4 ms·

Most paramedics are branches off of the local fire department.

by qmarchi 9y ago

orf 9y ago
That seems like an odd delegation of responsibilities
- boomboomsubban 9y ago
  It's that, be run by the police, or be a completely separate institution. Private healthcare makes hospitals in control a bad idea.
- Cerium 9y ago
  Fireman are for protecting life, police for protecting law.
  - orf 9y ago
    I'd say the fire service is more the protection of property, which overlaps into protecting life in some cases. It's odd to me to think of the fire service giving first response medical care, outside of perhaps smoke inhalation and burns.
- evgen 9y ago
  In the US it is more likely that there is a fire department close to any particular residence (in fact they are usually spaced out to minimize response time over the entire area) while ambulances tend to be dispatched from hospitals or ambulance services and so their response time is more varied. Fire department paramedics and ambulances may both be dispatched for emergencies, but ambulances also cover things like non-emergency patient transfers and other medical transport scenarios. It is often the case that the role of the FD paramedic is to be first on scene and try to stabilize the patient if possible so that once the ambulance arrives they can scoop and go if needed.
analog31 9y ago
In my locale, all of the firefighters are also trained as paramedics at some level. When I had my "old geezer chest pain" moment, the ambulance was on another call, so the fire truck showed up first. They had the full kit, including portable EKG, and started working on me right away. The entire system is based on counting the minutes from 911 call to treatment in the hospital, and treating it as a process to be optimized. I think statistically, you need more medics than firemen, so it may make sense to think of the fire station as a paramedic station that's also equipped to fight fires. My friend, the former EMT, told me that they like to have a crew of 4, for any call. The reason is that a large number of patients are obese, and it might take 4 crew to get someone out of their house. He said: "That's why you always see a fire truck following the ambulance."

Most paramedics are branches off of the local fire department.

orf 9y ago

That seems like an odd delegation of responsibilities

boomboomsubban 9y ago
It's that, be run by the police, or be a completely separate institution. Private healthcare makes hospitals in control a bad idea.
Cerium 9y ago
Fireman are for protecting life, police for protecting law.
- orf 9y ago
  I'd say the fire service is more the protection of property, which overlaps into protecting life in some cases. It's odd to me to think of the fire service giving first response medical care, outside of perhaps smoke inhalation and burns.
evgen 9y ago
In the US it is more likely that there is a fire department close to any particular residence (in fact they are usually spaced out to minimize response time over the entire area) while ambulances tend to be dispatched from hospitals or ambulance services and so their response time is more varied. Fire department paramedics and ambulances may both be dispatched for emergencies, but ambulances also cover things like non-emergency patient transfers and other medical transport scenarios. It is often the case that the role of the FD paramedic is to be first on scene and try to stabilize the patient if possible so that once the ambulance arrives they can scoop and go if needed.

analog31 9y ago

In my locale, all of the firefighters are also trained as paramedics at some level. When I had my "old geezer chest pain" moment, the ambulance was on another call, so the fire truck showed up first. They had the full kit, including portable EKG, and started working on me right away. The entire system is based on counting the minutes from 911 call to treatment in the hospital, and treating it as a process to be optimized. I think statistically, you need more medics than firemen, so it may make sense to think of the fire station as a paramedic station that's also equipped to fight fires. My friend, the former EMT, told me that they like to have a crew of 4, for any call. The reason is that a large number of patients are obese, and it might take 4 crew to get someone out of their house. He said: "That's why you always see a fire truck following the ambulance."