HOW MANY LBTS VFD/AMR MEMBERS DOES IT TAKE TO ANSWER A 911 CALL?….
Tonight…
at this writer’s condominium….
For one 911 call…
the answer is…..2 AMR ambulances…1 VFD truck …and VICE MAYOR MCINTEE’S CADILLAC!…YIKES!…
Here’s the lowdown…
This writer and hubby went to 101 to eat dinner…as we approached we saw AMR truck M 12…parked across from the Village Grille where the BSO used to park….as we got closer…the 2nd AMR truck pulled up and parked behind it….
The 2nd truck is in town while awaiting the “pad” at Holy Cross Hospital…I have been told…….
The AMR employees walked past us on Commercial walking west…we figured for a bite to eat…
Upon finishing our meal…they walked back to their respective vehicles….and then…
we saw AMR M 12 take the roundabout in the center of town square surprisingly fast…heading down to the Aruba turnaround…. as it doubled back with lights and siren…heading north up El Mar Drive…
shortly afterwards the second AMR truck came up Commercial…with its lights and sirens on….
WOW..we thought 2 calls…what was going on?….
We walked home to find….it was at our building…5000 N Ocean Blvd….. both AMR trucks …the VFD fire truck…and McIntee’s Cadillac parked right in front of the building…. and quickly crossed the road to see what was going on that demanded such a response?……
Our thoughts of a real disaster calmed down though with a look at the VFD fire truck…for standing behind it…around 6 VFD members and the Vice Mayor standing with his arms crossed…REALLY!…
I could not believe he followed them in his car…and was standing there like that…INCREDIBLE!…
So I took a picture with my phone…because I found this most disturbing….as a booming voice came across the front drive…”There’s Barb taking a picture …..”….I just smiled….
I went inside to check what was what… with the security guards at the front desk…. they responded that a woman in the building had either fainted or was not feeling well…her husband called 911….and then the “caravan” showed up to answer the call!……
This writer was told early on…the following….when following up on a question I had been asked….who was going to be the 1st responders on the fire trucks when answering a 911 medical emergency call in order to follow the ambulance?…
I was told that this BSO protocol would not be required…due to the fact that AMR would have 2 EMT and 1 Paramedic on their truck to respond….and the only reason ….according to this well informed member…..that BSO followed this protocol was because they only had 2 EMT and the firetruck provided the 3rd EMT or Paramedic……
So it was a surprising assertion by the Vice Mayor after this information was given to me…that a VFD fire truck would indeed be following every 911 call for AMR….as we witnessed tonight….
It begs the question …why?….
Is it a temporary situation …more on- the- job training in the infancy of their return to service the town?….
If not….why two such different responses…and which one is correct…as they move forward as the LBTS fire saftey provider?….
Final note…from what I saw tonight…it looked like the VFD leadership role is de-facto….with the man in the Cadillac in charge….who stood there with arms crossed…like he owned the town and the VFD….
I guess this writer’s 2nd request for public information won’t be showing up anytime soon….after tonight’s yell across the way…
more to come…on Thursday when they return to this building to train….
UPDATE…Comments are welcome…see the 2 below…the 1st…is from AMR……check them out…add your own…
Are you ever happy? Yes when M-12 gets dispatched M-212 goes to the call at the time. The second unit will do most of the transports unless the patient is critical and can not wait. This system insures that LBTS will never be left with out coverage and ambulance. Not like BSOFD did to the town on many occasions. The VFD is responding also to show that they are here for residents of LBTS like they were before the removed by gun point. They care about the town and the residents of LBTS. About the Vice Mayor showing up in his own car? This happens when you are a volunteer, you show up in your own car. Being a volunteer means you always ready for anything at anytime. People should feel safe know they are going to get the best help possible at anytime. And isn’t that what it is all about? Why knock the people who care and, why not knock the people who didn’t care?
The people of LBTS are getting the best of EMS and Fire now. These people care what happens in LBTS and will be the same crews day after day. They will know the town and there people and LBTS will be better for it.
Steven? That is your name Steven. Right? To me it sounds like you are a self-promoting VFD member.
Remember a few things…
Just because, you show up does not mean that you are prepared to do anything. If Ms. Cole is correct with the training credentials that she has posted. The chief officers of the LBTS VFD would not be able to ride as backseat firefighters on most career fire departments in the US, let alone be an Incident Commander. You may argue that they meet the State minimum requirements to be a firefighter. Then I will say so is that what the citizens of LBTS deserve? The Minimum? Now you are going to rebut what I just said with they make up for it with experience. Then I will say there’s a difference between 15 years experience and one year’s experience 15 times.
From what I understand, LBTS does not have many fires and this was one of the reason’s to ask BSO to leave. The one thing that was not taken into account was the BSO personnel brought fire rescue experience gained from other County Units that they may have worked on, such as Engine 14 and Rescue 14. Who have both been in the top 20 for busiest units in the nation. Do you honestly think that the BSOFR personnel leave their experience at the station door?
That whole BS about being a volunteer being ready is laughable. I’ve been in the VFD system and all volunteer firefighters want to be part of the action but not all want to be in the action. This is usually evident when people show up to stand around with their arms crossed. Some people just want to be observers and say that they are in the fire department. That is why a majority of volunteers would not make it in the career service because then they would have to work on an incident scene. Plus, a lot of them would not pass the physical-ability test that most career systems require potential employees to pass. But, that is a whole “nuther” story.