Residency Baiting

[SWMAP]

In August, seven Detroit Firefighters were seriously injured in an arson fire set by a Detroiter for money. Fire Commissioner Mack did not complain about the residency of those firefighters - although I know of at least two who are not residents of the city.

Now however, as reported in a new story in the Detroit News, Mack is complaining that he might have to buy GPS equipment for EMS trucks and he wouldn't have to if the EMS employees were Detroit residents:

"Mack's appearance came six months after members requested an update on the system. He admitted it's on the brink of collapse.
Every ambulance in service needs major repairs, he said, adding at least once last month there were only 13 vehicles covering the city's 139 square miles. The EMS department, which has a $23 million budget, is under funded, Mack said.
But he said adding GPS devices to ambulances wouldn't be necessary if paramedics memorized city streets.
"It may stem from the fact that we have people working who don't live here," Mack said to murmurs of approval from the audience."
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100929/...#ixzz10wU1OQbK

Isn't this a cheap way of building support for a discredited leader?

[iheartthed]

Not sure what being a Detroit resident has to do with it... But I don't think it's too much to ask that fire truck and ambulance drivers know the area where they perform their jobs. It's kind of ridiculous that a GPS device is now viewed as a necessity to do your job when you are navigating the same terrain daily.

[jt1]

Not sure what being a Detroit resident has to do with it... But I don't think it's too much to ask that fire truck and ambulance drivers know the area where they perform their jobs. It's kind of ridiculous that a GPS device is now viewed as a necessity to do your job when you are navigating the same terrain daily.

I would typically agree if the fire and ambulance drivers were working in specific districts. I wonder how often one district must cover for another due to lack of available vehicles/personnel.

[JBMcB]

Here's a refurb'd NUVI for $95 on Amazon [[with free shipping!)

http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-4-3-Inc...lickdeals&ses=

So that's roughly $1,300 to kit out every [[functioning) ambulance. Right, that's what's causing all the budget problems. Out-of-city workers.

I'm actually kinda shocked that all ambulances don't have GPSes already. Even if you know the area really well, there's the off chance that there's some dead-end street somewhere you've never heard of. Or that you have to go to an area you're not familiar with to help with a major emergency.

[Buy American]

Who is Mack trying to kid? He's just another flunky. He is using residency as an excuse for not having enough manpower and enough working equipment. The reasons for slow response isn't because an EMS rig doesn't know where they are going or because a Fire Engine is lost...it's because of manpower issues and equipment issues.

I'm a former eastsider and knew it like the back of my hand. If you put me West of Woodward, I was totally lost. EMS and Fire and Police have been managing to serve the City of Detroit for years and years without GPS, and when times were good [[money in the City) everything worked like a well-oiled machine.

Those firefighters who were severely injured in the Friday the 13th fire on Jefferson were dedicated to their jobs, whether they lived in the City or not...and the majority of them did not.

4 of them are still either in the hospital, in therapy, in rehab at U of M. One is paralyzed from the waist down, one has major damage to his leg and body, broken necks, backs, hips, pelvis, arms, feet. Let's talk about that and not Mack's lame excuses for wanting GPS in EMS rigs.

[SWMAP]

I think he is race-baiting. His code word is "non-residents." In Detroit, all discussions come down to race - here the discussion WAS why the EMS is failing , but Mack successfully changed the topic to race. Note the "murmers of approval from the audience":

"It may stem from the fact that we have people working who don't live here," Mack said to murmurs of approval from the audience."

[Buy American]

I think he is race-baiting. His code word is "non-residents." In Detroit, all discussions come down to race - here the discussion WAS why the EMS is failing , but Mack successfully changed the topic to race. Note the "murmers of approval from the audience":

"It may stem from the fact that we have people working who don't live here," Mack said to murmurs of approval from the audience."

I read that and feel the same way...race baiting 100%. 95% of the cronies and appointees don't know what they are talking about anyway so it doesn't surprise me that Mack would want to put race into the equation.

This isn't about race, it isn't about where you live....it's about lack of manpower, decent equipment, and how the City spends the money it has. It seems to me that Puke, with his $800,000 allotted to him for staff, and all the other clowncil members with their $800,000 for staff should take less. It seems to me that there are people within the City-County Building who are lining their pockets with Federal money. Follow the money.

[fryar]

Hey, this ain't Queens, where an address is often basically a geocode. We got grids and spokes intersecting, along with the dead-ends, and all the streets are named Schoenherr and Franklin and David and Jane, instead of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on. Like all the native Detroiters know where everything is.

That said, Mr. BS is thankfully taking a pragmatic approach and looking into purchasing some GPS units. However long it takes for those to be stolen is more time for us to build up a civic fund that subsidizes smartphones for the EMT's. Hopefully by that time, Virgin Wireless will have an attractive option. The phones cost more upfront, but it's only $25/mo unlimited talk, text & web which is cheap.

In any event, I'm surprised they're addressing the problem at all.