Also true. I have little confidence that they know the difference between what a BLS, PAU, and ALS company can do. Trivia question for y’all: Does anyone know the one difference between PAUs and ALS units in LA County? I mean, aside from the fact that ALS has two medics. Gold star if anyone knows.
Why is LACoFD mutual aid so awful?
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Markb
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They don't transport unless patient status requires it and the ambulance arrives before the ALS unit?
Markb
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Sounds like CalOES is paying for CAD-to-CAD statewide for whoever wants/needs it.
The five to six minute delay is real.
I have heard units on scene of a large fire call for a second alarm, third alarm and it takes them that much time to dispatch their own units ( I start to think I've missed the dispatch) much less an outside agency. This is through out the county not just a bordering agency.
Kinda makes me wonder how fast they dispatch when someone calls for medical aid?
I have heard units on scene of a large fire call for a second alarm, third alarm and it takes them that much time to dispatch their own units ( I start to think I've missed the dispatch) much less an outside agency. This is through out the county not just a bordering agency.
Kinda makes me wonder how fast they dispatch when someone calls for medical aid?
Markb
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I'm not super familiar with LACoFD's station alerting, but many agencies alert units sometimes minutes before the call is put out over the air (like OCFA).
Do they still do the 2-tone for the Chief Officers and specialty units and is that still the primary alerting for them? If that's still the case and those don't go out for minutes, then yeah, they're slow.
Do they still do the 2-tone for the Chief Officers and specialty units and is that still the primary alerting for them? If that's still the case and those don't go out for minutes, then yeah, they're slow.
That is true as far as PAUs not transporting unless it’s time-critical and the squad can’t get there. But the real difference is that PAUs don’t carry any controlled drugs (pain meds or sedatives). Only ALS units carry those. That’s why the squad delays are so problematic. If you have a traumatic injury (hit by a car, fall, amputation, etc.), you’re waiting on the squad before you’re gonna feel better.
Anyway… I always find it interesting to see the time-out for an LA County dispatch and then switch to the assisting agency and wait for five+ minutes until they’re toned out.
In general, LACoFD units are alerted when you hear it on the scanner. Their MDTs might go off about 15 seconds before that, but it’s not much advance notice. I’ve seen some agencies experiment with a “pre-alert” based on GPS data or using RapidSOS to stream audio of the 911 to field units, who can listen to the call live and begin responding before it’s dispatched.
Didn’t know that CalOES was supporting CAD links. Someone should tell LACoFD, if their CAD could even support it.
Anyway… I always find it interesting to see the time-out for an LA County dispatch and then switch to the assisting agency and wait for five+ minutes until they’re toned out.
In general, LACoFD units are alerted when you hear it on the scanner. Their MDTs might go off about 15 seconds before that, but it’s not much advance notice. I’ve seen some agencies experiment with a “pre-alert” based on GPS data or using RapidSOS to stream audio of the 911 to field units, who can listen to the call live and begin responding before it’s dispatched.
Didn’t know that CalOES was supporting CAD links. Someone should tell LACoFD, if their CAD could even support it.
It’s not, though. There are many things a paramedic (even one, solo) can do that EMTs can’t (won’t get into the details, because it’s off-topic). It’s not ideal, but I’d rather a PAU respond to my emergency to start ALS care than a BLS engine.
Thanks for the call stats. Lower numbers than I would have guessed.
I think I heard LA County agreed to make 192 a paramedic engine no later than October 2024, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. This got me thinking today, are they planning to put any limitations on where 192 can go for ALS calls? I'm guessing no limits.
You know like I do that E191/S191 and E49/S49 are often on separate calls at the same time, so I presume E192 is next in line for ALS calls in any of these areas. I also wonder if they will send E192 over the hill a lot more often to help E145 since Rowland Heights doesn't have its own squad. There are definitely parts of Rowland Heights where E192 is going to be the closest ALS resource.
The above scenario could easily play out multiple times per week, if not daily. When it does, that will leave La Habra, La Mirada, and unincorporated east Whittier - about 150,000 people - in the hands of E194 and Q15 with next available resources 20+ minutes away in some cases.
It's just asinine to me that apparently nobody at LACoFD or La Habra, La Mirada, etc see this as motivation to fix the mutual aid situation.
One of the big reasons for the LACo practice is a real, technology driven issue. Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems allows for immediate allocation of subscribed resources, where mutual aid frequently requires a manual dispatcher input. That delay is nearly 6 minutes before those resources can be on the road. By today's standard, thats a huge time delay. It's equivalent to moving the more physically distant LACo station 5 miles closer than the mutual aid company. LACO does by the way utilize resources from other jurisdictions frequently when CAD linkage is established by automatic aid agreement. In the case of Orange County based resources (OCFA/Fullerton/Brea) they have compatible CAD systems and there is no delay in dispatch. Hence their frequent use of aid between these jurisdiction.
Ancient news...no longer the case and was fixed more than a decade ago
LaCoFD has a great mutual aid partnership with Montclair Fire in San Bernardino County. Montclair Engines 151, 152 respond to structure fires and crashes all the time in Pomona's area. Pomona engines respond as mutual aid in Montclair all the time.
In general, LACoFD ALS engines are only assigned as “solo” resources on calls in their own district. So in your examples, if 192 was sent into 145’s area, a squad would also be assigned automatically. You can see examples of this when E59 gets an ALS call in 191s or 15s. They’ll run with a squad, even though they’re ALS.
What remains to be seen is if this rule will hold true if 192 is responding into 191s or 194s. Seems kind of silly, given how small La Habra is, but who knows.
My latest pet peeve is the fact that La Habra ambulance 2 was just moved to the old sta. 193 but is still only getting assigned to calls in 192s area. I’ve seen several calls in 194s (right down the street from the new ambulance station), but LHB1 is attached instead, even when LHB2 was available. What’s the point of putting an ambulance there if it’s not used for that area?
to my knowledge working (i work for Falck) La Habra 2 is still at station 192. Falck and the city have a different in opinion on putting the ambulance alone at that station and the PD wants to use the station as well.
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