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“Firestorm” LAFD Station 65

3 comments

From the Firestorm website:
AMB06030_1232

Every minute in the United States, an ambulance gets turned away from an emergency room because hospitals are simply too full. In Los Angeles, where the wait time in some ERs is as long as 48 hours, the entire 911 system is being challenged in ways that are alarming.

FIRESTORM follows Los Angeles Fire Department Station 65, located in South Los Angeles, a neighborhood with a largely uninsured and undereducated population.

The LAFD handles all emergency medical services for the city of Los Angeles, and currently 82% of the department’s work is medical, rather than fire-related.

Eleven hospitals have closed in just five years in LA, and the challenge of delivering more than 500 patients per day to a shrinking number of hospitals is overwhelming to the LAFD.

With resources strained, and 911 being used for everything from heart attacks to stomach aches, LAFD paramedics have become virtual ‘doctors in a box’.

The film will debut at the Council on Foundations Annual Conference in Denver, Saturday, Apriil 24. Finished film should be ready by September.

You should explore the Firestorm website, a rich repository of information on the health care crisis and it’s impact on emergency medicine/EMS. Start with the FACTS.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

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Posted by on April 10, 2010 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Patient Management, Urban Commander, Videos • Tagged: , , , , ,
  • Thomas Berry

    The Hospital might not have to close if they didn't lose millions a year treating non paying illegals from mexico.

  • http://www.firegeezer.com Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

    That is part of a larger set of issues, from the FACTS page:

    50 years ago, half of the nation's doctors practiced primary care. Today, almost 70% of doctors work in higher paid specialities; it's estimated that in 10 years, the shortage of family doctors will reach 40,000.

    Primary care doctors make one-fourth the salary of a specialist, while trying to pay down $140,000 on average in medical school debt.

    The starting salary for a primary care physician is $134,351 compared to $350,000 for a cardiac surgeon and $300,000 for a plastic surgeon.

    In the past 10 years, 90% of medical school graduates have entered higher-paid sub-specialities, while only 10% have chosen primary care.

  • http://www.firegeezer.com Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

    That is part of a larger set of issues, from the FACTS page:

    50 years ago, half of the nation's doctors practiced primary care. Today, almost 70% of doctors work in higher paid specialities; it's estimated that in 10 years, the shortage of family doctors will reach 40,000.

    Primary care doctors make one-fourth the salary of a specialist, while trying to pay down $140,000 on average in medical school debt.

    The starting salary for a primary care physician is $134,351 compared to $350,000 for a cardiac surgeon and $300,000 for a plastic surgeon.

    In the past 10 years, 90% of medical school graduates have entered higher-paid sub-specialities, while only 10% have chosen primary care.