Fire-based EMS and you
4 May 2009The shotgun is loaded, so I have done it: uploaded a response to the video “Fire Service-Based EMS: The Right Response.” You are welcome to view it on YouTube (in two parts), or download it directly for your repeated viewing pleasure. (478MB mpeg or 230MB avi, right-click and “Save Target As”) All websites referred to in the video are available as links below, along with a little bit of rationale.
Links referred to in the video (in order)
Part One (if you’re watching YouTube, not downloading)
- A documentary on Freedom House ambulance
- IAFF legislative issues page
- CFSI current legislation page
- NVFC legislative issues page
- IAFC legislative issues page
- NFPA doesn’t seem to have a separate legislation page at all
- I didn’t actually provide links to back up my statement about patient handovers, but even a quick internet search will give you a handful of articles about people wringing their hands over physician-to-physician transfers (examples here and here)…so one agency to a different agency isn’t the problem, it’s one person to another–despite having the same employer and level of education.
- US Fire Administration response times study
- Review of studies showing lack of evidence of ALS benefit in several situations
Part Two
- USA Today EMS series
- JAMA study
- Oklahoma City EMSA authorities recall the bombing
- Acadian and Katrina
- American Medical Response and Katrina
A friend and I were discussing the original video, and we both agreed that the most egregious misrepresentation in the video is the assertion that I spent the most time debunking: that people served by cross-trained providers have documented higher cardiac arrest save rates. The most charitable way that I can describe that statement is that there is no conclusive proof that such is the case; in fact, there are hints of evidence that it is not true. For those who wish to accuse me of cherry-picking information, you are welcome to provide other reliable data with the same criteria that I used: it must be one source, less than 10 years old, comparing several localities over the same time frame using any internally consistent method. I will happily consider non-Utstein data, although I certainly prefer the standardized type.
[...] but this guy goes and debunks it. Wonder if the city council folks and Tony Felcher K have seen this? Wonder if Bob toe tapper Petre has seen [...]