RE: On bidding out EMS

January 2, 2006

In a message dated 1/2/2006 3:37:19 P.M. Central Standard Time,

larn572001@... writes:

It may be a circular argument, but the citizens can't allow their elected

officials just to put out bids, open them, and vote for the low bidder in a pro

forma manner.

The citizens have to be educated in what good EMS is, and hold their elected

EMPLOYEES' feet to the fire until they get the best possible system for that

community. That falls back on us to do the teaching of public awareness.

Yes but you're describing CIVICS 101 and frankly with the dismal state of

public (and at times for that matter private) education in this country (overall

of course) how do we (EMS) educate the public at large? Factor in the fact

that MOST systems have ZERO budget for anything like PUB ed and you're back to

the " circular argument " you made reference to.

Even in a large system like Austin/ County I bet if you did man on the

street polls a large percentage of those polled would have no idea how ATC

works and or what changes even a good system (IMHO) like ATC needs to be better

(anything can be made better).

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

LNMolino@...

(Office)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and the

author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or

organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with unless

I

specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended only for

its

stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials

retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain by the

original author.

January 2, 2006

In a message dated 1/2/2006 4:19:06 P.M. Central Standard Time,

.Crosby@... writes:

educate the elected officials

Just read that statement and you see the problem. Like the public the vast

majority of the elected officials are only concerned with a few things. Two in

fact.

Getting re-elected or getting higher office.

So here's the challenge as I see it, answer that question to them and they

might listen.

How to do it?

Ya got me.

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

LNMolino@...

(Office)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and the

author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or

organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with unless

I

specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended only for

its

stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials

retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain by the

original author.

January 2, 2006

While I did not want to get back on this subject, I must answer Mr. Crosby's

comments. Yes, the key is educating the city council and city manager. I

have been in the middle of it for 23 years and even though we go out and

educate the general public, it only touches a few and those that we have made a

difference in their families and loved ones. We use those people, history of

EMS mistakes in other cities, our statistics on life-saving efforts and the

local ER and Trauma Docs to keep the city fathers appraised of how good we

really are. Do they care? Yes, Mr. Molina (?) they do. All of our city

council

meetings are televised and they are interested in keeping the good PR of the

EMS system around.

In a message dated 1/2/2006 4:23:39 P.M. Central Standard Time,

lnmolino@... writes:

In a message dated 1/2/2006 4:19:06 P.M. Central Standard Time,

.Crosby@... writes:

educate the elected officials

Just read that statement and you see the problem. Like the public the vast

majority of the elected officials are only concerned with a few things. Two

in

fact.

Getting re-elected or getting higher office.

So here's the challenge as I see it, answer that question to them and they

might listen.

How to do it?

Ya got me.

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

LNMolino@...

(Office)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author and

the

author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or

organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with

unless I

specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended only

for its

stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials

retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain by

the

original author.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

January 2, 2006

--

I'm referring to the recent problems that both services had. GoldStar is

under investigation for possible violations of Federal regulations and laws.

MedStar has had continued issues with contractor performance as well as

personnel issues. While the two are very different problems, both are

problems.

The PUM has " taken over " the daily operations of MedStar because the

contract goals could not be met by prior contractors. Prior contractors either

terminated the contract themselves or had the contract terminated. Regardless,

the

outside vendors could not meet the goals established by the contracts. My

guess (and this is solely conjecture) is that none of the major private EMS

companies now would want to bid on the Tarrant County contract. This might be

considered a failure on behalf of MedStar in specifying reasonable performance

goals.

I'm sure that Ernie is an absolutely fantastic person. I'm also equally sure

that Ernie is running MedStar because of previous problems.

-Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT-B

Austin, Texas

In a message dated 1/2/2006 5:47:27 PM Central Standard Time,

cblack@... writes:

Wes,

Please don't mention MedStar and GoldStar in the same breath. There are

vast differences between the two. While GoldStar is accused of unethical

and illegal activity, Medstar is not. MedStar is suffering from some poor

management decisions made by previous contractors. MedStar is a group of

highly-skilled and dedicated paramedics and EMT's while GoldStar is a more

or less defunct corporation. May I ask what continued failures of MedStar

you are referring to?

I know this has been pointed out before, but MedStar is not a private

service. MedStar is the name the ambulance authority chose for the

operation. The authority has contracted with different private companies in

the past to operate the service, but the authority possesses the name,

equipment, and rolling stock.

At the present time the authority is operating the service (no contractor).

Ernie is in charge and apparently is doing a great job. I don't

want to start the argument about PUM all over again, so, leaving that aside,

I must point out that Ernie appears to have turned the place around. He has

hired more medics; is meeting response time goals; and has significantly

improved company morale. He will be the first to tell you that what has

been accomplished has been accomplished out of teamwork.

Ernie has not achieved all his goals yet. As a good manager he is

constantly setting new goals. Ernie is one of a rare breed of manager that

truly cares about his co-workers. You will find few EMS managers better

than he. He and his team will soon have MedStar back on top.

Please give the team credit for what has been accomplished; give them room

to accomplish even more; and please do not place MedStar in the same

category as GoldStar.

Thanks,

Chris

BTW, Ernie is friend of many years and, no, I am not looking for a job with

him. After 24 years in EMS, I'm plenty happy where I am.

On bidding out EMS

Sal mentioned government turning to private companies to provide EMS. In

doing so, he talked about lowest bidder. We all need to remember that the

standard for awarding a government contract (usually) is the " best value, "

which can and should be very different from the lowest bidder. Further,

lowest responsive bidder is a very different thing from low bidder.

While I'm personally in favor of 911 EMS response being run by the

appropriate local government entity, I have no doubt that a private company

could do an acceptable job of providing 911 response, if and only if the

government entity issues proper specifications, negotiatates a fair (to all

parties) contract, and continues to monitor performance. The continued

failures of private EMS (MedStar, GoldStar, etc) providing 911 service are

as much a failure of the procurement and contracting processes by local

government as they are a failure of the private contractor.

-Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT-B

Austin, Texas

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yahoo! Groups Links

------------------------

January 2, 2006

It may be a circular argument, but the citizens can't allow their elected

officials just to put out bids, open them, and vote for the low bidder in a pro

forma manner.

The citizens have to be educated in what good EMS is, and hold their elected

EMPLOYEES' feet to the fire until they get the best possible system for that

community. That falls back on us to do the teaching of public awareness.

ExLngHrn@... wrote:

Sal mentioned government turning to private companies to provide EMS. In doing

so, he talked about lowest bidder. We all need to remember that the standard for

awarding a government contract (usually) is the " best value, " which can and

should be very different from the lowest bidder. Further, lowest responsive

bidder is a very different thing from low bidder.

While I'm personally in favor of 911 EMS response being run by the appropriate

local government entity, I have no doubt that a private company could do an

acceptable job of providing 911 response, if and only if the government entity

issues proper specifications, negotiatates a fair (to all parties) contract, and

continues to monitor performance. The continued failures of private EMS

(MedStar, GoldStar, etc) providing 911 service are as much a failure of the

procurement and contracting processes by local government as they are a failure

of the private contractor.

-Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT-B

Austin, Texas

January 2, 2006

I'll take you one step further. You folks are assuming that the

public at large would want to learn about EMS and take the time to get

the people they elected into office to do what they feel is right. By

and large, most people do not care and/or do not want to get involved

with anything outside of the scope of their normal day to day existence.

I'm married to a person exactly like that, and it is frustrating trying

to get her involved in anything, even when I show her the benefits of

getting involved. You can have the biggest public education budget in

the country, but, sad to say, most folks probably won't notice unless

you interrupt their favorite reality TV program. I'm not saying we

shouldn't try, I'm just saying not to expect too much gain for the

effort. It may sound cynical, and I don't have any polls or statistical

data to point to. Just personal experience from people (just plain

folks) I've met in all the places I've lived (Texas, Tennessee,

Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, & Alabama).

So all that being said, I think it is up to us EMS folks to

educate the elected officials on what good EMS is and what they should

provide to the citizens they serve. I think we would get more benefit

from our effort in this way, though I have a feeling some of our more

learned list members might disagree.

Crosby

EMT-B

Re: On bidding out EMS

In a message dated 1/2/2006 3:37:19 P.M. Central Standard Time,

larn572001@... writes:

It may be a circular argument, but the citizens can't allow their

elected

officials just to put out bids, open them, and vote for the low bidder

in a pro

forma manner.

The citizens have to be educated in what good EMS is, and hold their

elected

EMPLOYEES' feet to the fire until they get the best possible system for

that

community. That falls back on us to do the teaching of public

awareness.

Yes but you're describing CIVICS 101 and frankly with the dismal state

of

public (and at times for that matter private) education in this country

(overall

of course) how do we (EMS) educate the public at large? Factor in the

fact

that MOST systems have ZERO budget for anything like PUB ed and you're

back to

the " circular argument " you made reference to.

Even in a large system like Austin/ County I bet if you did man on

the

street polls a large percentage of those polled would have no idea how

ATC

works and or what changes even a good system (IMHO) like ATC needs to be

better

(anything can be made better).

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

LNMolino@...

(Office)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author

and the

author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or

organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with

unless I

specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended

only for its

stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials

retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain

by the

original author.

January 2, 2006

Show them how hiring a bad EMS could keep them from getting re-elected

should something tragic happen and that service not be equipped to

handle it (personnel or equipment wise). In other words, show them it

is in their best interest, if getting re-elected is their only interest.

On a large scale, the former head of FEMA is a good case in point. He

lost his job over the public perception that he messed up and his

department could not handle the disaster along the Gulf coast. Not that

he did in fact drop the ball, just the perception of having done so. He

was sacked much too quickly for any kind of real investigation to have

been done, and make no mistake, he was sacked. Now, how was the

President perceived for hiring him? Show them that it is in their best

interest to get educated in it. I hate to sound callous about it, but

we might want to consider that, with the recent memories of Katrina and

her fallout, now would be the perfect time to get with officials on

their EMS needs while those memories are still somewhat fresh. What

elected official wants to be compared to Brown, or the Mayor of New

Orleans, fairly or unfairly. Remember, I'm not talking fact here, but

public perception which is after all the lube that greases the gears of

politics almost as much as money.

I apologize in advance if I've offended anybody with this post, that

isn't my intent. I did have to " shut off the emotion chip " and look at

it without the emotional baggage attached.

Crosby

EMT-B

________________________________

From: [mailto: ] On

Behalf Of lnmolino@...

Sent: Monday, January 02, 2006 4:23 PM

To:

Subject: Re: On bidding out EMS

In a message dated 1/2/2006 4:19:06 P.M. Central Standard Time,

.Crosby@... writes:

educate the elected officials

Just read that statement and you see the problem. Like the public the

vast

majority of the elected officials are only concerned with a few things.

Two in

fact.

Getting re-elected or getting higher office.

So here's the challenge as I see it, answer that question to them and

they

might listen.

How to do it?

Ya got me.

Louis N. Molino, Sr., CET

FF/NREMT-B/FSI/EMSI

LNMolino@...

(Office)

(Office Fax)

" A Texan with a Jersey Attitude "

The comments contained in this E-mail are the opinions of the author

and the

author alone. I in no way ever intend to speak for any person or

organization that I am in any way whatsoever involved or associated with

unless I

specifically state that I am doing so. Further this E-mail is intended

only for its

stated recipient and may contain private and or confidential materials

retransmission is strictly prohibited unless placed in the public domain

by the

original author.

January 2, 2006