Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 So if the City of Port Arthur started an ambulance service that included transports, they could make a lot of money? The $50,000 they lost from a private wouldn't be that much compared to what they would make. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 So if the City of Port Arthur started an ambulance service that included transports, they could make a lot of money? The $50,000 they lost from a private wouldn't be that much compared to what they would make. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. I have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, which is in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " service and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be demanding to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can think of is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are not " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. Am I wrong? GG E.(Gene) Gandy POB 1651 Albany, TX 76430 wegandy1938@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. I have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, which is in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " service and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be demanding to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can think of is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are not " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. Am I wrong? GG E.(Gene) Gandy POB 1651 Albany, TX 76430 wegandy1938@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. I have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, which is in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " service and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be demanding to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can think of is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are not " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. Am I wrong? GG E.(Gene) Gandy POB 1651 Albany, TX 76430 wegandy1938@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I understand what you're saying. But, fact is, sooner or later, the " powers that be " will be looking at revenue production and figure out that all that money that's going to the privates could be theirs. Whether or not they add trucks, staff, or anything else, depends upon how strong the EMS management is and how well they sell their needs to a reluctant city administration. It is true that a large percentage of transports by a 911 service are actually non-emergencies, but many of those are probably no-pays. Nursing home transfers do pay, and if I were a city manager I would want to know why we were giving that money away. At the same time, most city services, whether FD or 3rd service, do not work their employees nearly as hard as the private services do. Think about it. A private service is in the business for one reason and one reason only: to make a profit. If a private service can make a profit, why couldn't a publicly run service do the same? Who deserves the profits? The private service owners or the taxpayers who pay for those who cannot pay? A private service that pays only $50,000 for the privilege of doing transfers is laughing all the way to the bank. GG > > Well, the problem as I see it from the trenches is that it would merely > serve as incentive for city government to pile more work on top of what we > do already, especially if there is a revenue stream to be generated. What > are the odds that the city will fund more ambulances and more employees to > handle the additional traffic? 3/4 of what I do already are " transfers " > anyway, and I'm too old to handle much adrenalin. > > Doesn't the City of Galveston operate this way? My understanding of their > system is that they have dedicated " transfer " trucks. Its not a bad sounding > system actually, but I think using your 911 units to do txfers mixes things > that should not be mixed....public service and profit generation. If a city > wanted to staff 3 or 4 transfer trucks to make some $$$, good on 'em. > magnetass sends > Re: Goldstar > > > > > > I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, > > including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. > > I > > have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, > > which is > > in transfers.  If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " > > service > > and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be > > demanding > > to know the rationale for doing that.  About the only rationale I can > > think of > > is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are > > not > > " adrenalin producing. "   But they are revenue producing. > > > > Am I wrong? > > > > GG > > > > > > > > E.(Gene) Gandy > > POB 1651 > > Albany, TX 76430 > > wegandy1938@... > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I understand what you're saying. But, fact is, sooner or later, the " powers that be " will be looking at revenue production and figure out that all that money that's going to the privates could be theirs. Whether or not they add trucks, staff, or anything else, depends upon how strong the EMS management is and how well they sell their needs to a reluctant city administration. It is true that a large percentage of transports by a 911 service are actually non-emergencies, but many of those are probably no-pays. Nursing home transfers do pay, and if I were a city manager I would want to know why we were giving that money away. At the same time, most city services, whether FD or 3rd service, do not work their employees nearly as hard as the private services do. Think about it. A private service is in the business for one reason and one reason only: to make a profit. If a private service can make a profit, why couldn't a publicly run service do the same? Who deserves the profits? The private service owners or the taxpayers who pay for those who cannot pay? A private service that pays only $50,000 for the privilege of doing transfers is laughing all the way to the bank. GG > > Well, the problem as I see it from the trenches is that it would merely > serve as incentive for city government to pile more work on top of what we > do already, especially if there is a revenue stream to be generated. What > are the odds that the city will fund more ambulances and more employees to > handle the additional traffic? 3/4 of what I do already are " transfers " > anyway, and I'm too old to handle much adrenalin. > > Doesn't the City of Galveston operate this way? My understanding of their > system is that they have dedicated " transfer " trucks. Its not a bad sounding > system actually, but I think using your 911 units to do txfers mixes things > that should not be mixed....public service and profit generation. If a city > wanted to staff 3 or 4 transfer trucks to make some $$$, good on 'em. > magnetass sends > Re: Goldstar > > > > > > I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, > > including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. > > I > > have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, > > which is > > in transfers.  If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " > > service > > and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be > > demanding > > to know the rationale for doing that.  About the only rationale I can > > think of > > is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are > > not > > " adrenalin producing. "   But they are revenue producing. > > > > Am I wrong? > > > > GG > > > > > > > > E.(Gene) Gandy > > POB 1651 > > Albany, TX 76430 > > wegandy1938@... > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 I understand what you're saying. But, fact is, sooner or later, the " powers that be " will be looking at revenue production and figure out that all that money that's going to the privates could be theirs. Whether or not they add trucks, staff, or anything else, depends upon how strong the EMS management is and how well they sell their needs to a reluctant city administration. It is true that a large percentage of transports by a 911 service are actually non-emergencies, but many of those are probably no-pays. Nursing home transfers do pay, and if I were a city manager I would want to know why we were giving that money away. At the same time, most city services, whether FD or 3rd service, do not work their employees nearly as hard as the private services do. Think about it. A private service is in the business for one reason and one reason only: to make a profit. If a private service can make a profit, why couldn't a publicly run service do the same? Who deserves the profits? The private service owners or the taxpayers who pay for those who cannot pay? A private service that pays only $50,000 for the privilege of doing transfers is laughing all the way to the bank. GG > > Well, the problem as I see it from the trenches is that it would merely > serve as incentive for city government to pile more work on top of what we > do already, especially if there is a revenue stream to be generated. What > are the odds that the city will fund more ambulances and more employees to > handle the additional traffic? 3/4 of what I do already are " transfers " > anyway, and I'm too old to handle much adrenalin. > > Doesn't the City of Galveston operate this way? My understanding of their > system is that they have dedicated " transfer " trucks. Its not a bad sounding > system actually, but I think using your 911 units to do txfers mixes things > that should not be mixed....public service and profit generation. If a city > wanted to staff 3 or 4 transfer trucks to make some $$$, good on 'em. > magnetass sends > Re: Goldstar > > > > > > I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, > > including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. > > I > > have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, > > which is > > in transfers.  If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " > > service > > and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be > > demanding > > to know the rationale for doing that.  About the only rationale I can > > think of > > is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are > > not > > " adrenalin producing. "   But they are revenue producing. > > > > Am I wrong? > > > > GG > > > > > > > > E.(Gene) Gandy > > POB 1651 > > Albany, TX 76430 > > wegandy1938@... > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Well, the problem as I see it from the trenches is that it would merely serve as incentive for city government to pile more work on top of what we do already, especially if there is a revenue stream to be generated. What are the odds that the city will fund more ambulances and more employees to handle the additional traffic? 3/4 of what I do already are " transfers " anyway, and I'm too old to handle much adrenalin. Doesn't the City of Galveston operate this way? My understanding of their system is that they have dedicated " transfer " trucks. Its not a bad sounding system actually, but I think using your 911 units to do txfers mixes things that should not be mixed....public service and profit generation. If a city wanted to staff 3 or 4 transfer trucks to make some $$$, good on 'em. magnetass sends Re: Goldstar > > I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, > including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. > I > have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, > which is > in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " > service > and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be > demanding > to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can > think of > is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are > not > " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. > > Am I wrong? > > GG > > > > E.(Gene) Gandy > POB 1651 > Albany, TX 76430 > wegandy1938@... > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 12, 2005 Report Share Posted April 12, 2005 Well, the problem as I see it from the trenches is that it would merely serve as incentive for city government to pile more work on top of what we do already, especially if there is a revenue stream to be generated. What are the odds that the city will fund more ambulances and more employees to handle the additional traffic? 3/4 of what I do already are " transfers " anyway, and I'm too old to handle much adrenalin. Doesn't the City of Galveston operate this way? My understanding of their system is that they have dedicated " transfer " trucks. Its not a bad sounding system actually, but I think using your 911 units to do txfers mixes things that should not be mixed....public service and profit generation. If a city wanted to staff 3 or 4 transfer trucks to make some $$$, good on 'em. magnetass sends Re: Goldstar > > I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, > including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. > I > have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, > which is > in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " > service > and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be > demanding > to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can > think of > is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are > not > " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. > > Am I wrong? > > GG > > > > E.(Gene) Gandy > POB 1651 > Albany, TX 76430 > wegandy1938@... > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 I am not necessarily pro fired based EMS, I am stating some facts as PAFD's involvement as first responders. Actually, I prefer the third city service type of department myself as I am not a Firefighter but Paramedic only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 I am not necessarily pro fired based EMS, I am stating some facts as PAFD's involvement as first responders. Actually, I prefer the third city service type of department myself as I am not a Firefighter but Paramedic only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 I am not necessarily pro fired based EMS, I am stating some facts as PAFD's involvement as first responders. Actually, I prefer the third city service type of department myself as I am not a Firefighter but Paramedic only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Ahh yes, I forgot about the Public Health model. Beaumont has a great system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Ahh yes, I forgot about the Public Health model. Beaumont has a great system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 My *personal* preferences are as follows 1) Third service (city or county) 2) Public health department (e.g. Beaumont) 3) Hospital district Of course, there are good and bad services of all kinds. But certain models of EMS delivery seem to have more problems than others. -Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT-B Re: Goldstar I am not necessarily pro fired based EMS, I am stating some facts as PAFD's involvement as first responders. Actually, I prefer the third city service type of department myself as I am not a Firefighter but Paramedic only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 My *personal* preferences are as follows 1) Third service (city or county) 2) Public health department (e.g. Beaumont) 3) Hospital district Of course, there are good and bad services of all kinds. But certain models of EMS delivery seem to have more problems than others. -Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT-B Re: Goldstar I am not necessarily pro fired based EMS, I am stating some facts as PAFD's involvement as first responders. Actually, I prefer the third city service type of department myself as I am not a Firefighter but Paramedic only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 My *personal* preferences are as follows 1) Third service (city or county) 2) Public health department (e.g. Beaumont) 3) Hospital district Of course, there are good and bad services of all kinds. But certain models of EMS delivery seem to have more problems than others. -Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT-B Re: Goldstar I am not necessarily pro fired based EMS, I am stating some facts as PAFD's involvement as first responders. Actually, I prefer the third city service type of department myself as I am not a Firefighter but Paramedic only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Our city (El Paso) still gets its portion of the " gravy " because we have to pay a franchise fee to run a private transfer service. Above that we also provide assistance to the 911 service when they are on " overload " . We do not get compensated for running their calls and most are low priority calls where we won't get paid for the call anyway. Besides, as I was once told by a city employee, " Isn't that what you guys are for. Leave the emergency calls to the 'professionals' " . wegandy1938@... wrote: I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. I have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, which is in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " service and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be demanding to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can think of is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are not " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. Am I wrong? GG E.(Gene) Gandy POB 1651 Albany, TX 76430 wegandy1938@... Guerrero, LP Rio Grande Ambulance Services P. O. Box 9277 El Paso, TX 79995 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The information contained in this message is privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named in the header. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized dissemination, distribution, copy, or use of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me by telephone at . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Our city (El Paso) still gets its portion of the " gravy " because we have to pay a franchise fee to run a private transfer service. Above that we also provide assistance to the 911 service when they are on " overload " . We do not get compensated for running their calls and most are low priority calls where we won't get paid for the call anyway. Besides, as I was once told by a city employee, " Isn't that what you guys are for. Leave the emergency calls to the 'professionals' " . wegandy1938@... wrote: I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. I have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, which is in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " service and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be demanding to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can think of is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are not " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. Am I wrong? GG E.(Gene) Gandy POB 1651 Albany, TX 76430 wegandy1938@... Guerrero, LP Rio Grande Ambulance Services P. O. Box 9277 El Paso, TX 79995 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The information contained in this message is privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named in the header. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized dissemination, distribution, copy, or use of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me by telephone at . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Our city (El Paso) still gets its portion of the " gravy " because we have to pay a franchise fee to run a private transfer service. Above that we also provide assistance to the 911 service when they are on " overload " . We do not get compensated for running their calls and most are low priority calls where we won't get paid for the call anyway. Besides, as I was once told by a city employee, " Isn't that what you guys are for. Leave the emergency calls to the 'professionals' " . wegandy1938@... wrote: I would venture to say that if the City took over all ambulance functions, including transfers, it would improve its financial status considerably. I have never been able to understand why cities would give away the gravy, which is in transfers. If I were a taxpayer in a city that ran a " 911 only " service and allowed private services to take all the transfers, I would be demanding to know the rationale for doing that. About the only rationale I can think of is that the 911 people simply don't like doing transfers because they are not " adrenalin producing. " But they are revenue producing. Am I wrong? GG E.(Gene) Gandy POB 1651 Albany, TX 76430 wegandy1938@... Guerrero, LP Rio Grande Ambulance Services P. O. Box 9277 El Paso, TX 79995 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The information contained in this message is privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named in the header. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any unauthorized dissemination, distribution, copy, or use of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me by telephone at . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 13, 2005 Report Share Posted April 13, 2005 Just to let everyone know, PAFD responded to almost 8000 calls last year, and probably less than 30% were NOT medical related calls. The call volume is already there, so we don't need the city service to boost numbers. If we do go with the proposal to do inner-city transfers, there would be dedicated " transfer trucks " to keep the 911 units available. There is supposed to be some mythical city ordinance stating how many units each service is to have dedicated for emergencies, but you can tell from all the rollover calls that those numbers aren't there, whatever that magic number is. The other good things about fire based EMS is the chance to cross-train the members, so when they respond to fires and other fire-related matters, they could be used for manpower, and we all know how important manpower is and the lack of. Not to mention that's more members contributing to a bigger pension. The key is to sell it to the city. We are starting to phase out the old-timers that don't want to run med calls, and our dept. is getting younger and more motivated. Now all we need is a sympathetic council..... Troy Irvine Firefighter/Tactical Paramedic Port Arthur Fire Department Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 AMEN!!!!!!!! DANIEL DIAZ EMT-B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 AMEN!!!!!!!! DANIEL DIAZ EMT-B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 14, 2005 Report Share Posted April 14, 2005 AMEN!!!!!!!! DANIEL DIAZ EMT-B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.