
Just my worthless 2 cents.