OK Ms Bailey, What I mean is that Kern has ideas and I have heard some of them and think they are great. Sorry I miss quoted myself. Im not perfect. Nobody is. I must say that the "Ambulance Personnel" are highly trained. They are a lot better than back in the old days when a ambulance doubled as a hearse and the "Attendants" just drove up and threw them in the back with their "Basic First Aid"  and prayed they made it the hospital before the pt died. (Didnt see anybody complaining then). This is not those days anymore, so please dont insult the hardworking Paramedics and EMT's that make this county and the nation a safer place along with Fire and Law Enforcement.

A  Supervisor Unit has a Paramedic Supervisor on it. A ambulance has a Paramedic and a EMT on it. A Supervisor unit is usually a large SUV and a ambulance is a modified van. Both have ALS equipment. Some other counties and states only have EMT's as Supervisors(BLS).

HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE - 8

The term "First Responders" refers to those individuals who in early stages of an incident are responsible for protection and preservation of life, property, evidence and the environment including "Emergency Response Providers", as defined in Section 2 of the Homeland Security Act of 2002(6 U.S.C. 101)

HOMELAND SECURITY ACT , 6 U.S.C. 101, (referenced in HSPD-8) defines Emergency Response Provider:

(6)The term "Emergency Response Provider" includes Federal, State, and Local emergency public safety, law enforcement, emergency response, emergency medical(including hospital emergency facilities), and related personnel, agencies, and authorities.  

All Fire, EMS, Police basically are "First Responders" because they respond first (Hence the word "FIRST") in emergencies. This even includes the lay person trained in First Aid and/or CPR.

All "Paramedics" are trained in emergency medical procedures initially. So yes those are the same. Some go on to other things, and that is a individual preference, and NOT a requirement (Like Firefighting). What is different, are Firefighters have more training in the aspect of Rope Rescue, Vehicle and Structure Extrication, and of course Fighting Fires! So yes, it is in their training to go down a hill and rescue possible pts in a vehicle down a hill. If the ambulance paramedic is there than they can give "Possible" lifesaving measures. No guarantees are ever made that just because someone is a paramedic that someone can be saved. A Pt's social history (ie. DRUGS/and or ALCOHOL, etc)  & medical history (cardiac, respiratory, neuro, etc); also the MOI (Mechanism of Injury)Car Crash, Motorcycle, Gun Shot, etc) can all be mixed in and contribute to a positive or negative outcome. I hope all is well with the victim(s) of that accident.

Tehachapidad, If you know what Kern County has planned please let me know?  I totally agree the more ALS firefighter paramedics the merrier.  We had a woman go over a cliff last week and thank goodness it was the trained firefighters who brought her up and not the untrained ambulance personal.  It is my understanding that fire department paramedics have additional training in such rescues - yet I understand you to say that all paramedics are the same? 

What exactly is a first responder?  And how does a Hall supervisor unit differ from one of their ALS unit?  Thank You, Karen

Has anyone looked at the monthly stats on the Emergency Medical Services website?  As of last week the report was from July.  All was perfect, to the best of my understanding, in my area 8 except for the one case ( a child bit by a rattle snake and her parents were told by the Hall paramedics to drive her to the hospital) which hit our local newspaper.  With no apparent increase in the number of Hall ambulances since the policy changed from 75 minutes to 25 minutes - how is this possible?? And why wasn't the policy changed years ago??  I'm suspecting that the response time could be cut to five minutes and the reports would still all be perfect.  How is this done? Karen Bailey

Uh kulemt.........  When was the last time you saw a fire dept vehicle equiped ith ALS gear???  Exactly.  Although firefighters maybe paramedics, with only BLS gear, they function as EMT's.  (Kern Co. EMS and Fire Dept policy)  Maybe with all those special events the greedy mayor is staffing, is that why he is having trouble staffing his regular units?  For example, pulling out of Pine Mountain?  Oh that's right, that was because he wasn't making enough MONEY.  How about the supervisors staffing ALS rigs in the Metro?  Paramedics burned out because they have to staff special events to make up for the low pay???  How about the BLS cars showing up in the Metro?  Within reponse guidelines??  Hmm...   kulemt, your a few days late, and a few dollars short.  Sounds like the Hall brainwashing wasn't to complete as you seem like a fairly intelligent guy.  We'll see what happens over the next several months.....  Also get your facts straight, Kern is the third largest county in California in terms of geographical size.  Kern is about the in the lower teens in terms of population by size.  AND..........  Most of those counties;  L.A., San Bernardino, San Francisco, Riverside, Contra Costa, Orange, etc.  have fully sanctioned FIREFIGHTER/PARAMEDICS.   We'll see in the next several months............

I realize my post is a little late, and I haven't taken the time to read all the posts so if my comments are duplicating a apologize. I'd like to clear something up though. The statement that a FD Paramedic is only allowed to provide BLS treatments to patients is WRONG. If the Engine/Truck/Patrol vehicle they respond in is equipped with all meds & equipment County EMS requires for ALS response, the Paramedic can provide ALS treatments.

Kern County EMS Policy # 4200.3599: Paramedic First Responder Polices & Procedures

I. General Provisions:

A.  The Paramedic First Responder Program is an optional prehospital advanced life support program administered by the Kern County EMS Department (Department) through Department authorized Kern County Paramedic First Responder (Paramedic-FR) Providers. The program functions in accordance with state and county Paramedic rules, regulations, policies, procedures, protocols and operates under medical control and authority of Kern County EMS Department Medical Director.

B.  The primary purpose of the Paramedic-FR Program is to provide expedient ALS response and care prior to transport unit scene arrival at emergency medical calls or to provide support for a transport unit already at scene which may require additional emergency medical personnel, equipment, supply or resources for medical operations, communications and patient care. Additionally, the Paramedic-FR Program is intended to provide closet ALS response when the Paramedic-FR unit is closest or can provide the shortest response to an EMS call and immediate ALS access and care to patients in areas inaccessible to an ambulance.

You can find more regarding this issue at http://www.co.kern.ca.us/em....

Also, there was a BLS ambulance stationed in Tehachapi. It is no longer there. It was mainly posted in Tehachapi to respond to non-emergency calls and to cover any BLS transfers out of TCH. To make a comment that a BLS ambulance can not "save a life" is an uneducated comment. Also, the staff at the Golden Hills station DID NOT come from another rural station (i.e. Hall did not close another station to open Post 16). As far as ALS units utilized by Hall Ambulance to cover the County; Hall Amb service 87% of the 2nd largest county in California with 45+ ALS units every day. That does not include Stand-by or special events covered by overtime crews.

And to one of the anonymous posters that thinks all Hall Ambulance employees are stupid (I can't remember if it was stupid or idiots), we love you too!

For an excellent followup article on the ongoing manipulations of Hall Ambulance, please read the articles in our local newspapers last two issues (http://www.mountainenterpri...). 

Kern County has a mutual aid agreement (fire and ambulance service) with Ventura County in our mountain communities that includes the area of Lockwood Valley.  Ross Elliot confirms this agreement exists and states that when Kern Fire Department goes into Ventura County, Hall Ambulance per contract must also go; Ross then turns the issue arrround and asks, "why is the Fire Department going"?  Da! Local residents have seen AMR's ambulance responding to Lockwood Valley with Kern Fire Department.  So once again Harvey does exactly what he wants with the support of the powers that be.  So much for a mutural aid agreement in our rural areas!  

The station in Golden Hills was up and running before Pine Mountain closed and the staff is completely different. It is a completely new station. I hate that Pine Mountain had to lose their ambulance coverage. It really sucks for everyone there. Like I have to tell them that. Unfortunately money talks in the private ambulance business.

Tehachapi now has a second ambulance and it sounds like you folks really needed the coverage.  However, do we know if Hall added a new ambulance and staff to his business or did he simply remove coverage from another rural community?  The odds are that part of your second ambulance coverage came from the removal of our weekend service in Pine Mountain. 

Does anyone know how many ALS ambulances Hall has to cover his portion of Kern County? 

I agree with Firemedic and concernedcitizen that we need to be working together.   How can we get a group action off the ground?

Hello again, to all who read this blog!

I would like to reach out again to all who are concerned about Patient care in your communities....  No matter if it's a private ambulance service or the Fire Department providing Paramedic service along with the private ambulance provider, everyone in ALL the outlying communities in Southern Kern County need to be rally together as a group.  Power in numbers will get the point across to the Board of Supervisors, individuals will not.   

Mr. Watson has PMC climbing up his back, other communities need to start flooding their district supervisors office with Emails and phone calls if you want change, as you have done with the 2nd ALS ambulance!  Better yet, all communities should rally together and go to Bakerfield and attend a BOS meeting.  Fill the room and let your supervisors hear your concerns about prompt patient care in a timely matter. 

Other supervisors see Watson getting all the flack from PMC and I'm sure they are glad it's him and not them!  Well, that needs to change!  Speak up and let your voices be heard.  Why let all your energy be wasted in this Blog site?  

I would be happy assist in getting people together from all communities to resolve our patient care concerns, weather it is provided by Private ambulance or the Fire Department.  I have spoke with "concernedcitizen" (It was good talking to you!) and I would like to see more people like her step up and want to get to the bottom of this EMS battle in Kern County.  

Let's all work together and make change in Kern County.  You elected these individuals on the BOS to represent your communities.  Isn't about time they represent YOU instead of against YOU? 

I appreciate all who are concerned about your loved ones health and well being....  Please don't stop here! 

For not having any connection with either organization, you seem to know a lot about the issue. Sounds like the battle is over. Hall now has two units in Tehachapi. Good for them. Now leave it to the politicians and fire department to work out the future.

Wow,

Has anyone thought that we should become a united front and use all our energy in getting this issue of EMS/Firefighter-Paramedics resolved as a group instead of using this BLOG to express our frustrations?   A lot of it is great information, but the communities need to rally together in order to make change in this County!

On to another issue that makes me laugh......  Where do I begin.... (Sorry for jumping around with the subject matter)

 I read an earlier comment by a person named "anonomous".  He or she must work for halls out of Frazier Park or Kern EMS.   And I have to agree that this person must not of past the fire depts testing process and is pretty bitter towards the Fire dept.

The issue with AMR posting at the flying J and coming up into frazier park is to cover Lockwood valley/Hungery valley (located in Ventura County).  This went into effect just this last week.  (Hmmmmmmmm  Not many people knew about that happening, unless you work for Halls or Kern EMS)   The reason for this is because Halls pulled out of LA/Ventura Counties and was providing only a BLS ambulance staffed 7a to 7p along with the ALS rig out of Frazier.  The other reason is because Kern EMS sent a letter to Ventura EMS just last week that Halls would no longer be providing service into Lockwood valley or Hungry Valley.... So, AMR out of Ventura was left no other choice but to post a rig at the Flying J.   

As for some of his or her other comments it is obvious they are PRO HALLS/Private paramedics services.  The calls that the fire departments respond to are 85%  EMS and the rest are fires or misc incidents.... 

As for Dr's not trusting Fire dept Blood pressures, I find that hard to believe.....  You might as well lump the private medics and EMTs in there as well as providing false BP's....   NO ONE IS PERFECT...  But to make a statement about the Fire dept not trained in EMS and they should just stick to putting out fires is a joke! 

If you worked for a fire dept you would realize that EMS is shoved down our throats and that we maintain a high level of compentency!  Yes, there are those firefighters who are weak in the field of EMS but I would say it is pretty much equal across the board with Ambulance EMT's and Paramedics as well.  I have witnessed both sides of the fence and if you disagree then you are either blind or just close minded. 

And last but not least, your comments about LA County fire medics are behind all that goes on in PMC is just a bunch of BS as well.  The citizens of PMC are just as much a part of this whole mess.  Just ask Karen Bailey who's husband died at home while waiting over an hour for Halls to arrive.  Anonomous, please get your facts straight before expressing your views on the subject.   I don't see halls carrying the JAWS of life in the near future to extricate patients trapped in cars or repelling over the side to rescue individuals trapped on cliffs.  So unless you know something that the general public doesn't, please share it with all of us!  Because the fire department is here to stay and Firefighter/paramedics are coming to Kern county weather you like it or not.  

Have a great day and hug a firefighter next time you see one. :)  Who knows he or she may be the one who comes to your rescue while your waiting for the private ambulance to arrive. 

PS: Bad info was put out about 20 kern Firefighters are in Paramedic school.... It is only "6" enrolled.  And as for where they will be placed who knows?  It could be in Tehachapi, Walker basin, Frazier Park etc...  That decision is up to the Fire Chief of Kern County, not the residence of PMC.