• Following the nationwide trend of
municipal services, Patient transport is the natural evolution of the fire
service.
• Reduce the double taxation our
citizens are currently burdened with funding both the fire department EMS and EVAC
subsidies (through County taxes).
• According to
the American Heart Association, time is critical…
- Irreversible brain damage begins 4 to 6 minutes after cardiac
arrest.
- Chances of resuscitation decreases by 10 percent every
minute without CPR and defibrillation.
- Brain death is almost certain after 10
minutes.
- CPR and Defibrillation within the first 3 to 5 minutes
of collapse can produce survival rates as high as 49% to
75%.
• Fire Transport is
Faster…
- DBFD has
a much quicker response time vs. EVAC, which is critical in life threatening medical
emergencies (see AHA Guidelines above).
- DBFD target response time following NFPA 1710 is 4
minutes
- EVAC target response time per county contract is 9
minutes 90% of the time for “Urban Areas” as determined by EVAC and a 12 min response time
for “Rural Area” which also determined by EVAC.
- With EVAC’s response time, survivability rate is less
than 10%.
• Fire Transport is
Cheaper…
- DBFD’s
transport fees are 10% less than EVAC transport fees.
- Not only cheaper for patient, but cheaper for the
taxpayer (see tax savings below).
• Fire Transport is
Better…
- Fire
Transport assures a “continuity of care” avoiding patient hand-off.
- Avoids delay of waiting for a separate 2nd-Tier
Ambulance service.
- Reduces loss of critical information through multiple
pass downs.
- Reduces duplicate tests, treatments, and interviews
inherent with two-tier systems
- Reduces chance of patient cross
contamination.
• Fire Transport is
Safer…
- Responding “Code-3” (emergency speed with strobe lights and siren)
with two (2) separate agencies to the same emergency is not only inefficient, but doubles
the traffic disruption and risk of motor vehicle accidents. FireTransport eliminates
this wasteful duplication, and cuts the traffic risk in half by responding only one “total
care” Advanced Life Support Rescue Truck, that will now be allowed to transport patients to
the hospital if necessary.
• FireTransport is
Proven…
- According to State Health Services, the majority of counties in
Florida use FireTransport. (The extremely rural counties with low service demand and
volunteer fire departments do not generally use FireTransport).
- Of the 173 state licensed Advanced Life Support (ALS)
transport agencies serving the Cities and Counties throughout Florida, Fire Department
based transport (FireTransport) outnumbers private ambulance companies more than
2:1.
- Two Thirds (2/3) of the State certified Paramedics in
Florida are Firefighters -- fully cross-trained and State certified.
- What is Volusia County waiting
for?
• Indian River County began FireTransport in
2006;
• Orange County Starting with a
small area in 1981, FireTransport was expanded over the years to virtually full
jurisdiction wide service as of March 2008;
• Fernandina Beach began
FireTransport in October 2008;
• Marion County began complete
FireTransport in November 2008;
• Columbia County began
FireTransport in April 2009.
• FireTransport gives Tax
Relief…
- Volusia
Tax Reform has pledged their full support… they see FireTransport as a great way to stop
the double taxation of the current “Two-Tier” EMS system, enhance the level and
efficiency of emergency services, and to defray some costs of basic fire protection. (A
logical, common-sense solution to recent tax revenue losses due to economic recession,
depressed real estate market, and tax reform.)
• The Congressional Fire Services
Institute, International Fire Chiefs Assoc., NFPA, and the IAFF have created a “White
Paper” titled, Prehospital 911 Emergency Medical Response: The Role of the
United States Fire Service in Delivery and Coordination (distributed to federal
lawmakers in Washington D.C.), details the need and reason for fire department patient
transport.
• FireTransport as an opportunity to improve our outdated EMS
model
- Enhance
our level of Fire Protection and Emergency Medical
Services
- Stops Double Taxation of the current
Two-Tier EMS system
- Retains lost transport fees to reduce reliance on
taxes for Fire/EMS service, saving one million dollars ($1,000,000) each year in
Daytona Beach Alone.