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Detroit changes emergency response for ambulancesJan 11, 2011 (Detroit Free Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Detroit Fire Department has realigned its fleet of ambulances, declassifying eight to basic life support units. The city's ambulances had been classified as advanced units, but the new tiered-response model, which began Jan. 3, designates advanced units for emergency runs and basic units for non-emergencies, city officials said. But a city paramedic who heads an emergency medical personnel nonprofit said Monday he is concerned the wrong ambulances will end up at the wrong calls. He said dispatch doesn't properly prioritize EMS response. City officials decided to implement the model, despite the ouster of Executive Fire Commissioner James Mack Jr. and Deputy Fire Commissioner Seth Doyle on Friday. Jerald James, Detroit EMS chief, said the model, which will be reviewed at the end of 30 days, will help better address non-emergency runs. He said they make up about 65% of the city's roughly 130,000 runs each year. Unlike advanced units, James said, medication can't be administered in the basic units. Previously, the ambulances were staffed with one paramedic and one emergency medical technician, James said. Now, advanced units are staffed with two paramedics; basic units are staffed with emergency medical technicians or EMTs, he said. Besides emergency dispatch concerns, Wisam Zeineh, president of the Detroit Emergency Medical Services Association, said he is worried there are not enough units or staff to support the model. James said the department has 22 ambulances and 176 personnel, though there are 221 budgeted positions. "People will, unfortunately, continue to die because of this failed infrastructure," Zeineh said. On Monday, Detroit City Councilman Gary Brown, fed up with what he describes as mismanagement and inexcusable emergency response times, threatened to hold public hearings unless Mayor Dave Bing presents a plan within two weeks to improve public safety. Mayoral aides assured Brown at the Health and Public Safety Committee that public safety is Bing's priority and a plan would be forthcoming. "Residents deserve nothing less than timely responses to emergencies," Brown said. Detroit Deputy Mayor Saul Green said the new model is one of several steps that will be taken toward improving poor fire and EMS response times -- a common criticism of the department and among the concerns the mayor's office cited after forcing Mack and Doyle's resignations. "We believe that we are taking the right steps to ensure that prioritization is done efficiently and effectively, and we will be continuously looking at those issues to make sure the citizens get the right types of units to the right situations," Green said. To see more of the Detroit Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.freep.com Copyright (c) 2011, Detroit Free Press Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |