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Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

oregonlive.com

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Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#21

Post by john_yaya »

GaryTang wrote: post #11
jimmytucson wrote: post #8

Sounds like we should tax senior homes to fund increased staff for fire departments, basically de-privatizing senior homes...

Or firefighters can continue doing their job like the rest of us, seeing that they’re some of the highest paid members of our society… I think they’re just bitter they can’t use their lazy man recliners as much as they use to. I for one am glad they are finally experiencing what it’s like to work for any private organization.

This is 100% true. Firefighters were preposterously lionized after 9/11, and in that insane fanfare we gave them everything they could think to ask for. The ones in my city make more, on average, than a mid-career software engineer and rarely work at all.

And, many firefighters’s unions have made certain that they are the first responder for medical calls - as a way of keeping their staffing levels high. Sounds like that particular scam is coming back to bite them in Oregon.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#22

Post by rsj_hn »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #9

In all my time living in Louisiana, the only time I saw a fire truck near a home was when the house was actually on fire or under threat of fire. In Texas? EVERY SINGLE TIME I see an ambulance, I see a fire truck. It makes ZERO sense most of the time. Texas municipalities are using medical emergencies to fund their fire departments (and jack up insurance rates in the process) by sending fire trucks to people even whe…

If you have a full time fire department, it makes sense to have them working with EMS rather than just waiting for a fire.

If you have a volunteer fire department or part-time fire department, you will call them out only for fires. I would expect in smaller towns that fire departments would not be regularly doing EMS legwork but would focus on fires. But I have no idea if this hypothesis is relevant to your situation. It could also be that the same station has a fire truck and ambulance, and the fireman jump into the ambulance for an EMS call and only use the firetruck for fires.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#23

Post by wikibob »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #9

In all my time living in Louisiana, the only time I saw a fire truck near a home was when the house was actually on fire or under threat of fire. In Texas? EVERY SINGLE TIME I see an ambulance, I see a fire truck. It makes ZERO sense most of the time. Texas municipalities are using medical emergencies to fund their fire departments (and jack up insurance rates in the process) by sending fire trucks to people even whe…

There is a reason for this.

In most municipalities, there aren’t nearly enough fires to keep a fire department busy.

So fire departments also are often first responders for medical incidents.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#24

Post by exabrial »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #9

In all my time living in Louisiana, the only time I saw a fire truck near a home was when the house was actually on fire or under threat of fire. In Texas? EVERY SINGLE TIME I see an ambulance, I see a fire truck. It makes ZERO sense most of the time. Texas municipalities are using medical emergencies to fund their fire departments (and jack up insurance rates in the process) by sending fire trucks to people even whe…

This is a great observation and there's an obvious answer you may have not made the connection on: it's cheaper, more efficient, and saves lives.

Many midwestern states, because of their large land area, face a bit different problem than compact cities: you can only get some place so fast by highway. Furthermore, because of the large distances, it could be too late when certain first responders are dispatched and the information that was given over the phone was incorrect. (Think of software engineering, how many times have you been given the correct and complete requirements the first time?)

Instead, most fire departments not only have the training to hand the exact same emergencies as the EMS, but they also carry the same equipment onboard the fire trucks.

Another scenario, lets say fire was dispatched to car accident because smoke was reported 20m from the city, and when they got there, someone was bleeding severely. If it were me, the answer I wouldn't want to hear is "oh sorry, can't bandage that, we'll call for EMS". Worse, imagine the fire department was on a call like that and a high rise caught fire, 5m down the road. If they didn't take the fire truck, they'd have to drive all the way back to the city, grab the truck, then drive all the way back. That's why you see that all the time, it's the safest thing to do.

And fire departments go way beyond putting out fires. There are departments in cities that are trained in swift water rescue, electrical hazards, gas/chemical leaks, and many more. Think of fire as general rescue workers, rather than putting out flames.

Source: Firsthand volunteer firefighter work

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#25

Post by adventured »

Boomers have (poorly) outsourced the elder care of their parents. This what you get.

Along with the US budget deficits and the national healthcare mess, this is just another thing that generation decided it didn't want to have to deal with (change), so they're kicking the can as far as they can down the road.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#26

Post by windthrown »

MisterBastahrd wrote: post #9

In all my time living in Louisiana, the only time I saw a fire truck near a home was when the house was actually on fire or under threat of fire. In Texas? EVERY SINGLE TIME I see an ambulance, I see a fire truck. It makes ZERO sense most of the time. Texas municipalities are using medical emergencies to fund their fire departments (and jack up insurance rates in the process) by sending fire trucks to people even whe…

What you saw in Texas is actually quite common. In most other states I have lived, there are typically many more fire trucks than ambulances available. Because if that, Fire response times are much shorter and as they are are trained parametics, they are used as first-responders when not fighting fires. The situation you described was likely the handoff between fire and ambulance.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#27

Post by ErikVandeWater »

mooreds wrote: post #16
MattGaiser wrote: post #3

If there is an industry that needs startups, it is long term care and senior care in general. Expensive, nearly universally badly done, and it seems like a lot of people could stay in their homes with some automated appliances/thoughtful redesigns of everyday items. Hoping that when my grandparents start needing it in 5-10 years that the options have dramatically improved.

Here's a home sharing company for older/younger pairs that I know of (not affiliated, had a friend work there for a while) https://www.silvernest.com/ Interesting take on it, imo.

Silvernest is more of a roommate matching service for old folks. Not so much for pairing young and old.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#28

Post by dls2016 »

GaryTang wrote: post #11
jimmytucson wrote: post #8

Sounds like we should tax senior homes to fund increased staff for fire departments, basically de-privatizing senior homes...

Or firefighters can continue doing their job like the rest of us, seeing that they’re some of the highest paid members of our society… I think they’re just bitter they can’t use their lazy man recliners as much as they use to. I for one am glad they are finally experiencing what it’s like to work for any private organization.

You know there are a lot of places in the US with volunteer fire departments, right?

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#29

Post by MisterBastahrd »

exabrial wrote: post #24
MisterBastahrd wrote: post #9

In all my time living in Louisiana, the only time I saw a fire truck near a home was when the house was actually on fire or under threat of fire. In Texas? EVERY SINGLE TIME I see an ambulance, I see a fire truck. It makes ZERO sense most of the time. Texas municipalities are using medical emergencies to fund their fire departments (and jack up insurance rates in the process) by sending fire trucks to people even whe…

This is a great observation and there's an obvious answer you may have not made the connection on: it's cheaper, more efficient, and saves lives. Many midwestern states, because of their large land area, face a bit different problem than compact cities: you can only get some place so fast by highway. Furthermore, because of the large distances, it could be too late when certain first responders are dispatched and the…

Except it isn't obvious, because it isn't true. When I was living in an apartment complex, I had a neighbor with a magnesium imbalance, and she had an "emergency" about once every 10 days. Her elderly husband was unable to move her to get her the infusions she needed, so he would call the paramedics, who promptly got her out of the apartment every time. The fire department also brought a truck every time, which blocked the main lane in the apartment complex and kept people from being able to get out of their parking spots... while the ambulance blocked the lane closest to the apartments. The result was that about 40% of the complex couldn't leave as long as the paramedics were there.

At no point did the people from the fire department ever lift a finger to actually do anything to help the paramedics, because the paramedics never needed help.

Re: Firefighters say they’re swamped by calls for routine care from senior homes

#30

Post by tomrod »

john_yaya wrote: post #15

Senior homes and assisted living centers are a national disgrace. They are entirely about profit maximization (what business isn’t?), and as such hire people at the exact minimum and have well over 100% yearly turnover. The staff commonly steal from residents, and the management do not care. They’d rather retain a larcenous pig who barely executes her duties than have to go back and scrape the barrel for a replacemen…

So the solution is to spend less money but pay people more, and shoulder the rest on taxpayers?

This probably won't work very long since the population isn't as triangular as it used to be (to my understanding this is what happened to Japan).

I get the justified call to fix things for people that require these services. The US can barely afford to school its children, purchase its homes, or enact reasonable public health measures without bankrupting people.

As a society the US is unwilling to consider euthanasia, decriminalization of most nonviolent drugs, effective gun control, and funding infrastructure. The plight of the elderly is on par with the plight of the transient. Policy is actively hostile for them.

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