It seems we've had a lot of fire calls outside the LMRFD across US-93. Does the fire district get paid for responses where the owners have insurance?
At previous fire board meetings we were told that any parcels wanting to join the fire district needed to be contiguous to parcels currently in the fire district, or government property contiguous to the fire district and the parcel wanting to join.
This is to prevent creating single parcels or multiple parcels creating islands outside the fire district. I can see how this would be confusing to firefighters and land owners..
I ask this because on the Mohave County Fire District Map it shows many parcels that sit alone or with others outside the fire district boundaries...
Arizona Fire District Handbook
The purpose of this blog is to educate people in Dolan Springs, Meadview, White Hills about how to reduce response times for emergency medical services that can range from minutes to hours
Friday, August 25, 2017
Monday, August 21, 2017
$2500 for Ambulance or $25,000 for Helicopter Transport What's best for the Patient?
A recent ambulance call at my home went very bad, but that's another story. This story is about what's best for the patient, not what's easiest for the EMT.
A girl had heat stroke a serious medical emergency while visiting. She was out in the 110 degree weather we had and wasn't used to our Arizona heat.
It's 45 minutes from Dolan to KRMC, Kingman Regional Medical Center by ground ambulance. This patient did not need a level one trauma center, any ER can handle heat a stroke patient.
When the LMRFD ambulance left my home rather than rush her to KRMC they called a helicopter from Las Vegas. It was a 30 minute flight time just to get to the fire station in Dolan, and remember the helicopter had not left Vegas when the ambulance left my home.
Then there's the time to land and load the patient, say 10 minutes. Add the 30 minute flight time back to Las Vegas, then the helicopter was diverted to another hospital, add another 10 minutes...
So rather than 45 minutes to KRMC ER, they drove a mile to the LMRFD fire station in Dolan and sat there for 30 minutes waiting for the helicopter.... Good Choice?
What do you think was best for the patient? An 80 to 90 minute
helicopter ride for $25,000, or a 45 minute ambulance ride to Kingman.
What was best for the patient?
A girl had heat stroke a serious medical emergency while visiting. She was out in the 110 degree weather we had and wasn't used to our Arizona heat.
It's 45 minutes from Dolan to KRMC, Kingman Regional Medical Center by ground ambulance. This patient did not need a level one trauma center, any ER can handle heat a stroke patient.
When the LMRFD ambulance left my home rather than rush her to KRMC they called a helicopter from Las Vegas. It was a 30 minute flight time just to get to the fire station in Dolan, and remember the helicopter had not left Vegas when the ambulance left my home.
Then there's the time to land and load the patient, say 10 minutes. Add the 30 minute flight time back to Las Vegas, then the helicopter was diverted to another hospital, add another 10 minutes...
So rather than 45 minutes to KRMC ER, they drove a mile to the LMRFD fire station in Dolan and sat there for 30 minutes waiting for the helicopter.... Good Choice?
What do you think was best for the patient? An 80 to 90 minute
helicopter ride for $25,000, or a 45 minute ambulance ride to Kingman.
What was best for the patient?
Friday, August 18, 2017
LMRFD Chief on Vacation
Recently the LMRFD Chief went on vacation for a couple weeks. Why is a captain with the Golden Valley Fire District acting as LMRFD chief?
Is there no firefighter in the Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District capable of taking charge of a fire scene? Why have someone from another fire district respond from 40 miles away?
Why does our fire chief live in another fire district?
What if US-93 was closed due to a major weather event?
With no one capable of being in command, very few EMS people, and even fewer experienced EMS people, the outcome could be very bad.
Is there no firefighter in the Lake Mohave Ranchos Fire District capable of taking charge of a fire scene? Why have someone from another fire district respond from 40 miles away?
Why does our fire chief live in another fire district?
What if US-93 was closed due to a major weather event?
With no one capable of being in command, very few EMS people, and even fewer experienced EMS people, the outcome could be very bad.