|
PRISON EXPANSION THREATENS OUR QUALITY OF LIFE! BEWARE OF PHONE-Y CALLS! WHEN YOUR HUT'S ON FIRE! URGENT NEWS FOR ALL CITIZENS! THE MAYOR'S PERSONAL AGENDA! BUYING THE PRESIDENCY! HILLARY'S DONATIONS SUSPECT! THE CAB RIDE! TONIGHT'S THE BIG NIGHT, PEOPLE! IT'S YOUR CITY - AND YOUR MONEY! August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 
RSS 2.0    |
|
|
RE: HALL AMBULANCE SERVICE(S)
I do not know Mr. Hall and have thankfully never needed the services of his Ambulance Company. However, As a Member of the Tehachapi Hospital Foundation I have a great interest in seeing that our ill and injured citizens be transported to the nearest hospital AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. After all, it could well be a matter of Life or Death! Until we are able to build our new hospital locally (perhaps another year...or two) we are at the mercy of Hall Ambulance to transport us to the nearest hospital. 50 miles away..and an hours drive. Why do we need to wait still another half hour for an ambulance to arrive from Mojave or Arvin? That's an hour and a half wait. Some of us will arrive at the hospital stone cold DEAD! We need a 2nd. ambulance Mr. Hall. Would you like to trade places with us? Jim Richards
117 comments from 39 users
posted by
Red
on Apr 20, 2007 at 05:56 PM
Anonymous - 1. I am not sure what the 1st sentence is supposed to say or mean, please proof read you rants before you hide behind the "anonymous" curtain. 2. Renting is rarely a wise business decision, and anyone with a little financial education knows this. For those of you who have issues with Harvey Hall being "worth millions" let me explain a couple things. Being worth millions does not mean there is cash laying around to throw at ambulances just to shut up a few whiners in Tehachapi. Hall's is a business, in business to make money (profit). Profit is not bad and successful business owners are not evil. They look at the performance requirements and determine how to accomplish the mission and maximize profits. In a situation where most days have little demand for ambulance service you figure out how to cover the holes on those few days with a larger demand for ambulance service. posted by
ShaneThePain
on Apr 20, 2007 at 07:33 PM
Hall Ambulance was talking about a Golden Hills station and the need for one way back in 1994 when I worked for them. People it is not going to happen. 'Red' Hall is not making car parts they are running 911 calls. I don't think 30 minutes to Bear Valley is a good "requirement". I also don't think having to wait for an ambulance from out of town 72 times a year is a good thing.
posted by
Red
on Apr 20, 2007 at 07:50 PM
Change the "requirement" or move into city limits. That is what you have to accept when we (including my family) choose to live out in the hills. At my family's ranch in Northern Arizona we had an emergency when a firearm malfunctioned and my father was shot. KNOWING we were in the country, we called 911, began first aid, and headed towards the hospital. We provided our information to the dispatcher and when we saw the ambulance we pulled over and let them take over from there. We KNEW the ambulance was coming from 20 miles out and we KNEW it would take some time. We did not BLAME anyone, this is the way it is in the country. Accept it, change it, or move into town... BVS & SS pay for Police Departments, do they have the option to fund other EMS support?
posted by
ShaneThePain
on Apr 20, 2007 at 08:18 PM
I live in the City, not out in the hills. 72 times last year Hall didn't make his time requirement. ( by his numbers) He is over working his local crews. We want a 2nd ambulance. Towns in Kern County that have 25% less residents then Tehachapi have more then one ambulance.
posted by
oldtehachapinative
on Apr 20, 2007 at 08:27 PM
BVS and Stallion Springs are no longer the woods/ hills/ sticks. They have the same level of care coming that the rest of us have. They pay the same in taxes, if a private company can't do it let someone else do it.
posted by
trucker1
on Apr 20, 2007 at 08:55 PM
Wow, The county will not let another ambulance service come into town or anywhere in the county unless that "Service" can prove the existing one (IE. Hall Ambulance, Liberty, Care, Delano or Kern) are not providing service according to the "Kern County EMS Exclusive Operating Agreement" in their assigned response areas. All of you all that want another service need to contact KC EMS and get a copy of this EOA or go online on there website and get a copy of it. All Ambulance Services including Hall are governed by California Code of Regulations/EMSA - Title 22 and by their respective County EMS Departments. They set the rules by what Hall and others go by. According to Title 22, Mayor Hall does not have a "Conflict of Interest" with the City of Bakersfield. Why do we all care about that anyways. We care about Tehachapi and the need for a 2nd 24 hour ambulance. Anonymous I was merely stating that it takes time to do things and getting property takes time. You just cant rent just any pice of property and make it a ambulance station. It has to be zoned properly. Hall has been in business since 1971 and maybe he wants to get out of the rental business and own his own stations!! I agree with Shane and the 30 minutes to Bear Valley is way to long. But that is a county thing. Blame the county for that requirement and not Hall. Red- I understand about "Contracts". Hall has an obligation to abide by the rules of the county and state and if they dont meet those then they lose response areas. Until they dont meet those then Tehachapi and Kern County has Hall. Beleive me I want more ambulance coverage. I am getting up there in age and who knows when the big one might hit me and I dont want an ambulance from Mojave or Arvin. I want one of the good ol Tehachapi Crews! And no I am not moving from here to have more coverage. I'll deal with what I have. Jimr- let me tell you that the prisoners do get better care than we do already. And Tehachapi Hospital, well lets just say we need a real hospital to transport ill and hurt people to, and local doctors that care for their pt and not just refill a pain med prescription in the office every month. Have a nice night ya'll. Im going to bed. Us old folk need our sleep. posted by
Red
on Apr 20, 2007 at 09:24 PM
Trucker, I was looking that up, thanks for the post. This was taken from the KC web site: http://www.co.kern.ca.us/em... In Kern County the Board of Supervisors designated the EMS Department as the Local EMS Agency. The Kern County Ambulance Ordinance, which governs the majority of the prehospital system in the County, was adopted by the Board of Supervisors in November 1990, and became effective on February 28, 1991. As a result of this ordinance and the subsequent regulations, the EMS System in Kern County became more structured and included, for the first time, measurable standards for the response of paramedic level of care to the citizens of Kern County during an emergency. This is where the focus needs to be, not on the provider themselves. Understand that I am not defending Hall, but I have been on the performing end of many poorly written contracts. Everyone is quick to hang the contractor for performing up to the contract requirements when they are unaware of the details. Often what happens is the agency will loosen the requirement to save some money. When the requirements are tough, the contractor will bid to meet that requirement, blowing the budget. When the agency comes to the contractors and asks, "how can we save money here?" the contractors is gets stuck in a tug of war match until a "acceptable" level meets budget constraints. Get on the state and county and get the standards noted in red above fixed! posted by
eekitsaspider
on Apr 21, 2007 at 01:07 PM
I have to agree with everyone we do need another full time ambulance in Tehachapi maybe even two. For those 6% of the calls that do not meet the standards could possibly result in the loss of a life. And it seems to me that there should be some law out there that has certain requirements for amount of population and how many ambulances. I am currently staying with my Mother who is terminally ill and I cannot imagine waiting 30 minutes for help to arrive, if something happened while waiting that long then watch out because I would be taking whoever involved to court. There is no excuse whatsoever for anyone to have to wait that long!! posted by
LoriMorales
on Apr 21, 2007 at 11:44 PM
It is amazing that ANYONE can justify the performance of our ambulance provider. Hall's Ambulance service is negligent. Period. I don't care want the "standards" are. When my loved one is dying, and timely care does not arrive because it wasn't profitable to provide a timely service - well, under other circumstances, Hall would be prosecuted for murder.
posted by
tehachapigrouch
on Apr 22, 2007 at 10:03 PM
Lori, a little info for you as I believe you live in Stallion Springs. A couple of months ago, the fire department responded to a request for medical assistance at a residence in Stallion. They had a very sick and frail woman who needed transport to the hospital. They were told that the ambulance was coming from Mojave ( the Tehachapi ambulance was out on another call and their so called 2nd ambulance didn't come on until 9:00 am) (so much for Corums statement about calling back local personnel to staff an ambulance when needed). The Fire Department can only do so much. The residents of Stallion springs and Bear Valley need to contact Hall's and demand a 2nd ambulance and if they don't do it they need to contact Maben's office and demand that he do something.
posted by
coolfire
on Apr 23, 2007 at 12:42 PM
I just saw an accident in a semi-rural area of Bakersfield on the news. It looked to have had at least four Halls ambulances and a supervisor on scene. Hopefully it will not take a death or serious injury to get another ambulance or firefighter paramedics up here. If this is a county issue, where is our good Supervisor Maben at during this? Sounds like a good photo-op..
posted by
queenofthehill
on Apr 25, 2007 at 11:50 AM
does anyone remeber the story a year or so ago that quoted halls as saying he had a 100% reponse complyance? how come with 2 ambulances he has lost 6%? i think its ovious hes lying to us. editer can you please post the original story to back me up, or please correct me if im wrong. posted by
editor
on Apr 25, 2007 at 02:47 PM
I'm sorry queenofthehill but I was unable to find any Tehachapi News story to support your claim.
posted by
anonymous
on Apr 25, 2007 at 02:57 PM
One issue that Halls and the county have danced around is that the overuse of air ambulance services has helped to alleviate a large portion of their work load - at a HUGE cost to the patient and insurance companies. That's the only reason they've been able to get away with so little staffing, because so far, most of the local major wrecks and incidents have only involved a relatively low number of victims. What if we had a major pile up on 58? Or a natural disaster?
Air ambulance contracts are being renogotiated as we speak because Hall's competitor said they don't have to publicly post accurate prices and they can charge what they want unless under contract. So Halls will be increasing their rates to match Mercy's. Also, part of the reason the fire departments want more paramedics is so they can get more pay - they still can't transport anyone they treat and they don't have the same life support equipment that ambulances do. So even if the fire guys are there to help resussitate you, they may not be able to keep you alive while you're still waiting for that ambulance to arrive. posted by
doesnotgetit
on Apr 25, 2007 at 05:22 PM
Anonymouse- Your last paragraph is misstated. The fire department wants more paramedics so that patient care can be improved it has nothing to do with pay as their is no pay incentive for paramedics. Your statement about not having the equipment is partially true and that is due in part to Harvey Hall. He has fought all attempts to train firefighters as paramedics. Why- It cuts into his profit margin. It has nothing to do with patient care - it's all about the bucks.
|
