Lifeguard 807 to Dispatch

[sadave]

Good morning!

"Lifeguard 807 to Dispatch"

This was the transmission picked up yesterday in Baldwin County on AIRS TG 24195 (MedStar EMS 1) which prompted Baldwin Central to respond inquiring if Lifeguard 807 was trying to contact them. This was obviously an error and Lifeguard 807 was on the wrong radio, talkgroup, system, or frequency.

No new talkgroups have popped up on AIRS and no license data on Lifeguard seems to exist. At the MedStar station in Summerdale, there is a healthy mix of MedStar and Lifeguard-branded trucks but all emergency calls from Baldwin Central go out as "Med #" regardless of which truck actually responds.

There was some outdated information in the Alabama forum regarding Lifeguard and was wondering if anyone knew of any current details regarding what they are using.

Shep

 

[Bama4770]

C

Good morning!

"Lifeguard 807 to Dispatch"

This was the transmission picked up yesterday in Baldwin County on AIRS TG 24195 (MedStar EMS 1) which prompted Baldwin Central to respond inquiring if Lifeguard 807 was trying to contact them. This was obviously an error and Lifeguard 807 was on the wrong radio, talkgroup, system, or frequency.

No new talkgroups have popped up on AIRS and no license data on Lifeguard seems to exist. At the MedStar station in Summerdale, there is a healthy mix of MedStar and Lifeguard-branded trucks but all emergency calls from Baldwin Central go out as "Med #" regardless of which truck actually responds.

There was some outdated information in the Alabama forum regarding Lifeguard and was wondering if anyone knew of any current details regarding what they are using.

Shep

Could’ve been a LG unit from another operation coming in for coverage. There are 3 LG ops here in NAL, plus B’ham, and they regularly shift trucks around if one operation is busy and/or short.

 

[TomServo]

I see Lifeguard trucks on calls all the time in central Baldwin County, but as best I can tell there are no new talkgroups dedicated to them. Could they just be on the single Medstar group, using different med numbers? I seem to recall Medstar ambulance numbers were double digits for the most part but lately I am hearing a lot of three digit numbers, which makes me think they've expanded the fleet.

 

[sadave]

The three-digit unit numbers are still something of a mystery to me as well. Some of them kind of make sense, however.

For example, under the two-digit system, Station 12 was largely responsible for the area around Gulf Shores and Fort Morgan, so Med 12 was often the responding truck. Now, we hear Station 12 being dispatched by Baldwin Central and the responding truck as Med 121, Med 122, etc. That sounds like they have a second ambulance in Station 12's area. But it isn't that simple.

We're hearing Med 1xx, Med 2xx, and Med 3xx but never anything higher than that. MedStar stations go from 1 to 12 (at least as they are currently being dispatched) but we never hear anything like Med 9xx. As an example, Station 7 was just dispatched and Med 322 answered the call. Another theory is that the Med number may also refer to which shift they are on or the level of care being staffed.

And even though this system may provide a different representation of how many units are working, MedStar still has some very real challenges on addressing response times. Yesterday evening a medical call was dispatched to Fort Morgan. The volunteer fire department was obviously first on the scene but the MedStar unit estimated their arrival at over 40 minutes. At that point, the fire department requested AirCare who responded from Foley and beat the ground unit by 20 minutes. As you've certainly monitored, this is not an isolated occurrence.

 

[Bama4770]

I see Lifeguard trucks on calls all the time in central Baldwin County, but as best I can tell there are no new talkgroups dedicated to them. Could they just be on the single Medstar group, using different med numbers? I seem to recall Medstar ambulance numbers were double digits for the most part but lately I am hearing a lot of three digit numbers, which makes me think they've expanded the fleet.

MedStar is owned by Lifeguard which in turn is owned by AMR/GMR. So they’re likely all on the same.

 

[TomServo]

We're hearing Med 1xx, Med 2xx, and Med 3xx but never anything higher than that. MedStar stations go from 1 to 12 (at least as they are currently being dispatched) but we never hear anything like Med 9xx. As an example, Station 7 was just dispatched and Med 322 answered the call. Another theory is that the Med number may also refer to which shift they are on or the level of care being staffed.

And even though this system may provide a different representation of how many units are working, MedStar still has some very real challenges on addressing response times. Yesterday evening a medical call was dispatched to Fort Morgan. The volunteer fire department was obviously first on the scene but the MedStar unit estimated their arrival at over 40 minutes. At that point, the fire department requested AirCare who responded from Foley and beat the ground unit by 20 minutes. As you've certainly monitored, this is not an isolated occurrence.

Oh, the idea of shift or care level being represented by the numbers is interesting. I'll see if I can sus anything out. I have definitely heard reference to ALS (advanced life support) units in the past but never associated them with any particular number.

I've been really surprised at some of the extended ETAs lately, as well as how often they're on bed delay at the local hospitals. You'd think with all the Lifeguard vans out there now that times would have improved a lot. I'm guessing it's a manpower issue? Whenever I drive past the Summerdale barn, there are a ton of EMS vehicles at all hours sitting unused.

MedStar is owned by Lifeguard which in turn is owned by AMR/GMR. So they’re likely all on the same.

That's certainly the most logical assessment. I kind of thought the Lifeguard vans would have brought over their own unit IDs, however. They are marked with two different numbers on the outside, one four digit one and one two digit one. I'm not sure if the MedStar ones are the same way; I have only noticed a single three digit number on them in the past. For as common as they are around here I really don't ever get close enough to the MedStar trucks to give them a close look. The Lifeguard ones seem to be more common in my area now.