Fleet Services

We recently had the opportunity to listen in while some Wishard crews were discussing the current state of their service. Now we will be the first to admit that employees will usually bitch about what is wrong while overlooking what is right. With that being said, we think they have some valid concerns with their ability to provide service with their current fleet.
The biggest complaint was the lack of back up trucks. From what we have gathered, there was a lack of back up trucks prior to the fire at their old garage on Rural. Since the fire, the number of backups has reached a critical point. They have said that when a truck breaks down, they are sometimes forced to close trucks because they have nothing to replace them with. This has reportedly hit hard on the preventative maintenance of the trucks that are running since they cannot bring them in for routine service. We have even heard that when the truck they maintain in Decatur Township broke down recently, Wishard was forced to use a back up Decatur ambulance in order to keep medics down there.
The lone bright spots in the gloomy picture they painted; they heard that they are getting 2 used ambulances, and there are 2 new trucks down south somewhere waiting on the boxes to be put on.
Where does the fault lie here? Was the Rural fire the root cause of the problem? The Wishard people didn't think so. According to reports after the fire, only a couple of ambulances were lost. Is there a problem with the maintenance department? Does the fault lie higher up? Why has the service slipped to the point of buying used ambulances, and having trucks waiting for boxes? Poor planning, lack of urgency, lack of direction? Any ideas here?

Stay Safe
Dee

Our Prayers Go Out

I would like to apologize to those of the local EMS community for our absence. We are back and ready to go back to work after an extended time taking care of some family business out of town.

We would like to start out by passing on our prayers to an IFD firefighter who was the apparent victim of a robbery last night on the west side. In a struggle, he was able to disarm his attacker, but not before being shot in the neck. We hear he is in stable condition at Methodist.

Beware

We just got an interesting note from from one of our friends here in the city. We don't know ALL the facts, so we will only report what we know. Apparently there is someone here in the city trying to ride out on ambulances who is a convicted child molester. We hear he tried to tag along with a Wishard crew recently and was caught. Apparently he was warned against doing this again, but everyone still needs to keep an eye out. If you have a student or guest rider show up that you are not familiar with, check him out before you let him anywhere near your truck. It is always better to be safe than unemployed.

Stay Safe
Dee

Two In A Row

For the second day in a row, The Star goes after problems with IFD and again points its dirty little fingers at EMS.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080409/OPINION08/804090326/1291/OPINION08&GID=gsIbeWVy0naep3jFe561OusZ4qAQnjjaoxKq2pPJlHo%3D

For the second time, they have mentioned that the township EMS was suppose to be merged with Wishard, but they again fail to address why it didn't happen.
One thing is for certain, it can’t happen now. IFD EMS has representation, in the form of 416, and Wishard has AFSME, which claims representation rights for Wishard (yet has signed cards from only a few). The benefits are a world apart, the hours vary as greatly as the benefits, and the management structure speaks for itself. What is a Mayor to do. Jack up the prices and delay maintenance. Good call!
As an afterthought, why has The Star waited until this week to address a problem that has been festering for a full quarter? Don’t suppose it has anything to do with FDIC. Nothing like bad press for a fire department from it’s hometown newspaper when there are about 20-30 thousand firefighters in town. Are they going out of their way to embarrass our brothers and sisters over in suppression?

Stay Safe
Dee

Today Is The Day.......

Or is it? Today Mayor Ballard will give his first State of the City Address. Will EMS appear anywhere is his address? We doubt it. Fire, with the recent budget woes and the pending nationwide search for chief, may be a hot topic. The huge accomplishments in rearranging IMPD may certainly get some good press. When it comes to us though, it is our prediction that EMS will be ignored by His Honor. It’s not like we are a part of public safety or anything.
Face it brothers and sisters. Ambulances are not as sexy as police cars and fire trucks, and while the problems with EMS in this county will persist, we don’t expect Mayor Ballard to feel that we are worthy. In our humble opinion, we will be lucky if His Honor acknowledges us during EMS week next month.

Stay Safe
Dee

Front Page News

Courtesy of indystar.com, the headline reads “Surging overtime strangles IFD budget”.
The article, http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080407/NEWS/80407048 , states that IFD has already doubled the entire OT budget for the year, and is on the pace to end up $2 million in the red.
One of the contributing factors cited by The Star, EMS. “IFD planned as if the township ambulance services would merge with Wishard Health Services, Greeson said, which would have allowed a reduction in employees.”
At least we know what Bart had up his sleeve in regard to EMS in Marion County. What we don’t know however, is what went wrong. Why didn’t it happen, who hung up the deal, or who dropped the ball here. Is this still being considered as an option?
One of the solutions for fixing the problem? Increasing the Ambulance fees. The going rate, according to IFD is $365 - $625, depending on the level of care. How much will they go up? If this does not generate the required revenue, will there be reductions in EMS?
Again, I ask Mayor Ballard and Public Safety Director Newman to step forward and address the state of Marion County EMS with us, the people who provide it every day. We shouldn’t have to be blindsided by this type of information from The Indianapolis Star.

Stay Safe
Dee

Ambulance Crash

If it can happen there, it can happen here. An ambulance in Louisville KY crashed while enroute to the hospital with a patient on board. They were running with emergency lights and siren on when a pedestrian ran out in front of them. The driver swerved to avoid the pedestrian and struck a utility pole, a culvert and a fence. The patient later died at University Hospital as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.

http://www.wlky.com/news/15784212/detail.html

While we hate to hear that a patient died in the crash, we all must keep in mind that it could have been much worse. It could very well have been a multiple fatality crash.
With the recent ambulance crashes in and around Marion County, we all need to remember that we are one bad driver, or in the KY case, one pedestrian away from being a patient instead of a care giver.

Stay Safe
Dee

Catching Up

Sorry for our prolonged absence, but when an emergency comes up, we gotta go. We have been gone for a week and there is a lot of catching up to do, so let’s get to it.
IFD Chief Greeson is leaving to go to the state fire marshalls office. With the departure of the top dog, keep an eye out to see who & where the replacement is. He, or even a she, might just hold a very big stake in the future of EMS in Marion County.
Rumors are flying about possible layoffs at Perry Township Fire Department. Will this be the usher for consolidation with IFD? If so, what will become of EMS there? Will IFD order a few new ambulances and hire more civilians? Will they drag Wishard down there? Will Rural Metro stay while they change over or will they be out the door on day one? Is it all just smoke and mirrors? Perry has claimed poverty for so many years, why believe them now.
We are hearing from our friends at Wishard that the Medusa SIREN program has been pushed back yet again. What we have heard so far, no cards for internet in any of the trucks; users who are not in the system due to never being put in or that the system has kicked back out; the guy running the show decided to go on vacation the week before it was to go online.
It is FDIC week. Our friends over at Indybravest have the schedule down for all to see.
For now, keep safe.
Dee