Fiefighter/Medics

[Terry McDonald]

Thoughts on
firefighter/medics. I
am a Driver assigned to
an engine company and
also a paramedic. We
are a FD based ALS
ambulance service. The
question is, how much
ambulance time, in your
opinion, to keep up
medic skills. In our
dept., driver rank and
above are not routinely
assigned to the unit to
cover for vacations,
sick time etc. I
volunteer for the time
on the unit when the
medic is off if we have
a full engine crew and
the senior FF can drive.
I also get the leeway
to ride in with the unit
if the need be on ALS
calls and can use medic
skills then.(we first
respond engines on most
"bad" EMS calls.) Is
this sufficient? I
study and reveiw more
than most medics i know
because i feel this is
the best way to keep up
with drug dosages and
treatments in general
for the patients. Is
this enough?

[Romania]

That is a good question. Luckily the way our system is set up, the medics assigned to the engine company ride in with the patient 90% of the time.

------------------
Alan Romania, CEP
romania@uswest.net
IAFF Local 3449

My Opinions do not reflect the opnions of the IAFF or Local 3449.

[FIREMEDIC BILL]

I work for a large county fire dept. We also provide EMS along with fire protection. The station I work at has a Med unit and a Engine. My Lt. is a paramedic, and along with myself we have a total of three paramedics of six assigned to our station. I usually ride two shifts on med unit then one on the engine. However, it differs according to manpower and leave. Paramedics in our dept. that are at stations without med units are required to go to stations with med units to ride so they can keep up their skills. If you dont use it you loose it. I think its great that alot of depts are putting more resources toward EMS, because after all we all know what most of our call volume is....EMS. But I love firefighting too. So ride when you can, and balance it out. Moreover, hop on the med unit to give another medic a break from "burnout."

Be safe.

------------------
FIREMEDIC BILL JENNINGS
GWINNETT FIRE/GRAYSON GA.
STATION 8-B SHIFT
ENGINE AND MED 8

[Boothby]

Terry it's funny that you posted this topic since the medics on my shift have been talking about it. We are starting promotional exams for driver and Lt and people are worried about keeping up skills. I would say that the amount of unit time needed to maintain skills is a personal thing. If you feel you need some unit time then I would try to get it. At the 14s our BC and Lt's let us swap around as needed. In your case if you feel you aren't getting enough unit time I would talk to your Lt about swapping onto the unit every so often. Or you could come up to the Mighty 14's and ride the BEAST (unit 3). We have plenty of unit time to spare....lol.

------------------
Larry Boothby
Firefighter/Paramedic
Truck 3 A-shift
Local 1784
Memphis.