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Just an FYI, I hope that none of the brothers who work for their EMS are negatively affected! Anyone with more news? Mercy hosp in bankruptcy Looking to sell assets to Montefiore and stay open BY BOB KAPPSTATTER DAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF After years of financial struggle, Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center in the north Bronx filed for bankruptcy court protection yesterday. At the same time, it asked for federal bankruptcy court permission to sell most of its assets to Montefiore Medical Center, which has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Mercy. The sale, Mercy said in a statement, is subject to higher or better offers and Bankruptcy Court approval. The 369-bed nonprofit medical center's Chapter 11 petition listed assets of $91.2 million and liabilities of $151.5 million as of December 2005. The voluntary petition for reorganization by the Norwood hospital was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District in Manhattan. "While we have attempted to reverse OLM's financial losses over the last few years, it has become clear that the best path forward is to seek bankruptcy protection and enter into an agreement with a financially strong medical center," said Richard Celiberti, president and chief executive officer. "During the bankruptcy and bidding process, we expect to be fully operational as a medical center, and day-to-day patient care will not be affected," said Celiberti. "We are looking ahead to a successful resolution that enables Our Lady of Mercy to continue its 110-year tradition of delivering high-quality medical services to the people of the Bronx and greater New York." To fund its continuing operations during the restructuring, including payments to employees, vendors and suppliers, Mercy said, it has secured a commitment for financing. It said it expects to obtain the necessary regulatory approvals and consummate a transaction with Montefiore or another bidder within five to six months. Last year, Mercy and Montefiore entered into an agreement under which the hospitals would share certain operations, with Mercy leaving the financially struggling Catholic Health Care System. The bankruptcy filing comes a day after Dr. Spencer (Spike) Foreman announced that he is stepping down as Montefiore's president. Founded in 1887 by the Misericorde Sisters of Montreal, Mercy is a teaching community hospital with an acute-care medical campus, medical villages and ambulatory-care centers. It treats about 120,000 patients annually. Originally published on March 9, 2007

The all 3 chiefs to a mutual aid call discussion on the fire board got me thinking. How do your agencies handle supervisors responding to EMS scenes? Do they just show up or do they only come as requested? Are they there to help, or do they sit like lumps on a log and need to be prodded to do the least bit of work? Are they more of a hinderance than help? I have had both sides of this, I have found if they are just there b/c the job sounds cool, or they have nothing to do at night it sucks for the crew. What are protocols on this? Probably most importantly b/c many trainees have complained about this in the past, has it ever effected crew efficieny b/c of intimidation or interference?

Think this is one of those things thats sounds great in theory but just simply cannot/will not be viable in reality. If I turn out to be wrong, great...anything to increase saftey and reduce LODDs/ LODIs!!

Ironically, not 24 hrs after this post, I had an interesting experience. When pulling into the ER bay of a local hosp, I saw a Transcare mod, on the door it said WMC. At this point, my spidy sense was already tingling. My partner and I both agreed that this must be the Stat Flight ground team. Sure enough, while triaging my pt, I noticed a small entourage following a stretcher out of the ER. Though no one had any obvious jumpsuits etc, one person, I'm guessing the nurse had a stat-flight t-shirt on. So to answer everyones questions, I saw no red jumpsuits, simply everyday TransCare medic uniforms, and maybe on person w/ a blue flight suit tied around their waste. I'm also guessing I did not see the special abulance talked about in previous posts. If one had no idea what to look for, the team could have easily been mistaken for a regular tx ambulance. Boy, talk about a small world though.

For anyone who's interested...the new JetBlue customer bill of rights that was e-mailed to True Blue members and posted on youtube. Jet Blue Customer Bill of Rights

I know of two NYC ambulance companies that use driver cams, they have been useful in proving liability, or lack there of.

66alpha, this isurance probably serves another purpose, for times when EMT's and other medical professionals work side jobs and other gigs not attatched to an organizatinon. The best example of this is an emt who works as medical coverage at sporting events etc...

I am more prone to agree w/ the supporters on this one, they had a bad week, they made some bad calls w/o a doubt. However, I have flown them several times down to Florida, my father several times to PR, no problems ever, as a matter of fact I can think of several instances where their customer assistance has been better than other larger carriers. I feel for those who were stuck on the runway and had their luggage lost! But lets be honest, every other carrier has done the same. I think the everyone is giving this a little extra attention b/c their the new kids on the block and up to now have had a pretty clean record. You don't see stories of pilots paying to pick up a plane to fly stranded customers very often...I am scheduled to fly them again in May, I'll make a more informed decision then. I can say I have had a painful and downright nasty experience at the hands of a national airline of supposed good repute, so its not all about Jet Blue.

I joined EMS because it was in my blood, but not it the normal way. I mean that since I was very young, I have done community service. I grew up in Boy Scouts and my parents were also very service minded (still are) So when I got to college, and I realized they had a ambulance squad, and that it would probably be a really fun and it would fit right in w/ all the other activities I did, I joined. I always joked about it being a backup job when I got out of college, yet after collgege here I am, involved in a two volly squads and two paid services!

I agree, it has everything to do w/ maturity. Do most people gain maturity w/ age, yes offcourse. However, I will without a doubt say that I have met my share of immature, older police offices, firefighteres and EMT's. It is not endemic to the fire service, nore is age alone a factor. If services choose to raise their minimum age based on the actions of a few, where the majority can and are wiling to volunteer their time helpling those in need, they will age themselves out of a large volunteer base. Capt.Munt, I am sorry that you are so close minded about working w/ those younger than you. Hopefully not many eager and qualifed young men and women will be affected by your shortcoming. Now, as xfirefighter484x said, back to the issue at hand, I hope both the young woman, man, and the dept can overcome this horrible situation; hopefully, if this was true, it will serve as deterrent to future hurtful, embarrasing behaivor.

I did the same a few months back. As far as I can see, the only real benefit is having it on your resume. I recieved their newsletter last month, and it spent more time focusing on their internal ops than any clinical or field issue. I went through it in all of thirty seconds and didnt really get much out of it. It appears to be better suited to upper level managers than the individual responders. That said, if I recall, their website had some decent offers/info.

I know this is probably a popular topic, but it keeps coming up and there doesnt seem to be agreed upon answer that I can come across. When operating at the scene of an MVA, where should arriving EMS units park their ambulance? Assume that you are the first onscene. I have been told and recall from several CEVO classes that ambulances should be parked behind the involved cars (the new teaching is at an angle if I recall) to act as a buffer for those idiots who choose not to slow down. I have also been told not to park in the rear in order to protect yourself and the pt when loading. I have also been told never to park in the rear for the sole reason of " Let FDNY park in the rear, we park in the front cause we dont have the $$ like they do to replace our ambulance if its gets hit" Thoughts, comments? What protocols does everyone follow, what do people feel works best in the field? Stay safe!

Agreed, the few extra seconds just ain't worth it. For EMS especially, either they're stable enough to wait the few extra seconds to keep you alive or they're in bad enough shape that it wouldnt matter too much anyway. I was under the impression that there was somthing in NYS VTLs already, or was that only a strong suggestion? Maybe I'm remembering a reg from the NYC REMSCO, but I do remember somwhere in the city or state that it was mandatory. Anway, don't eat the reds, stay safe all!

Totally see it aswell, it started w/ one agency and now more and more are getting these huge vehicles. I realize size can be a big help, but I think agencies need to evaluate their need and surroundings before jumping to order the largest, most tricked out ambulance. This is especially so in built-up urban areas such as NYC. There is NO need to have a Freightliner running around. Sometimes it doesnt even fit in ER bays, how irresponsible is that now; you have to squeeze it in or take up two spots or what happens most times park away from the entrance and work your stretcher in, extra time that just should not be watsted. In asking around, a number of people indicated the choice between van or mod is based on ALS vs BLS. Ok, so medics need a little more room to play, thats fine. However, for all the BLS agencies that buy them for space....for what?? In a multi-tiered system such as NYC, theres usually no reason to take more than one pt, there is normally an available unit, for pt saftey and our comfort, call for another bus! People will also say, oh well FDNY runs all mods. Yes they do, and FDNY gets those mods scraped, damaged and stuck in some of the small streets of NYC. If you know your agency responds BLS AND had narrow areas like this, any advantage gained in working space is lost while you wait for a tow! Finally, I preface the above argument by saying this does not apply to rurual areas; if your next due unit is 20 mins out, you cover alot of square miles and you also function as rescue, haz-tac etc...I would pretty much say a larger bus is warranted and quite useful.

Agreed!! Now, would i=I support not having any drills in the winter time as long as there enough drills in the spring and fall? Abselutely. If the principal fealt it necessary to hold a drill in winter, I would support an announced drill where students would have their coats ready so even thought it wasn't a surprise it still practiced the routine. HOWEVER, in this case, where it was obviously not a drill w/o confirmation of an actual emergecny, you don't screw around, you evacuate. Kudos to the prinicpal for sticking to their guns and safely evacuating the school.

pots354, I don't mean to beat a dead horse, but ignorant statements like that are no joke. So if EMS is not dangerous, neither is spending hours on end in the station watching tv and eating waiting for a fire that might not come. (no offense to the ffs on the forum, just wanted to make a point) What you have down is taken a superfical view of the lifesaving work we do. Is some of EMS work bull? Offcourse but so is fire and so is PD. Your opininon shows NO respect and no knowlege of EMS OR any public service. I won't list the ways we as EMT's and medics risk our lives because; 1. theres too many, and 2. everyone else on this forum knows what you don't. I agree, you need to have revelation or leave the world of public service to those more open minded and professional than yourself. And as for the origional post, I think its disgraceful that WC has so much trouble w/ EMS from time to time and I totally agree w/ X635 its a prb of both volunteer and 3rd party, b/c when i was flagged for an MVA i had to wait a equally distasteful and dangerous amt of time for contracted service as i would for a VAC. I unfortunately don't see us becoming equal in the minds of the public anytime soon, but that doesnt mean we should stop trying!

I agree, that's not carelessness, thats darn intentional. Everyone thinks their stupid agenda is more important than anyone elses, even those saving lives and in this instance, they didn't take the time to slow down and be careful. I can't judge b/c i wasn't there, but it doesnt sound like there was good scene safety w/ regards to traffic flow. I hope the Cpt. is back on his feet soon.

It would seem logical to assume the person most qualified would be the IC, in this case a fire scene=highest ranking FD officer, but two words in my answer are big ones; assume and logical. You can't assume that NIMS was being used, and not all things about incident scenes are logical. Add this to the traditional battle of the egos between PD and FD and you have the situation faced here. What you suggest is both possible and proably the correct protocol, I just hight doubt that it was 1. Followed, and/or 2. mattered.

At the point where dispatch couldn't let the trooper know the situation, that should have been his final "duh" moment. He should have pulled over. (And yes I agree w/ all the other posters, he should NOT have created the need for him to be pulled over) When I first joined a VAC I was told, sometimes PD will pull you over (in ambulance or otherwise). We were then instructed to tell them we were on an emergency call and show the officer the pager w/ the dispatch information The bottom line however, was to always cooperate, even in an emergency. Things like this really scare me. I am fresh off taking another CEVO class, and I guess no matter how many POV LODD we have, it still isnt enough. We need to get the following messages across more strongly b/c obviously after somthing as stupid as this it is not uniformly getting accross: 1. Studies have shown, lights and sirens only save an average of 1 minute or even less: speed isnt the answer!! 2. Even when engaged in emergent operations, operators must act w/ due regard for saftey!! 3. It is better to get there a minute later than to be another victim a minute earlier. ie can't save a life if your dead. Finally, even though the guy screwed up royally, his heart was in the right place. Stay safe!

Wow, what a discussion. First off, I think it would be wonderful if agencies didn't charge for their services. I work for two volunteer agencies (and one paid) where patients are not charged for services rendered. The relief and gratitude on people's faces when I tell them " No, we're the vollies, we don't charge" is wonderful. However, this is a dying reality. Even many volunteer squads, some supported by tax dollars, others not, have begun to bill. Like one poster said, it may be a soft bill where it doesn't go to collection agencies, however the norm appears to be for patients to expect to be charged for services they recieve. While not charging does wonders for our patients, it makes sustainging our services a challenge. FDNY bills, one also has to remember the amt of bullshit a large munipal agency like this gets. W/ no disrespect to people's problems, some people call 911 for total bull and can easily take cabs but FDNY is legally bound to take them. W/o charging patients like these, the system would be overburdened and bankrupt. Having not lived anywhere else other than NY, I was surprised to hear that some municpalities don't charge, can anyone provide an example?? I don't know if there's a solution to this problem. I realize not everyone can pay for ambulances. I think a big help would be to attempt to keep the cost of a single trip down, perhaps by billing by call type or services rendered, not just simply BLS/ALS or mileage. Additionally, I think we need to help preserve those agencies that do not bill just as much as we do the ones that bill, b/c they help take presssure off other agencies and they provide an alternative to those who cannot pay for the lifesaving services of an ambulance. On another note b/c this topic went REALLY far, the Canadian health care system is not as perfect as it seem. Yes they all have some basic rights that are included. However, other things that are easy for Americans are the opposite there. If I recall, some people simply get dentures b/c the dentisty is so expensive and overcrowded.

Does anyone else think that the judge dismissing the charges against the stunt artist who attempted to jump off the Empire State Building is nuts?? According to the paper, the judge threw out the charge b/c there was no reckless engangerment. Off the top of my head I can think of at least 3 or 4. There was danger to the jumper, extreme danger to the gutsy secuity guard who pulled him in and held him there, danger to pedestrians on the ground and pitentially a danger to anyone who may have been feeling depressed or suicidal on the observation deck (a far stretch I know, but it is possible) This guy may be a jumping expert, but there's no way he can take into account the pedestrian/car flow in his potential landing zone. Someone wants to parachute, fine. However, a crowded urban enviornment is not a proper venue, no matter how large the accolages or wow facter. What do we need to do to stop this??? Do we really need to spell out every little thing for the one or two idiots a year who try things like this? Or do we need to stop politcially appointing judges who apparetly have NO common sense? Thoughts, comments?

SUNY Maritime College Rescue Squad (dispanded) Riverbay (Co-Op City)

I think password removal would be a good thing; there seems to be a decent number of non sworn members who have a L.E. interest and would like to discuss issues. Officers who are participating in the forum know what info is sensitive and what is not; so if everyone works on a self censorship system it should ideally work.

Hello all, I have been assigned/volunteered to put together a EMS Bike Unit at one of my agencies. I have made some headway in finding start up packets, but if anyones oraganization has protocols for such a unit it would be a great help in my project, I would be much obliged. Thanks. Also, if anyone also has any general hints/experience with this, please let me know. Stay safe!

Wholeheartedly agree 100%!!! For all those reasons from recognition,equality and professionalism, Class As are the way to go, thank you 66 alpha1. My agency's dress uniform is long sleeves and tie, maybe gloves and a commando style sweater w/ epaulets for officers who have. W/e the final outcome, we always look ragtag and un-professional. I have asked the chief (who unfortunately has been in charge for a while) why we don't do more w/ all our uniforms. His basic answer w/ regards to the dress jackets was simply "its not us, we've never done it" When I asked him why this doesnt change, he responend that as a volly organization it would be wrong of us to ask our members to shell out for such expensive uniform pieces, despite that fact that we do attend funerals and parades etc... I might point out that this same reasonsing has applied to corps duty jackets as well, and has thusly perpetuated the rag tag look. Only recently thanks to a federal grant has there been a cache of turnout jackets available for the entire crew, but even then, they're optional. This goes strait back to recognition, esp for corps like mine where the relationship between municipal and the volunteers is not on strong ground! Municipal or volunteer, we have the same titles, we work the same job or work in the public service, if we want to be put in the same category, we need to at least look the part. That being said, (and I can't voice my supprot enough) anyone have any ideas on how to make this happen?? How can we make officers and fellow members see that this is the way to go???