Re: [TEXAS_EMS] Re: To all Bastrop County EMS personell - We want you!

February 7, 2007

> >Mr. I would like to apologize for the use of a yahoo email

> address in place of an official Guardian EMS address. It seems that

> all EMS, Fire and Police have yahoo addresses that reference their

> employment, hobbies nicknames etc. The yellow comment refers to

> the prominent color of our units, Bright yellow. Several of our

> employees have yahoo id's that reflect their loyalty to Guardian EMS

> such as the one listed on the message. If you noticed they did

> reference my official email address in the posting. I can assure you

> that Bastrop will receive the best service from Guardian EMS just as

> the citizens of Brown, Jim Wells, Gray, San Jacinto, Palo Pinto,

> McCullough and the several other counties we serve in many

> capacities.

It's not a huge deal - just unprofessional considering that Guardian

EMS has a web site with its own company domain name. Guardian even

has employment information on its web site. So it would seem that

for a provider that is moving into an area and actively recruiting

medics that using an official company email address would be more

appropriate.

Not that " Ain't scared to be yellow! " wouldn't be a GREAT tag line or

marketing phrase (I'm familiar with the color of your units) - just

not the best choice of email address and display name for a hiring

announcement.

A question - since Guardian has no operations within response

distance to Bastrop County - what agreements does Guardian have in

place with other providers for mutual aid and mutual response? Will

Guardian restrict patients from being transported to County

area hospitals by preference, requiring them instead to go to the two

hospitals in Bastrop County (if their needs can be met there, of

course - I'm not alleging that Guardian would take a patient to an

inappropriate facility)? How exactly does Guardian believe that it

can profitably provide the same or better service with three full-

time and one part-time truck that Metrocare couldn't profitably

provide even with all the additional resources of its Austin

operation, and a headquarters within 15 minutes of Bastrop County?

The curious want to know.

Mike

February 7, 2007

Mike's asking some good questions. One would hope that the Bastrop County

commissioners would be asking the same questions. However, I've heard rumors

that the commissioners are disregarding much of the advice they received from

Fitch & Associates, who probably told them to ask these exact questions.

My question -- has Guardian officially been granted the franchise/contract by

the Bastrop County Commissioners' Court?

While I don't have a right to ask to see the business plan of Guardian EMS (a

subsidiary of Professional Services, LLC, according to Guardian's

website), I'm trying to figure out how it's possible to run an EMS service in

Bastrop County for the same subsidy (or possibly less) with a shorter response

time without a built-in mutual aid response (like MetroCare had with its Austin

transfer operations). If Guardian can pull that off for an extended period,

I'll be very impressed. Until then, I'm cautiously watching.

Regardless, the actions of the county commissioners have been shameful. One of

the fastest growing counties in the United States is trying to protect the

public's health and safety using the low bidder. That's just unethical.

-Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT

Attorney at Law/Emergency Medical Technician

Austin, Texas