SA Firefighter

sorry that was a bit harsh.

I'll say... get back in your box 

Metal folds and gets torn? Really? Thanks for such enlightening comments! I was merely quoting the times and procedures (eg: What 'should' be done) as outlined in our SOP's in relation to the two cars two hours job reffered to by Camo. And those silly ambos, I can't believe they would push the rescuers out of the way to do silly things like stabilise the patient...

Things don't always go to plan? Yes! Should one SES crew have taken two hours to extract casualties? No!

See? It's simple, no need to get narky.

Actually, you might want to ask the CFS about why that job took so long since they claim to have been in charge.

I think you'll find that in our SOP's (I'd hope that the SES's arent too different, but we're getting into banjo territory) if the casualty is still trapped after 15 minutes of work by the first rescue resource, a second rescue needs to be responded. Now even if this was delayed due to paramedic intervention, there still stands the point about if the incident involves two cars, both with people trapped, then a second rescue response shall be responded

The state of the equipment should not case a HUGE delay in the cut out, unless of course you're trying to take the roof of a car off with plastic knives and forks. State of over crowding? What?

Enough with the generalisations. I know a few cfs brigades who crank up the banjos too.

Anyway, I have seen rescues take far too long thanks to the egos of those involved wanting to get in and do everything themselves. I have also seen ambos all climb into cars to deal with a casualty and push the rescuers out the way. I have seen side intrusion bars snap cutters and tips broken off spreaders.

As far as the casualty being trapped after 15 minutes, it is not always possible to work to that statistic due to the nature of the damage to the car. I don't know about your area, but when cars hit things here, metal gets folded and torn which occasionally makes it difficult to do what we need to. Yes, we have SOPs that state ideal times, but not every rescue goes according to plan. Do you live in an area where cars read textbooks and crash accordingly?

Until such time as the desk jockeys and pen pushers who decide emergency service budgets are actually out there doing our work we will continue to be knocked back for this equipment because "an ambulance will be on its way". I think these people are living in a dreamworld if they think we will always get a timely response from an ambulance service that is having major crewing issues.

Quote from: squiddy on September 09, 2006, 11:00:49 AM

1908865 09:31:39 09-09-06 REGION 1 OPS BRIGADE HASMAT COMPLETE CHOCOLATE CONTAINED - JOHN M

So, is this how the CFS organise fondue parties? And just how did it get cleaned up?

Yeah, cant wait to see how this goes down on the news tonight...

Smooth like chocolate, one can only hope...

1908865 09:31:39 09-09-06 REGION 1 OPS BRIGADE HASMAT COMPLETE CHOCOLATE CONTAINED - JOHN M

So, is this how the CFS organise fondue parties? And just how did it get cleaned up?

There's a lot more to treating a heart attack then just giving O2 and using an AED. There are also different degrees of heart attack which require different types of treatment. Unless all CFS, MFS and SES crews are going to start carrying drugs and a textbook around with a monitor, there is no point to sending these crews to a heart attack case unless SAAS is already in attendance.
There are contingency plans in place for logistical issues. If worst comes to worst, they can always get a firey or rescuer to drive the ambulance while the ambos treat the patient in the back on the way.
Worst case scenario arises in the metro area, they could always call EMT