Well, no offense to your friend but I completely disagree with him. EMS can’t get to these calls as fast as fire can and they typically can’t handle them on their own. People would suffer and die needlessly without dual response. I always tell people when a critical patient comes into the hospital there is a crew of 8-10 doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, surgeons, residents, whatever waiting for them. It takes a similar amount of people to manage a critical patient in the prehospital environment, particularly if there are access issues (e.g. they are upstairs, in the bathroom, etc). Of course I am biased because I work in this industry but as a taxpayer I’d rather have that big red truck being used to help people in need than sit idle while someone waits for help from further away.
I remember a few years ago when my brother was going through alcohol withdrawal - at the time I didn’t know that alcohol withdrawal could kill. My Mom and I had brought him to my parents that day because he was in horrible shape……early evening, my first aid/wilderness EMT training kicked in and I realized I needed to call 911….also, 2 of our immediate neighbors are MD’s…..they both came as soon as we called and on that call each asked, “You have called 911?”
We’re in Orange County boonies…….an Orange County Deputy Sheriff was first to arrive….he was young and not experienced….he wasn’t cross trained……He was large and strong and willing to help….that mattered a bit later in getting my brother into the ambulance.
A White Cross Volunteer Fire Department “water” truck was first to arrive….it had 3-4 firemen in it and at least one was an EMT or Paramedic…..
Another “water” truck arrived before the ambulance/paramedic vehicle arrived.
We had 2-4 EMT’s/Paramedics on-site before the ambulance/Paramedics arrived.
My brother was having seizures and foaming at the mouth when I called 911.
I’m damn glad some of the initial firemen were trained as EMT’s, some maybe as paramedics.
They likely saved my brother’s life that day.
I’ve had to call for wellness checks in Davidson and Chapel Hill…..I can’t remember about Davidson….in Chapel Hill, the responding police officers were trained EMT’s or paramedics….in both Davidson and Chapel Hill, the Fire Department was right behind the police….the personnel in the initial vehicles were not in ambulances, but they were at least EMT’s.
I’m thankful as hell that many fire department personnel are cross-trained as EMT’s/paramedics.
