In Long Island’s East End, six towns are considering a regional approach to staffing their EMS systems 24/7 by supplementing volunteers with paid staff.
I’m not too fond of the concept of sending a paramedic to the scene without the ability to transport, but it’s a creative way to maximize resources when there aren’t enough volunteers to cover the district in a timely manner. But the bigger issue lies with some of the towns’ resistance to any change that threatens the status quo, rationalized by an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality.
But the problem is that it is broke. Long Island is not a rural area of the country, especially on the East End, where multimillion dollar homes are plentiful and people come to relax and play. This is an area that could afford a career system, but chooses not to pay for one.
The decision makers are not experts in the industry, so they may or may not have relevant and accurate data on their system’s performance. I will give them the benefit of the doubt, but they should really take the time to truly understand what it would take to keep their community safe.
What’s their town’s response time to critical calls? How often do mutual aid units cross town limits? What’s the survival to discharge percentage? Do stoke and STEMI patients get to the right hospital at the right time?
These are but a few of the simple questions that should have ample amounts of data to support whether the system is functioning within norms, and these towns would benefit by doing some research on their systems.
