Firefighters padding numbers or saving lives?

[FF402 133]

Quote

The tones go off, the fire station fills with light and the message comes over the PA system: “Attention Rescue 1 and Engine 13, respond to 1 Broad Street for an elderly female with difficulty breathing.”

 

http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/20160924/michael-morse-firefighters-padding-numbers-or-saving-lives

[fire patrol nyc 153]

I dispatched for a city in westchester, a lot of the frequent flyers know what to say to get a ride to the hospital .we had one flyer that called 3-4 times a day all hours,the administration knew but did nothing.a few times we had a cardiac call and had to call an out of town bus...this happens in most towns and city's..it seems as long as the bill gets paid nobody cares until something goes wrong then they hang the dispatcher.....my 2 cents...

[Harrison063 2]

For this reason, social services are being focused on in order help reduce EMS call volume, and additionally, help people kick their drug habit. We started doing this with our frequent flyers. 

[dwcfireman 656]

"The truth is, the public is completely responsible for the high number of calls that the fire department responds to. "

 

The real truth is not just in the public.  Yes, the public is becoming more reliant on 911 services to assist them to see a doctor, but another statement from the article shows the other side of the story, too:

 

"Her doctor told her to call 911 for a ride to the emergency room; he didn’t have any appointments until later in the week. "

 

Is this really what doctors are advising their patients to do?  I understand in some extreme occasions where someone is extremely sick, such as a 60 y/o female with bronchitis, where 911 service is possibly necessary, But, how many doctors are telling their patients to just call 911?  And, before I get ostracized for this question, I am completely aware of the medical services shortage when it comes to doctors and nurses (my girlfriend is a RN and she is called into work on almost every day she has off).

 

"When 911 is called for rides to the emergency room, resources are squandered, urgent care for those who truly need it is delayed, and myths about firefighters padding their numbers responding to little old ladies who just need a ride to the ER are born. "

 

Let's break this down into two parts.  The first, which is already evident to us, is the squandering of resources.  If doctors and nurses are already short-handed, what would make any medical professional think that there are enough ambulances to assist with day to day medical issues?  Doctors know that 911 EMS services are also short-handed, so why would they compromise the 911 services in the same way that their own practices are compromised?  Calling 911 for a non life-threatening issue seems to be the way of the game these days, and it's getting a little out of hand.  Then again, I'm sure the insurance companies love it!

 

The other part from the above quote is the padding of numbers.  Why would there ever be a myth that FDs "pad" response numbers?  I thought we had the common goal as EMS and the Police to save lives?  Or am I wrong on some weird political agenda?  I'm glad the writer (Michael Morse) mentions that sometimes an EMS trained engine is more than often closer than an ambulance, and that interventions can begin well before a transport is available.  This comes hardy as we are in a time, as stated above, 911 ambulances can be scarce and we need responders on scene "applying band-aids" to the problem to secure the best chances for survival.

 

*sigh* I'm more than sure I could keep ranting on about this, but I'll leave it at here for now.

[FireMedic049 597]

21 hours ago, dwcfireman said:

"The truth is, the public is completely responsible for the high number of calls that the fire department responds to. "

 

The real truth is not just in the public.  Yes, the public is becoming more reliant on 911 services to assist them to see a doctor, but another statement from the article shows the other side of the story, too:

 

"Her doctor told her to call 911 for a ride to the emergency room; he didn’t have any appointments until later in the week. "

 

Is this really what doctors are advising their patients to do?  I understand in some extreme occasions where someone is extremely sick, such as a 60 y/o female with bronchitis, where 911 service is possibly necessary, But, how many doctors are telling their patients to just call 911? 

I can't put a number to it and it's not always the doctor themselves saying it, but in my experience it is a very, very, very common thing for a person to call their doctor and be told to go to the ER and oftentimes that includes calling 911 for an ambulance to take them.

 

21 hours ago, dwcfireman said:

 

"When 911 is called for rides to the emergency room, resources are squandered, urgent care for those who truly need it is delayed, and myths about firefighters padding their numbers responding to little old ladies who just need a ride to the ER are born. "

 

Let's break this down into two parts.  The first, which is already evident to us, is the squandering of resources.  If doctors and nurses are already short-handed, what would make any medical professional think that there are enough ambulances to assist with day to day medical issues?  Doctors know that 911 EMS services are also short-handed, so why would they compromise the 911 services in the same way that their own practices are compromised?  Actually, most doctors in private practice probably have no clue about 911 services and give them little thought when referring patients into the system. 

 

Calling 911 for a non life-threatening issue seems to be the way of the game these days, and it's getting a little out of hand. 

 

It's been more than a little out of hand for a good while now.