4 ms·

I think the root cause is that you lump fire and EMS into the same basket. You don’t need six qualified firefighters on a half million dollar pumper to attend a

I think the root cause is that you lump fire and EMS into the same basket. You don’t need six qualified firefighters on a half million dollar pumper to attend a nanna down call. Here in Australia the ambulance service is totally separate to the fire services. The public calls the same number (000) but after that it’s separate dispatch centres, different staff, different depots. From the fire side we occasionally get called to assist the ambulance service with carrying out people who are injured somewhere way off down a bushwalking or mountain biking track. We’ll very rarely get called to a lift assist for someone that’s fallen in an aged care facility. The ambulance service in NSW has a whole set of problems around capacity and poor working conditions for staff, of course, but that’s another story.

analog31 5y ago
>>> You don’t need six qualified firefighters on a half million dollar pumper to attend a nanna down call. A friend of mine is a former EMT. He told me that they would usually send out 4 people if possible, because in fact you do need that many if someone has had a heart attack while sitting on the toilet in an upstairs apartment, and weighs 350 pounds. Getting people out of their homes can actually be dangerous for the EMT's. In my locale, all of the firefighters are also EMTs. Same service. When I had my medical "event," a fire truck showed up first because the ambulance was on another call. They started working on me right away, then the ambo showed up and hauled me out.