End All Jolly Vollie Ambulances... professional medics all the way

[we need proff medics]

Listening to the endless string of Signal 3's for the various departments out there leaves me with only one thing to say...

Hey Vollies.... just quit already!!!


Its time for the tax payers of suffolk county to open thr damn eyes and figure out that thier taxes are bng wasted by fire departments that cannot get a satisfactory ambulance crew to thier door in the recommended 7-9 minutes.

If the various boards of fire commissioners would end the practice of buying new fire trucks with no milage on the old ones, paying for massive dinners for the members who dont come out anyway, and paying for all sorts of stupid crap then collectivly they could pay full time professional paramedics to handle the call volumn.

With all the advanced care knowledge, hazmat, anti-terrorism, and other specialty training that is required for paramedics and emts to stay current now days its no wonder that the volunteer emt's cant handle it.

For now, I do not see a need for paid firefighters, but a full ALS crew that is capable of perhapse handling automatic alarms and simple door pop extrications might be ample.

The people of suffolk county deserve a decent chance at living through a heart attack or stroke, or even a simple asthma attack. 20-30 minutes to get an ambulance to the door is unacceptable.


I have listened to too many PD transmissions of patients deteriorating into full CARDIAC ARREST from simple respiratory distress or chest pain. There is no need for people to die because the system is becomming antiquated.


So that ends my rant. If you feel the need to flame me and rip appart me comments, spelling, or anything else feel free because deep down you know I am right. Just wait till its not a "23 firemans family" that brings your "brothers" out to save you. Your family will die alone on the couch waiting for johnny the carpenter or stan the plumber to come home from work, and put on the jolly vollie shirt and come down to the barn for a call.


so in short... vollies.... just give up

[ambulance101]

Hey E.A.S. .................. What time is that dialysis pick up from the nursing home?


Go trolling somewhere else. your a skell

[Unregisteredhgfds]

It will never happen. I too wish it would but there is no chance that these phoney wanna be's will give up the one thing that makes them feel special. They have no lives otherwise.

And since no one votes on the special election dates, these wanna be's will get out there 200 friends and relatives and nghbors and continue the farse foresever!

sad but ture!

[Nelson]

The time has come for it. Serve the community and give them a chance get some paid medics on the rigs.

[UnregisteredUuuuk]

The volunteers are not now serving thr community; they clearly are self serving which is why they all must go.

[orig poster]

EAS, life star, and all others can suck an egg... they are professional drool catchers... im talking about real medics that have been inthe field. I do not consider transport medics (save stonybrook hospital paramedics) to be real medics unless they also work in a 911 capacity someplace... so STFU already. your just mad because you cant stand to see something change.. even though it is a dead system that for the most part doesnt work.


keep with the vollie FD.. they seem to come out when there is a real fire ( or free meal) but pay medics... its the national standard of care people.. or you can be a whinner baby and pretend that the vollie emts can hack it still, just because you get your kicks ridding your 6-12 duty crew and treat 1-2 patients a week.

[Borat]

Listening to the endless string of Signal 3's for the various departments out there leaves me with only one thing to say...

Hey Vollies.... just quit already!!!


Its time for the tax payers of suffolk county to open thr damn eyes and figure out that thier taxes are bng wasted by fire departments that cannot get a satisfactory ambulance crew to thier door in the recommended 7-9 minutes.

If the various boards of fire commissioners would end the practice of buying new fire trucks with no milage on the old ones, paying for massive dinners for the members who dont come out anyway, and paying for all sorts of stupid crap then collectivly they could pay full time professional paramedics to handle the call volumn.

With all the advanced care knowledge, hazmat, anti-terrorism, and other specialty training that is required for paramedics and emts to stay current now days its no wonder that the volunteer emt's cant handle it.

For now, I do not see a need for paid firefighters, but a full ALS crew that is capable of perhapse handling automatic alarms and simple door pop extrications might be ample.

The people of suffolk county deserve a decent chance at living through a heart attack or stroke, or even a simple asthma attack. 20-30 minutes to get an ambulance to the door is unacceptable.


I have listened to too many PD transmissions of patients deteriorating into full CARDIAC ARREST from simple respiratory distress or chest pain. There is no need for people to die because the system is becomming antiquated.


So that ends my rant. If you feel the need to flame me and rip appart me comments, spelling, or anything else feel free because deep down you know I am right. Just wait till its not a "23 firemans family" that brings your "brothers" out to save you. Your family will die alone on the couch waiting for johnny the carpenter or stan the plumber to come home from work, and put on the jolly vollie shirt and come down to the barn for a call.


so in short... vollies.... just give up

You sound like one of those Medics that works for one of those private
amb company's and can't find a real job. Face it your not going to see the EMS system go paid anytime soon. So have fun transporting grandma Ester who just $hit her pants. It also sounds like your a volly as well, get out from behind you computer and answer some calls for yourself.

[orig poster]

just for clarrification...

I do work as a paid medic for one of the MANY paid fire districts on the island.... and a vollie firefighter and medic. I answer my calls with the vollies, but obviously cant be around for every one of the 2000 plus calls a year.


Working with the vollie system as a paid responder has PROVEN that the sytem doesnt work. How many times do i have to sit waiting for an ambulance while my patient deteriorated, or watch an entrapped driver go to the sh*tter because the freaking vollies cant get a "rescue truck" out to pop the door or cut the roof.

I have been on scene when SCPD ESU has arrived and cut the car open before the damn vollie rescue truck even took a signal 2, and that was still 20 minutes into the call with a 3 and ADDITIONAL 3 on a confirmed heavy rescue, tool requested.

There have also been plenty of times where I have handled automatic fire alarms because there was no one.. i mean NO ONE who responded for the alarm and the chief asked for the responder to handle it.

I have also been first due to fires and given size-ups and confirmed 35's before a chief has been on the road. I'm not saying that i want to be a chief, and I am not suggesting that there needs to be paid chiefs only that having someone simply paid and waiting to respond cuts down time, decreases mortality, and possibly limits liability.

I am not sure how our home insurance rates might change if we had a paid system. I suspect that they might go down, since responce times would decrease.

Also, as for taxes. I havent worked out the numbers, but I do not forsee a drastic change in the taxation. If a district would simply not buy a 400,000 dollar pumper for one year.. you would have salary for 8 full time medics, plus a new responder/amulance, and equipment. In that situation tax payers wouldnt see an increase.

And once you work out the numbers i think it would be obvious to the tax payers that the SMALL increase in taxes would be worth having a full ALS treatment for heart attacks, strokes, stubbed toes, and trapped farts on hand in less then 7 minutes. Anyone who tells you that the taxed would sky rocket hasnt actually worked out the numbers or really been interested in trying to make it work.. they are trying to work AGAINST IT for personal satisfaction for that one night a week that they get away from thr wives to hand with the boys at the fire house to play EMT.

Inaddition, with the upcomming revision of the national standard of care for paramedics, we will be raised up to the level of PA's with our training and level of care and soon be able to suture, write pre approved prescriptions for antibiotics, and other advanced care treatments aimed at easing the hospitals work load for routine care issues. Would you trust a car salesman by day/emt by night to come and suture your sons arm when he cuts it on a fence???


Furthermore, anyone how i have know that is a Paramedic has ther WORKED as a paramedic or is currently working as a paramedic someplace and just happens to give thr skills for the community. You will be hard pressed to find a vollie only paramedic anywhere since it is alot of knowldge and hard work to stay current with paramedicine.


So again, to all you poo-poo'ers of the paid system, is say this... yes, i am a paid 911 paramedic here on the island working to save your asses... yes i am am also a firefigher here on the island. I am not just speaking out my arse. I have seen the system start to fail and think we owe it to the community to suck up our need for self gratification and help the community better by pushing for PAID ambulance coverage. WE owe it to everyone to have the best care possible. If podunk arkansas can have paid paramedics.. why cant suffolk county?

[Unregistered8729]

You call the vollies "wannabes" but in reality most of you guys begging for the system to go full paid are the wannabes. You went and got your medic cert. (admirable due to the time and energy involved) and now you're tired of having to commute all the way to western Nassau and the city to get a good paying medic position. "Oh if Suffolk would go paid I could work out here, do fewer calls, and get a nice salary. That would be SWEET!" Don't talk like you're all concerned for the patient care of the residents of Suffolk. You're concerned about the quality of life for yourselves. You want the prestige of bng a medic and the convenience of working close to home. I've been in the industry for a number of years and I can't count the number of times I've heard that stuff. Get off YOUR high horses and admit your underlying motivation for pushing for a paid system. Paid first responders in each district is working very well and I do agree that most districts that don't yet pay responders should probably get a first responder system to supplement thr ems system. But since that wouldn't open up as many positions as there are medics who want to work in the county close to home, you guys will insist that the system needs to go completely paid (so none of you are left out and stuck commuting to the city).

[orig poster]

If you would have read the post, I identify my self as a paid SUFFOLK COUNTY medic.... not a western nassau/city medic. I am not looking for a job you idiot.. i alreayd have one... I am just saying that the volllies that are supposed to be backing me and my fellow medics up are NOT at times doing that.

I AM A SUFFOLK PAID MEDIC

I ALREADY HAVE A JOB, I am not trying to create one.

I AM CONCERNED FOR THE COMMUNITY, not personal prestige as you claim


so STFU

[fauxMD]

Get A Freaking Life Devon & Stop Buffing Everyone's Jobs!

[Itstime]

As someone who does not have a personal interest in creating jobs in Suffolk I can tell you that going to a paid system would be a great idea. The system we have now is a joke. EMS as a whole is a joke but we are making slow changes. Paramedic level care should be a bachelors level degree and EMT should be an associates level degree. There is too much responsibility to be entrusted to weekend warriors. I think it is great that people want to help, but when it comes to practicing medicine you need to be a little more demanding. Someone who runs 1-2 ALS calls per month is not going to be an effective responder. The county has realized this, which is why you have to call SB to do anything. Take some time in medical control and listen to the calls from that end and you will see how scary it is. I've heard crews calling to RMA a 9 year old with a head injury whose parents were not on the scene. I've heard a crew request D50 for a pt with a blood sugar of 80. They thought that he was AMS from his hypoglycemia and not the gallon of booze he just drank. Needless to say the order was denied. How about a CC who had a pt in unstable SVT in his/her care for 20 minutes with no intervention other than an IV? This list goes on and on. I'm not saying that this wouldn't happen in a paid system, but with more experience by the providers it is less likely to happen.

Having a paid system will also decrease response time. We are not even close to meeting the national standard. Let's go back to the first day of EMT class. Brain cells start dying in 4-6 minutes. What good is an ambulance if it is on the scene in 20 minutes? Not very useful except to keep an organ donor "alive". I think it is great that there are peole out there that want to help, but the time has come to go to a professional level. The residents deserve it.

[orig poster]

Thank you for comming out of the wood work for the support. Its about time that it sinks into some people thick, leather helmeted heads that its time to take actions to make corrections.


Most people mistakenly think that Suffolk many fire departments that run EMS calls when in fact we have a whole bunch of EMS departments that happen to run fire calls.

Anyone else care to chime in on the issue??

or shall we just sulk in the corner that we cant have ha ha fun time on the ambulances.

[altoid]

shut up malcolm

[Unregistered98351]

If you would have read the post, I identify my self as a paid SUFFOLK COUNTY medic.... not a western nassau/city medic. I am not looking for a job you idiot.. i alreayd have one... I am just saying that the volllies that are supposed to be backing me and my fellow medics up are NOT at times doing that.

I AM A SUFFOLK PAID MEDIC

I ALREADY HAVE A JOB, I am not trying to create one.

I AM CONCERNED FOR THE COMMUNITY, not personal prestige as you claim


so STFU

Ah. STFU. uh. NO.
I'll be a man and apologize if YOU were offended by my reply but I stand by EVERY word I said anyway because the vast majority of medics that make the cry for a full paid system fit right into my last post. There are a handful of medics in your position. Most are the westerners praying for an opportunity to work out in Suffolk as I described. You and a handful of others main focus may be on patient care, but all the others are focusing on thr own quality of life.
By the way: You sound real professional with the STFU thing. Signing off like that only lowers your credibility. And since I wouldn't "STFU" because some anonymous guy on a web site tells me to, it's kind of pointless anyway, don't you think?

[Unregistered sucka fool]

boogie boogie boogie

here's a tissue for your issue..

stop whinning..


take one purple drug and one yellow drug and drive faster to the hospital.


you all s uck too much to know it....


cardiac arrest are for REAL MEDICS not wanna be weekend warrior's like you.

[Youre not helping]

boogie boogie boogie

here's a tissue for your issue..

stop whinning..


take one purple drug and one yellow drug and drive faster to the hospital.


you all s uck too much to know it....


cardiac arrest are for REAL MEDICS not wanna be weekend warrior's like you.


And by your attitude you would not be one of those real medics.

[Unregistered yada yada]

Like you are ther... step up and help the problem instead of clinging to the relics of some old 1970's system. Adapt to the times and over come the challanges of LACK of responce of appropriate people.. simple twiddling your thumbs praying for someone to help its going to be nice.


whinner baby basic emts that dont have the balls to take on a paramedic class shouldnt have a say in this matter. go back to you job at the beer distributor or the stop and shop and leave the field medicine to those trained to save lives, not bandage bloody noses and twisted farts.

[iwansnedru]

And by your attitude you would not be one of those real medics.

No actually i AM A REAL MEDIC who remembers what the old days were like for Suffolk County and the EMT-CC's who were too stupid to actually know a medication by ITS NAME .....I go back to when medical control was at GOOD Sam....... BTW

[CrippledDonkeyStyle]

No actually i AM A REAL MEDIC who remembers what the old days were like for Suffolk County and the EMT-CC's who were too stupid to actually know a medication by ITS NAME .....I go back to when medical control was at GOOD Sam....... BTW

I need 2 gray boxes STAT!!!!

[johnny gauge]

Rampart this is ambulance 16... we need 3 amps of the purple box... sending telemetry now...standing by for orders...



HAHAHAH thats some funny schlitz

[CrippledDonkeyStyle]

Rampart this is ambulance 16... we need 3 amps of the purple box... sending telemetry now...standing by for orders...



HAHAHAH thats some funny schlitz


It's funny until these retards roll up to your house to help your family.

[A *REAL* EMT]

Do you guys not realize what you are doing?
Everywhere else in America, people are getting a clue. EMS is a PROFESSION.
You can not be a professional when something is a hobby.
This discussion makes me sick.
If you want to find out what REAL EMS is about, search the internet. Use the words EMT and City together.

[Unreuuyyt]

Do you guys not realize what you are doing?
Everywhere else in America, people are getting a clue. EMS is a PROFESSION.
You can not be a professional when something is a hobby.
This discussion makes me sick.
If you want to find out what REAL EMS is about, search the internet. Use the words EMT and City together.


Hey EMT go pick up "szure suzzie" from the other thread....... malcolm you can be the ALS back up you d ick

[sharpsVIII]

You know what sucks? About 8 years ago, I thought I had found my calling. I was smart, in shape, I had a knack for memorization, an excellent background in science, and I really enjoyed helping others. I read about paramedicine. I quit college, worked my ass off, and graduated in the top of my class as a paramedic with an honors degree. I've worked more cardiac arrests than I can count, I am trained in hazardous materials response and mitigation, I've even helped protect senators and dignitaries. I have years if education and experience working in one of the largest and busiest EMS systems in the world (NYC), so I should just be able to pick up and find some nice community that needs a good medic, and make a nice little living doing what I do best, right?
WRONG!
And you know why? You know why I have to work overtime shifts for peanuts? Because communites with some of the highest tax basis known to the nation refuse to get thr heads out of thr posteriors and rely on semi-trained individuals with tattoos and t-shirts running around pretending to be heroes. Screw the Long Island volunteer mindset. Screw thr asinine racing teams, screw thr million dollar fire houses, screw thr parades, and most of all, screw the stupid people who throw money at them and the lousy service they recieve.
(PS, that money musta really rolled in after 9/11, eh? Who knew that the deaths of 3,000 Americans could be so good for business?)

[VaREMS1]

Dear Original poster...

Do you know how to spell? Do you take the time to review your posts before publishing them? Your rant may have some validity, but you're an embarrassment to the Paramedic community.

Come visit us at www.emtcity.com

Remember, spell-check is your friend.


VaREMS1

[Unregired345678987]

Dear Original poster...

Do you know how to spell? Do you take the time to review your posts before publishing them? Your rant may have some validity, but you're an embarrassment to the Paramedic community.

Come visit us at www.emtcity.com

Remember, spell-check is your friend.


VaREMS1

DOOSH!

[Unregistered87129]

You know what sucks? About 8 years ago, I thought I had found my calling. I was smart, in shape, I had a knack for memorization, an excellent background in science, and I really enjoyed helping others. I read about paramedicine. I quit college, worked my ass off, and graduated in the top of my class as a paramedic with an honors degree. I've worked more cardiac arrests than I can count, I am trained in hazardous materials response and mitigation, I've even helped protect senators and dignitaries. I have years if education and experience working in one of the largest and busiest EMS systems in the world (NYC), so I should just be able to pick up and find some nice community that needs a good medic, and make a nice little living doing what I do best, right?
WRONG!
And you know why? You know why I have to work overtime shifts for peanuts? Because communites with some of the highest tax basis known to the nation refuse to get thr heads out of thr posteriors and rely on semi-trained individuals with tattoos and t-shirts running around pretending to be heroes. Screw the Long Island volunteer mindset. Screw thr asinine racing teams, screw thr million dollar fire houses, screw thr parades, and most of all, screw the stupid people who throw money at them and the lousy service they recieve.
(PS, that money musta really rolled in after 9/11, eh? Who knew that the deaths of 3,000 Americans could be so good for business?)

me me me. "Why should I have to work in the city for less money when if the wealthier areas would just create a position for ME I wouldn't have to commute and work as hard?" ME ME ME. This post just made my point for me from a few posts back. Look. YOU chose your occupation. YOU opted to go for paramedic certification. Nobody FORCED you too. So because of this, a whole system should change to make it fair for YOU so there are enough positions out there so all of you can come out here, answer less calls, make MORE money with less hours. ME ME ME. THAT'S the underlying motivation. NOT patient care.

[orig poster]

Spelling.. How is it that spelling mistakes make the whole profession look bad. for the most part my spelling mistakes are usually due to typing errors, not a gross lack of intelligence or inferior paramedic skills. So I dont think your point has an validity there.

I agree with the one that said that they would like the money throwing citizens to wake up and finally get the service they paid for.

I do not want highter taxes, and think that a paid ALS system can run on money already allocated for other non essential things like t-shirts, parades, racing teams, picnics, dinners, elaborate convention trips (conventions trips are fine as long as spending is kept in check).

I see some places starting to catch on with the times and pay ALS first responders. This is a stop gap measure. Its a downward spiral that will only feed itself over time, follow this if you will.


A department has a lack of trained willing EMT/MEDICS to come out to calls.

they start to pay ALS first responders (face it, BLS is just a waste of money if you need to pay just one person, it should be ALS so that you are atl guaranteed national standard of care) and this pissed the last remaining Jolly vollies off. "well why should I come out when they are paying someone to do the job that I wanted to do"

This increases lack of responce and there still isnt enough people to answer the calls.

The district, now stuck in the ALS standard of care, has to start to pay more people to handle the calls usually by means of a BLS driver/partner for the medic or if they are smart a second medic. this means that they can handle TWO als calls if needed if they get two drivers to come out. This system works best if both medics ride the ambulance right off of dispatch to reduce responce time and make transport faster by having the ambulance there right away. the places that are just havng the medic respond without the ambulance and have the second medic wait for the dwindling vollies to show up is endangering the citizens by having potentially critical patients on scene with no way to get to the hospital.

Eventually , the memebers will stop responding all together to EMS calls, further cementing the paid medics into position.

As call volumn increases the districs will be forced to hire more people to handle more calls. they can no longer count on the vollies to back up the paid with drivers or second ambulances. this will lead to a whole second crew, possibly a mixed als/bls crews so they can handle all the calls in the district.

and even further down the road, as the vollies stop comming out all together and we find that the fire responce to automatic alarms and no glory hog calls such as working fire.. *notice i didnt say auto accidents because sometimes unless its a "good" heavy rescue, they dont come out* the paid medics will become paid fire-medics or "fire marshals" and will respond to clear automatic alarms, chiefs investigations, and other non working fires.


you see.. places just need to wake up, and draw on past experiences of places like terryville, central , manorville, coram, and soon to be middle island.

Go with paid CREWS. its retarted to send just one person with equipment when you can pay people to handle all the calls and get the sick and injured to the hospital in a fast time....

Hearing a call bounce for 20 minutes makes me sick, especially when I have personally handled CARDIAC ARRESTS here in suffolk where the call was recieved, dispatched, responded to, transported, and back in service in less then 20 minutes... with a legitimate back to his house after hospital stay with no long term damage, SAVE!!!


I dare you to try this kind of rapid responce and treatment with a volly only system, or one where the medic is waiting for johnny driver to come from the other end of town to pick up the truck, then respond back to the far end of town to bring it to the medic...



and finally, some people will have the me me me mentality, but instead of looking at some people and thinking that its a selfish motive, look at what will really be good for the people, a paid ALS system will save lives.

[sharpsVIII]

me me me. "Why should I have to work in the city for less money when if the wealthier areas would just create a position for ME I wouldn't have to commute and work as hard?" ME ME ME. This post just made my point for me from a few posts back. Look. YOU chose your occupation. YOU opted to go for paramedic certification. Nobody FORCED you too. So because of this, a whole system should change to make it fair for YOU so there are enough positions out there so all of you can come out here, answer less calls, make MORE money with less hours. ME ME ME. THAT'S the underlying motivation. NOT patient care.

me me me. "Why should I have to work in the city for less money when if the wealthier areas would just create a position for ME I wouldn't have to commute and work as hard?" ME ME ME. This post just made my point for me from a few posts back. Look. YOU chose your occupation. YOU opted to go for paramedic certification. Nobody FORCED you too. So because of this, a whole system should change to make it fair for YOU so there are enough positions out there so all of you can come out here, answer less calls, make MORE money with less hours. ME ME ME. THAT'S the underlying motivation. NOT patient care.

Ohhhhhhh right. Listen, superhero, maybe your impassioned speech about patient care will get you the kudos and applause at your Elks Lodge, I mean, Volunteer squad meeting, with your far off look and a single tear rolling down your cheek, but its a load of crap. If you were all concerned about quality patient care, you would be for a professional, paid service with accountability and profesisonal oversight. Now go put another lightbar on your ambulance or hop on down to your racing team. Be sure to slap a "9/11" or "never forget" sticker on your stuff so people will understand your sacrifices, lol.
Now back to the A&P checkout line with ya.

[CrippledDonkeyStyle]

You know what sucks? About 8 years ago, I thought I had found my calling. I was smart, in shape, I had a knack for memorization, an excellent background in science, and I really enjoyed helping others. I read about paramedicine. I quit college, worked my ass off, and graduated in the top of my class as a paramedic with an honors degree. I've worked more cardiac arrests than I can count, I am trained in hazardous materials response and mitigation, I've even helped protect senators and dignitaries. I have years if education and experience working in one of the largest and busiest EMS systems in the world (NYC), so I should just be able to pick up and find some nice community that needs a good medic, and make a nice little living doing what I do best, right?
WRONG!
And you know why? You know why I have to work overtime shifts for peanuts? Because communites with some of the highest tax basis known to the nation refuse to get thr heads out of thr posteriors and rely on semi-trained individuals with tattoos and t-shirts running around pretending to be heroes. Screw the Long Island volunteer mindset. Screw thr asinine racing teams, screw thr million dollar fire houses, screw thr parades, and most of all, screw the stupid people who throw money at them and the lousy service they recieve.
(PS, that money musta really rolled in after 9/11, eh? Who knew that the deaths of 3,000 Americans could be so good for business?)



This guy speaks the truth. We all would be in better shape if somebody like him ran the show.

[Unregis]

Unless someone, govt or private, puts up the money for an independent study of the costs of going to a centralized paid EMS service, it will continue to be a piecemeal transition, with each district/corps gradually hiring thier own medics. Any other discussion is useless.

PS. SharpsVIII, the 9/11 comment is despicable. Everyone knows someone who died that day. It was not "good for business". Admit you were wrong and apologize for that.

[FF/EMT]

Unless someone, govt or private, puts up the money for an independent study of the costs of going to a centralized paid EMS service, it will continue to be a piecemeal transition, with each district/corps gradually hiring thier own medics. Any other discussion is useless.

PS. SharpsVIII, the 9/11 comment is despicable. Everyone knows someone who died that day. It was not "good for business". Admit you were wrong and apologize for that.

Cost is not the issue. Centralized EMS can bill for transports (like everywhere except Suffolk county already does). Vollie FDs cannot bill. Ambulance services that bill for 911 service MAKE money from insurance rmbursements and don't need to tax residents. Cost is only an issue for the fire service. EMS is a no-brainer. Tax payers and patients would be better served by a centralized, professional EMS system (less cost, faster response, higher skilled EMTs). The issue is purely political. All goes to show you the real priorities of the people in charge. No one is really looking out for patients or taxpayers. They are looking out for themselves.

[Unregis]

Rent a bus driver with a paramedic patch.....Hey, watch that foley tube as you wheel grandma into the nursing home.

[suckitup]

You know what sucks? About 8 years ago, I thought I had found my calling. I was smart, in shape, I had a knack for memorization, an excellent background in science, and I really enjoyed helping others. I read about paramedicine. I quit college, worked my ass off, and graduated in the top of my class as a paramedic with an honors degree. I've worked more cardiac arrests than I can count, I am trained in hazardous materials response and mitigation, I've even helped protect senators and dignitaries. I have years if education and experience working in one of the largest and busiest EMS systems in the world (NYC), so I should just be able to pick up and find some nice community that needs a good medic, and make a nice little living doing what I do best, right?
WRONG!
And you know why? You know why I have to work overtime shifts for peanuts? Because communites with some of the highest tax basis known to the nation refuse to get thr heads out of thr posteriors and rely on semi-trained individuals with tattoos and t-shirts running around pretending to be heroes. Screw the Long Island volunteer mindset. Screw thr asinine racing teams, screw thr million dollar fire houses, screw thr parades, and most of all, screw the stupid people who throw money at them and the lousy service they recieve.
(PS, that money musta really rolled in after 9/11, eh? Who knew that the deaths of 3,000 Americans could be so good for business?)

You don't have to stay in the NY metro area. There are thousands of places in the rest of the country where you could get paid - WELL - no one is forcing you to stay here and be poor.

[WannabeMD]

You know what sucks? About 8 years ago, I thought I had found my calling. I was smart, in shape, I had a knack for memorization, an excellent background in science, and I really enjoyed helping others. I read about paramedicine. I quit college, worked my ass off, and graduated in the top of my class as a paramedic with an honors degree. I've worked more cardiac arrests than I can count, I am trained in hazardous materials response and mitigation, I've even helped protect senators and dignitaries. I have years if education and experience working in one of the largest and busiest EMS systems in the world (NYC), so I should just be able to pick up and find some nice community that needs a good medic, and make a nice little living doing what I do best, right?
WRONG!
Bng a Paramedic is NOT a life-long career job loser! Go and get your P.A. license stupid!

[mdnotthewaytobe]

Bng a Paramedic is NOT a life-long career job loser! Go and get your P.A. license stupid!

Why so i can deal with a patient for more than half an hour
I DON'T THINK SO

[WannabeMD]

Why so i can deal with a patient for more than half an hour
I DON'T THINK SO
This statement just shows your real mentality STUPID! Go move down south with all the rest of the redneck retards...

[blowMeMds]

Y b/c i want to be away from the crappy ER's On LI

[country medic]

This statement just shows your real mentality STUPID! Go move down south with all the rest of the redneck retards...

A few of us "redneck retards" read this board. We are disappointed and amazed at the lack of respect that some of you have for your colleagues and yourselves. It is possible to debate issues without bng offensive or abusive.

We wonder about the impact of your attitude on our profession. Don't your patients have access to your comments? What must they think?

We are resisting the temptation to conclude that you are representative of EMS up north. We want to believe that you are part of a small group of unhappy people, and that most of your colleagues do a good job of serving the public trust.

If we're right, we hope that you and your patients enjoy better days. If we're wrong...God help us all.

[Unregisteredgyhyhyg]

The volunteers are not now serving thr community; they clearly are self serving which is why they all must go.

how can someone who voluteers, be self-serving?

[Unregisteredpaid]

must go paid

[Unregisteredyeah]

yeah