I would strongly dispute the assertation that the only
thing firefighters can do is "give you comfort" at a
medical incident.
All Mpls firefighters (not "firemen", noting that Mpls
has one of the highest number of female firefighters
nationwide) are EMT-Basics, meaning they have 100
hours of training on emergency medical care. In
comparision, HCMC paramedics have 1000 hours.
Mpls firetrucks carry oxygen tanks, defibrilators (for
people in cardiac arrest), trauma dressings
(shootings, stabbings, traumatic amputations, etc).
Mpls Fire is one of the few departments who's staff
are certified to physically insert an airway for those
whos' throat, or mouth has been compromised - either
due to trauma or allergic reaction.
Emergency medical response is about 75%-80 of Mpls
fire runs. The goal of the system is to have the
fire rig arrive within 3 minutes of your 911 call,
with ambulance arriving 4-7 minutes later.
The firefighters begin patient assessment on arrival,
trying to determine what the problem is, they'll take
your blood pressure, your pulse, and begin identifying
the source(s) of the injuries. This information
gets relayed to the paramedics when they arrive so
they can make decisions on the next step of
stablization.
Firefighters also assist in the lifting and physical
transportation of the patients to the ambulance. The
most common source of career-ending injury to medics
is a back injury. Imagine having to carry a 150lbs
person down 3 flights of steps, then out a door, and
down another set of steps to the ambulance. Now
imagine this is a 400lbs person who lives in a garbage
house, who can't walk, and who's house is so full of
junk that a stretcher can't even be brought past the
front door! At it's January and no one has shoveled
all winter!
Now, all of that is besides the point. I believe the
issue of response billing is only for crashes -
vehicle accidents - not for going to your house if
you're not feeling well.
At a vehicle crash, firefighters will be first on
scene and will assist with stabilization. How many
patients are there? What are their injuries? Mpls
Fire's protocol is not to respond unless injuries are
reported by someone on scene - if a passerby reports a
crash, then police are dispatched first to "check for
injuries".
A multicar crash presents the possibility of numerous
injured parties. For example, 2 cars, with 3 people
each - means 6 potential patients. Some might just
have a stiff neck, while another at the same crash may
have severe trauma, especially if seatbelts weren't
used. There's only 2 paramedics on the ambulance,
firefighters are extra trained personnel at the scene
to assist - either with the serious injuries or with
the minor or "walking wounded".
Additionally, "live" or partially deployed airbags
present a major safety hazard at crash scenes. Fire
will use their bolt cutters to cut the battery lead to
begin the process of disabling the airbags.
And of course, you have the scenes where extrication
is needed. This can be anything from simply popping a
jammed door with a crowbar or stablizing a rolled over
car so people can get out - to the full use of the
hurst tool ("jaws of life") to cut the vehicle apart
to free the victim inside.
The concept of billing the insurance companies is
nothing unique to Mpls. Several suburbs have been
doing the same thing for some time.
And yes, it's sad that we have come to this. Just
like it's sad that Mpls fire rigs now sport
advertisements on the back. And just like it's sad
that 4 months after the 9/11 attacks that Mpls laid
off 44 firefighters + 12 cadets. BTW the laid off
FF's are back and the cadets just graduated. Just
like Mpls PD - probably the last new class of recruits
for some time.
Like most other public safety agencies, Mpls Fire is
having to scrounge for "innovative" sources of money
just to keep day-to-day operations.
What's the alternative?
John McClellan
Keewaydin
--- Dorie Rae Gallagher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> List,
>
> You have an accident, someone calls 911...first
> arrival is the fire department. They can not do
> anything for you but give you " comfort ". Ambulance
> comes, two firemen help get you in the
> ambulance...off you go.
>
> One of the bills you will receive is a $400.00 bill
> from the fire department. The insurance companies
> will not pay for this service. 1. There are no codes
> that the fire department can give for service of
> medical care since they did not /can not give any.
> 2. Insurance will not pay for comfort support. 3.
> Insurance company feels it is way too much money
> being requested for the amount of actual time spent
> by the fire department at scene.
>
> Looking at the 2004 budget......Additional Funds
> Sources of the Fire Department...it states "MFD is
> moving ahead on this initiative...it is looking into
> exactly what insurance companies need to make
> payment to set up data collection to meet these
> needs." It does not give an amount.
>
www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/city-budget/2004adopted/sec8_fire.pdf
>
>
> No one knows that they are going to be charged this
> fee. No one in an accident makes the decision if
> they want the fire department or not. How can you
> charge a person for a decision they have not made?
> How many people have $400.00 laying around to give
> to the fire department for seven minutes of comfort?
> People are paying for this out of their own
> pockets... only one company has paid. We have a
> high percentage of elderly...fair to them? What
> other hidden costs are the citizens of Minneapolis
> going to come across that we do not know about up
> front.
>
> Dorie Rae Gallagher
> Nokomis
>
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