Mismanagement, not money, cripples EMS service, Detroit City Council concludes

BY STEVE NEAVLING
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER


Mismanagement – not money – is to blame for most of the delayed ambulance runs in Detroit, the City Council said today.

During a hearing on emergency response times, which have plagued the city for years, public safety officials revealed serious problems with the city's EMS services.

EMS has money to fill 57 vacancies for paramedics and emergency medical technicians, but has yet to hire anyone this year. The reason, EMS officials said, is because they can't get enough people to apply for the positions.

"With today's unemployment rate, it seems like we should be able to find qualified candidates," Council President Pro Tem Gary Brown said.

Public safety officials also said that 27 of the city's 46 EMS vehicles are out of service today because of repairs and maintenance problems that are primarily fixed by one repair shop, instead of multiple ones.

On average, 39% of EMS vehicles are out of service, EMS Chief Jerald James said.

The 19 EMS rigs that are on the road today are two fewer than what is needed on an average day, James said.

"We cannot lose lives because we have vehicles out of service," Councilwoman Brenda Jones said. "How long are we going to continue to talk about these problems before something is done? It's truly frustrating."

The hearing included top brass at the Fire Department, which handles EMS, and Deputy Mayor Saul Green, who oversees public safety.

Another problem, public safety officials acknowledged, is that dispatchers are sending ambulances to non-emergencies. In some cases, the same residents are calling 911 dozens of times a year for minor medical problems.

"All of these problems need to be managed better," Brown said.

After the meeting, James told the Free Press: "We promise we will address the problems that are affecting citizens."


Source: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2011110124042

With many rigs out of service, Detroit EMS criticism increases
Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News

Detroit — Fire officials acknowledged today they've made little progress improving Emergency Medical Services response times, despite increasing scrutiny from the City Council.
The council grilled police and fire officials today on a host of concerns with EMS response time.

Fire officials said only 19 of the city's 46 EMS vehicles are in service today. The other 27 — nearly 60 percent of the city's fleet — are being repaired, officials said.

Continued at: http://detnews.com/article/20110124/...#ixzz1C0QkEene



Detroit paramedics fear they're losing the battle to save lives
Charlie LeDuff / The Detroit News

Detroit
Nobody knows how deathly slow the Detroit ambulance system is better than the paramedics themselves.

Take the case of Detroit Fire Department paramedic Dave Smith, who late last month, was dispatched on a heart attack call to a dialysis center on the city's east side. When he and his partner arrived, the attendants were standing at the threshold, upset.

"We called you over a half-hour ago," they shouted.

Smith made his way to a man slumped in a chair in the back of the center. After a few furious moments trying to resuscitate him, Smith's eyes wandered up and settled on the victim's face.
"Uncle Alvin?" he croaked.

"I was lost and bewildered," Smith recalled. "It's bad out here. Real bad."

Smith attended his uncle's funeral the following Thursday. He called in to work sick to his stomach.

It happens all too often in this city. You call 911. Granny fell, you tell the operator. Or a woman's been shot. Or a man has gone into cardiac arrest. Then you wait for an ambulance. And you wait some more.

No one really knows what the ambulance response time is in Detroit, but for people who work in the ambulances for a living, they say it is unacceptable.

One problem, according to a 2004 city audit of the Emergency Medical Services [[EMS) system, is that Detroit is the only major American city that does not allow a firefighter or a police officer to aid a victim before the ambulance arrives. Another problem is substandard communication equipment. Since that report was issued, at least two hospitals have closed and the EMS system has been decimated by staffing cuts causing ambulances to drive farther.

"And you have to ask me why I moved from Detroit to Sterling Heights?" Smith said.

Continued at: http://detnews.com/article/20100916/...#ixzz1C0R2Gamo

So, if this holds true, will the handful of people on this board stop saying:

"Why should we build light rail when EMS is underfunded?"
"Why should we build X new project when EMS is underfunded?"

I pointed out earlier that you could compare the EMS issue to just about anything in this world, but the argument persisted. Well...what isn't mismanaged in Detroit. Can we move on now?

The upper levels of the city's bureaucracy are largely incompetent and/or corrupt. In other news, the Pope is still Catholic.

Why should anything be mismanaged when we manage such efficient parking enforcement?

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Originally Posted by begingri

One problem, according to a 2004 city audit of the Emergency Medical Services [[EMS) system, is that Detroit is the only major American city that does not allow a firefighter or a police officer to aid a victim before the ambulance arrives. [[...) Since that report was issued, [[...) the EMS system has been decimated by staffing cuts causing ambulances to drive farther.

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Seriously, how many years does it take to address the first issue? With regard to the second issue...

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Originally Posted by begingri

EMS has money to fill 57 vacancies for paramedics and emergency medical technicians, but has yet to hire anyone this year. The reason, EMS officials said, is because they can't get enough people to apply for the positions.

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Huh?

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Originally Posted by laphoque

Why should anything be mismanaged when we manage such efficient parking enforcement?

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Parking is one of the few departments that's had a decent overhaul in the last couple of decades. Not to say that it runs perfectly. Maybe a half dozen or so altogether, at best, if memory serves correctly ...

I remember hearing horror stories about the EMS department under Kwame. He had handpicked the lady to run his "transition team" for EMS, and the EMTs I talked to said she'd been on extended medical leave for a long time, had an influential husband, and hadn't even had much experience on the street or in a rig; had basically been in the training department for years.

What was her first move? To get rid of rigs and replace them with SUVs. That way, when you get to a trauma scene, you can ... watch the patient bleed to death because you can't take them to a surgeon. The idea was so bad that they had to ditch it. Now guess who's driving those SUVs? They're for the FD brass. Must be a nice ride.

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• Mismanagement, not money, cripples EMS service, Detroit City Council concludes

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You can apply that headline to DPS and most departments of the CoD. And to municipal governments everywhere.

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Originally Posted by laphoque

Why should anything be mismanaged when we manage such efficient parking enforcement?

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That is a great question.

I got an example that's right on the money. My brother lives on Hubbard, South of West Vernor. He has Crones disease [[ a real bad disease BTW, not that there are any good diseases) A while back he had a flare-up of his condition, could have been a serious blockage. He's in very bad pain, calls 911. He waits, calls again, waits some more. After a couple hours, a good samaritan neighbor piles him into her car and takes him to Henry Ford on the Boulvard. What if this would have been a coronary or a stroke and there was nobody around to help? He probablly would have died.

Fix police response, fix EMS response and shut down the damm open air drug markets and you'll go a long way in making the city better. Start there and see what happens.

Another great reason people aren't flocking back to Detroit. Where's the leadership?

I do have to say that the accident I saw last week was pretty disconcerting. Right in front of Cobo there was a nasty accident between a FedEx truck and an SUV that pinned the driver of the SUV inside as it smashed into a traffic light. Police arrived right away, and considering the auto show was occuring, I figured an ambulance would be there in 2-3 minutes. I watched from my office as the cop consoled the victim in the SUV for a good 12+ minutes before an ambulance arrived. The driver looked like he was going to be fine - and I know 12+ minutes isn't even that bad compared to other times - but this was literally in front of the auto show.

In a perfect world it seems like they'd just have an ambulance waiting at Cobo considering 80-100k people were there daily.

This is yet another example of the City Counsel of Detroit trying to hang on the CITY owned services at the expense of people who need service, rather than contract private companies that will provide excellent service. That Coleman Young thought process has got to end if Detroit is going to move forward.
My daughter was in a head on collision here in the burbs and the ambulance was there in a matter of minutes......and I mean less than 5. If not she might not be here today..... Pre positioning of ambulances around town, means there is always one close by.

So is somebody's head going to roll? Or better yet, Mayor Bing should just privatize the whole EMS service.

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Originally Posted by maxx

So is somebody's head going to roll? Or better yet, Mayor Bing should just privatize the whole EMS service.

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It's my understanding EMS is a net gain and pays its own way. It needs good management in order to improve is all. Privatization is not the answer to this problem.

Then again, I've noticed most people who are in favor of privatization see it as the solution to every perceived problem...