Sheboygan Fire Department gears up for ambulance service

[triryche]

Some photos and an article with typical Press politics for those interested:
http://tinyurl.com/2r9g25
http://tinyurl.com/2pdfv7

 

[OpSec]

To me, it seems bizarre that the fire department didn't do EMS in a city the size of Sheboygan. Call me a city boy, but where I come from the Fire department is the full meal deal....fire and EMS services.

 

[JT-112]

Article states the PD (yes, PD) was the ambulance service until 1989 (yes, 1989, not 1979 or 1969).

Yikes.

Also, they state the leased (yikes) ambulances will have 15-year lifetimes.

Yikes.

While I agree the EMS/Fire connection is a natural one, there are plenty of communities where the privates do an outstanding job and don't need replacing.

 

[OpSec]

Article states the PD (yes, PD) was the ambulance service until 1989 (yes, 1989, not 1979 or 1969).

Still using 1970 Miller Meteor caddy's with dual Q's on the roof?

 

[1268]

Reading the article the city wants to run a money making EMS service ??? Good luck with that :lol: They should have stayed with gold cross, now not only do they have to collect past due ambulance bills but also deal with insurance companys, keep up with med supplies more liability etc. I have been there and done this..just as many pros as there is cons. Hope they make it work.

 

[izz]

Reading the article the city wants to run a money making EMS service ??? Good luck with that :lol: They should have stayed with gold cross, now not only do they have to collect past due ambulance bills but also deal with insurance companys, keep up with med supplies more liability etc. I have been there and done this..just as many pros as there is cons. Hope they make it work.

Gold Cross is a Fox Valley ambulance service. Orange Cross serves the eastern part of Sheboygan county and is owned by Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center & St. Nicholas Hospital.

 

[nslt204]

My dept make a significant amount of money doing EMS transports. Manitowoc FD actually bought out the private in the city to expand their EMS capability and they make money at it. They even do contract EMS with facilities and venues.
We have a very high payment rate. Makes a big difference at budget time when you have actual income to show the politicos.
Liability is only an issue if you let it be. Training and over-site can take care of that. The FD goes to most EMS calls now as they are a lot closer than the the private so they are still treating the patient and not transporting.
As for leasing emergency equipment that is quite common when you have Dept's that need to make large purchases all at once. My dept leases Chiefs cars and we have leased a couple of pieces of equipment over they years. We also buy out the lease at some point.
Really helps when your capital budget is non-existent.

Reading the article the city wants to run a money making EMS service ??? Good luck with that :lol: They should have stayed with gold cross, now not only do they have to collect past due ambulance bills but also deal with insurance companys, keep up with med supplies more liability etc. I have been there and done this..just as many pros as there is cons. Hope they make it work.

 

[rcvmo]

Congratz Sheboygan FD!!!!
The city I work in Ann Arbor, has and always will be a first responder status with a private firm to Transport.
And we are a big University City with a massive medical/ trauma/burn center to boot!!!
rcvmo

 

[triryche]

I am not really for or against this move as I do not live in the city limits and as long as there is quality service for the community, it doesn't matter to me who it is... however there is one big question about the whole deal that never really gets answered. How is it that the City went to Orange Cross Ambulance many years ago because they could NOT afford a city service based ambulance service and still couldn't budgetize it in the last 5-6 years but now they CAN afford it and it becomes a money making opportunity? It was determined the move wouldn't be a good thing for how long and now suddenly is makes many believe the move is somewhat political in nature. You do also have your positives like It's nice to see several more FD and Paramedic jobs being created but that also turned to be a negative because Orange Cross had to cut jobs and those people likely weren't hired by the FD because they were not firefighters. Several positives/several negatives and I have the feeling that after a couple of years they will find out the money making probably won't be what they expected because they won't be servicing nearly the quantity of calls that Orange Cross did throughout the county. "all evens out in the end"?