Comments by Mini14
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Posted on December 5 at 10:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When I say they will be more familiar with the area, I mean they will have a better knowledge of local facilities and procedures. A dispatcher who works one county will know more about it than one who dispatches a different county every day. Facilities such as Sikorsky, Sanders Lead, Lockheed Martin and so on will stick in the mind of a dispatcher much better when they are used to communicating in Pike county from a day to day basis. A local dispatcher can also better memorize the many phone numbers of local facilities and not have to sort through a much larger list to find the ones pertinent to them.
As for competent personnel, you;re absolutely right, idiots sometimes get hired. This is were we need to implement a review and quality control program to work with the local ambulance company in keeping their standards high. Cross training personnel also ensures flexibility in filling these positions.
Lefty's query on the address changes might be lost on the public, it is confusing until you use it. The first two digits of the county road number identify which division on the map it is in. It does help ID roads faster. The four digits help us separate our county from others, if the county roads are all of a sudden two or three digit numbers you know you've hit the next county. It can help when you don't have any landmarkers to show you just how far down the road you are. Since GPS units don't display the correct county road number you still have to depend on a map in the county. I'm glad you have your green marker in your yard, it increases your safety. It's unbelievable how many places have no markers at all; especially trailer parks.
Posted on December 5 at 9:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
-------But Care Operations Manager Mike Sandell said that may not necessarily be the case with his company.
“If they were dispatched locally, we would try to hire people from Pike County,” Sandell said. “But you don’t have many people to pick from that are considered to be Pike County natives.”
Sandell bases that information on statistics from the Alabama Department of EMS and Trauma, which breaks down 28 licensed EMTs, three intermediate EMTs and three licensed paramedics who are from Pike County.-------
Dispatchers are not EMTs. City of Troy, Troy University, Brundidge PD and Pike County all have their own dispatch. They don't seem to have a problem finding competent dispatchers.
Local dispatch offers a dedicated resource. Distributed dispatch offers the benefit of multiple locations to support each other during disaster when one may go down. Having all dispatch from one location can be dangerous if that center loses it's means of communication, namely a loss of Southern Linc or Motorola towers. UHF/VHF communication can be run even in such emergencies and relayed between multiple centers.
A dispatcher who handles one jurisdiction will be more efficient in that jurisdiction. Work experience will build their knowledge; not being "native."
Posted on December 3 at 6:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Jim Jones should learn proper grammar and spelling. It's obvious to most with any amount of sense that employees of those companies have to remain anonymous until a decision is made or job security may go right out the window for them.
If you're sick of reading blogs then don't read them. Frankly, I'm sick of your atrocious typing.
Posted on December 3 at 4:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If we look back in the Messenger's archive we can look at the way Care got rid of local dispatch after being told not to by the council, a service they were contracted to provide. Since that time ambulance arrival times have suffered as a result of delayed dispatch times. The central dispatch did not add staffing to handle the additional areas, they simply cut resources to handle the same load. Dispatchers in Montgomery are far more concerned with handling their calls before handling Troy's for a reason, the city of Montgomery issues fines for slow service.
Placing penalties on drivers only encourages reckless driving, endangering motorists, pedestrians, patients and rescuers. A more efficient dispatch time combined with driver's knowledge of the road systems will help response times. GPS units can fail, paper maps are as reliable as they have always been. Technology has been a crutch Care has relied on when they bring in crews from other cities rather than calling in staff that are familiar with the area as needed.
Care is now offering a zero bid for services they are currently providing? Why didn't they offer a zero bid last time? Leaving the language as vague as possible will allow them to make cut backs at their discretion. Cut backs equal bonuses for those in a corporate infrastructure, they are only going to provide what they can get away with providing as we've all seen.
Accountability will be a big issue for the new contract. Whichever company comes in must have an open door policy towards our city and county officials and make available all run records and staffing rosters. This way we can assure the county and city are getting what they pay for, and the needs of our neighbors are being met.
EMS, like all public service, is not about making money. It's about protecting our friends, family and neighbors from disaster. Let's hope the decision that is made is the one that offers us the best service, not the cheapest. You get what you pay for.
Posted on December 3 at 4:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good old Scare Ambulance hasn't exactly been following the rules, state protocols allow the patient to choose the facility they want to go to no matter what, even if the paramedics discretion says otherwise. It's clear as day at the AL dept health and public safety's web site where the protocol is listed. Care doesn't tell you this because they don't want to provide staffing for additional ambulances when needed. Remember, you have a right to go to the hospital of your choice.
The submitted bid from Care stipulates that Brundidge must supply quarters at no cost for the ambulance crew to be down there. This is exactly the same as what is in the current contract written three years ago. Brundidge doesn't have any lodging available for them, so Care never furnished the ambulance. They put this in the bid because they know they will not have to staff it.
The helicopter is actually an Omniflight helo contracted to Care, whom will provide paramedics. This is ONE helicopter to service a 70 mile radius, meaning it will provide service from Montgomery to Dothan only if it is stationed in Troy or Ozark. If lodging is not available at either of those airports you will not likely see that helicopter in either of those cities. We already have three commercial Med Helo companies available to our county who have a much broader range of resources as well as military helicopter support from Flat Iron whom did a fantastic job during the tornado disaster in Enterprise.
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Posted on December 5 at 10:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with Turtle about native dispatchers, while some of them may be more useful than others, it's not that they have an ingrained knowledge of the county but rather they have area specific training and experience. Centralized dispatch is almost a method of outsourcing. I know I hate calling any other business and getting someone several states away who really can't do as much for me as calling someone who works at the business site I deal with. We would never dream of entrusting our local police and sheriff departments dispatch to a system like this. Imagine if the City of Montgomery dispatched law enforcement from Ozark, Troy, Selma and their own.
The changes in what our county needs have to be spear headed from our county, we cannot expect private companies to volunteer change. We have to hold them accountable for ignoring the mistakes they have made. Waiting until the contract is not the time to start making fast changes. We should not reward this type of behavior by being a pushover and letting it happen for another three years. We set a precedent that if you don't act according to the contract in a professional and ethical manner then you will leave this county. That would go for the next contract too. Let's keep these companies on their feet.
Happy holidays Turtle, I like the way you think for yourself ;) I'm the same way.
On Emergency personnel: Response times key in ambulance bid