AMR EMPLOYEES DISRESPECTING THE FD

[Whip]

Hey Lyk,
I work P/T for AMR, and like CaptGonzo said you should make you own pee on AMR sticker, hell I'd even put one on my car. They can make you feel that way sometimes.

[This message has been edited by Whip (edited 05-31-2001).]

[Joz_13]

Here in Farmington, CT, AMR is the company that provides the commercial ambulance service as well. I'm familiar with quite a few of the crews out this way, and have only had a few bad experiences with them. Occasionally, yes, you do get one with the "paid EMS" syndrome where they think they're the best, but for the most part, our medical crews get along very well with them. I do know quite a few AMR and past AMR employees who dislike the company's management, but they do maintain a professional presence on the scene. Hell, some of my good friends work for them, and I hear the gripes they have.

[sierrafire]

Well I can understand why you are upset. I have lived in a area that they support. I think I would rather be treated by EMT's or First Responder than be treated by their medics in my area. I have worked with them on mva's before and watch them tell a injured patient to stand up and walk over to the back board. SCARY. I guess C-spine was not a issue seeing how she was having major back pains. I have met some of there EMT's that where outstanding. I would have to say just blow them off. Their being jerks and leave it at that. Just know you have to be better than the Medics that I worked with. Take care.

[ffkofemt]

Hi I am in kind of the same boat but I am a full timer who works in a vollunteer dept.We are treated very bad by our volleys and it makes our job very hard .We are not aloowed to drive the fire trucks after 5pm.We have to pull the trucks out and wait for the volleys to show up.after a 5 min retone then we can respond.we had 1 capt say that if he heard 1 of the fulltimers sign on he would rollover and shut his pager off.I enjoy working with them but it is very hard when your job is to protect lives and property.

A ff who is commited to his town and to save lives and propert.

[IGO4IT]

LyksItHot, What is the name {of your dept.} that it was peeing on?

[Bishop10]

Greetings,

Let me tell you, companies like AMR are very bad for fire and rescue services across the country. I don't care if you are Career or Volunteer.........They are just bad news.

But here In R.I., only MUNICIPAL F.D.'s and Rescue Organizations (Career and Volunteer) can answer 911 calls. Takes the for profit's out of it.

[Double_Local]

Hey Bishop:

What's so bad about AMR & the like? I'd never want to work for one, but i'd be real happy for them to come to my city and take over EMS transport.

In theory, any municipality could do it cheaper than AMR can, because AMR has to make a profit. Unfortunately, most municipal systems are so inefficient, there's plenty of room for improvements to A) make a profit and B) save money for the city/taxpayers.

Very few municipalities reach the performance of a for-profit provider with a closely monitored performance contract.

[Ladder Man]

Why do you care what a bunch of AMBULANCE DRIVERS think anyway? They just wish they were on the job....

[RanboHFD]

Hey Guys,

We all gotta do our growing up somewhere!!! Keep in mind when you were a "Yungin" the wild and crazy things you did to prove yourself. The person with the "Badboy" peeing on an "FD" only realizes in a juvenile sense what he is doing. He or she attempts to prove they can throw out their chest a little and be the badboy. We all do it to some point in our lives.
I guess he just hasn't figured out the big picture, he will probably wanna be one of "US" someday or as others have said he cant be...so he is mad.
I would not waste my sweat letting him know it bugs ya...ask him where he got his...that will really mess him up.
Sometimes the best way to "Play" with someone is play along. When they realize you used their hostility to have fun see how burned they really get.
AMR for some reason promotes a company atmosphere of competing against IAFF in some places. If I remember correctly awhile back they attempted to start a Subsidiary of Private firefighting. They have been spanked for it.

[Bishop10]

Double Local,

Apparently you have never been threatened by "privatization". What these type of companies do, they come in and underbid what the City or Town pays for E.M.S. (i.e. salaries, equipment, etc...) Then once the municipalites lays off the manpower and sells all of the equipment, all of a sudden, the rate they charge the City or Town goes dramatically up! Plus, if your City presently provides E.M.S. service and you have, lets say 5 transporting rescues (i.e. ambulances), these companies will provide the same amount of vehicles. BUT, the big problem is, that if these vehicles sit around and do nothing, they make no money. So what they do, they start to send them out on transports. Now, if an ambulance is needed for an emergency run, who knows where the next one is coming from.

Also, there are for-profit fire departments out there also (i.e. Rural Metro). You might wish that a for profit company does the transporting on your job, but in reality, you don't want that. What would happen to your staffing if that happened?

And like I posted previous, this can hurt the Volunteers as well. With the money a City or Town provides to a Private Non Profit Volunteer Company, they could provide to a For Profit business and take away your livelihood. Just food for thought.

[Double_Local]

How long have they been in Richmond, or Syracuse, or OKC, or the other places they've been? Still no private fire department there, either.

What I know: In my department, the FD first responds 70%+ of the EMS runs, many of which didn't really even need an ambulance, much less a fire truck. We provide FR services even when the Medic unit or Ambo are in quarters with the engine, on fairly non emergency runs. The Communications Division takes 2-3 minutes to dispatch, the Ambulances take 2-3 minutes to turn out, and they take 5-8 minutes to drive there. Meanwhile, We leave (with more people, doing more things in the firehouse, and dealing with turnout gear) within 1-2 minutes, and get there within 4-5 minutes. Once on scene, typically WE do the assessment, and the removal of the patient to the street. EMS then transports to the hospital and takes a 0.5 to 1 hour break at the hospital. Overall I think we get a transport to less than 50% of our calls within 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, down the road in richmond, where AMR works...the FD only first responds maybe 40% of the EMS runs, and are often cancelled prior to arrival. The EMS units WORK...rarely taking over an hour for a transport, and they provide an ALS transport within 8 minutes to 90% of the calls.

As a union, it's our job to provide our members with a safe working environment, among which could be counted adequate staffing...I'd prefer 5 man engine companies.

DC has a budget of $116M for Fire and EMS...and we spend probably $40M+ responding to EMS calls. With the efficiency of an AMR or other provider, we could reduce that to, say $30M. 1 Extra FF on 33 Engines on 4 platoons at $75,000 ea. = $9.9M. Any Questions? Oh, yeah, and we'd then meet that 8 minute / 90% goal.

Ideally we could get that level of performance out of the EMS side now, but we don't have the management to do so. So, in my eyes, the easiest thing to do would be to contract it out.

Plus they wouldn't then try and assign me to a $hitbox.

[realbfdjake]

Let these scabs know who is in charge your the fire department as I said on here before they are nothing more than overrated cab drivers. You have the real job, they are there to take people to the hospital after the FD gets there first. Remember show them who is boss. They are too far low on the totem pole to even count. We have our problems with Boston EMS, but when push comes to shove we are in charge and what the Fire Officer says go. Tell them too keep their mouths shut and do what they are told. Any monkey can drive somebody to the hospital. Like Commissioner Von Essen of FDNY said about a crew of ambulance drivers that were caught sleeping, he would have taken a baseball bat to their windshield. I like his style, he knows exactly how to treat the EMS scabs who are taking firefighter jobs. Too bad he is with FDNY and not BFD, he would straighten things out quick here.

[ 08-09-2001: Message edited by: realbfdjake ]

[Johnniebigredassbaboon]

Jake:
Are you serious about what VonEssen said?
That approach may work, but it would be a nightmare in the press.