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New Ambulances For Detroit

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Roger Penske Gets Involved – Things Happen

TODAY (Monday) IS THE FIRST DAY on the job for Kevyn Orr, Detroit's new State Emergency Financial Manager.  Coincidentally, Mayor Bing held a previously-scheduled news conference jointly with Roger Penske at 9:30 am where they announced a new plan that will be bringing 23 new ambulances and about 100 new police patrol cars to the city.

Crain's Detroit Business Daily reports today:

Eight corporations will spend $8 million to lease the vehicles. Penske Corp. Chairman Roger Penske said today that the police cruisers should arrive within the next 90 days, and the EMS rigs are expected to arrive within the next 150 days.

The corporations involved are Penske, Ford Motor Co., Chrysler Group LLC, Quicken Loans Inc., General Motors Co., Platinum Equity LLC, the FirstMerit Bank, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Penske said Bing spearheaded the effort that began about six weeks ago.

"We believe these additional vehicles will enhance the visibility of police and fire efforts in the city of Detroit, improve safety and security in our neighborhoods, and have an immediate, lasting impact," Penske said at today's news conference at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Building.

The vehicles to be leased are the Dodge Charger Pursuit; the Ford Taurus Interceptor; the Chevrolet Caprice PPV; and the Horton Terrastar ambulance.

The entire current fleet of junkers will be taken out of
service after the new units arrive in 3-4 months.  (WDIV-TV photo)

Reuters reports further:

"This is an unprecedented collaboration between the business community and the mayor's office," said Bing at a press conference with business leaders and public safety officials.

The effort to fund the ambulances and police cruisers was led by Roger Penske, chief executive of Penske Automotive Group Inc, who appeared with Bing at a press conference. The companies donated money to a tax-exempt nonprofit that will in turn lease the vehicles to the city, and well as pay for their upkeep.

Bing said the city's current fleet of 23 ambulances is aging and prone to mechanical failures. Some have 250,000 to 300,000 miles on them and of the 23, four or five are out of service on any given day. City officials have said that over the past three months as few as 10 to 14 ambulances are available at times for the city of 700,000 people and 143 square miles.

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Posted by on March 25, 2013 • Filed under: ambulances, EMS Topics, Funding & Staffing • Tagged: , , ,

Detroit EMS can only get 50% of its crews on the road. Promised ambulances from two years ago never purchased.

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A continuing cycle of dysfunction

For the third time in the past decade, Detroit EMS is at a crisis point with a worn-out fleet of ambulances. Only 10 of the budgeted 19 ambulances are on the street.

This latest crisis, as unfolded in the media:

When Commissioner Donald Austin arrived in July 2011 the headline read:  “More Ambulances, More Training, Less Fear” New Detroit Fire Commissioner Donald Austin reaches out to medical community, says 22 new transport units will start arriving in January. Not writing up guys for minor uniform infractions

In a September 28, 2011 article, WJBK Fox 2 determined that the city had not ordered the ambulances: Detroit Hasn't Ordered Promised Ambulances  The mayor's office responded with this statement:

"The city continues to work to obtain the necessary funds to secure the new rigs. The specifications for the vehicles are complete. The bidding process is complete. We have been in conversation with a number of lending institutions, who have expressed an interest in supporting this effort. However, none have yet made the final commitment to allow the purchase to move forward. We are optimistic that one of our lending institutions will soon step up to allow us to complete the deal and improve our EMS fleet."

When Charles LeDuff did a follow-up, one year after he highlighted the problems of  Detroit EMS, he raised a question if the ambulances were ordered in this December 2011 article:

One Year Later: Detroit's EMS System Still in Need of a Cure: MyFoxDETROIT.com

Last night WDIV/NBC4 reported that the city has been operating with as few as 10 ambulances in the past five days:

Detroit EMS reportedly short on units

The ambulances have 175,000 to 200,000 miles. The Fire Commissioner is still looking for funding to purchase replacement units.

Groundhog Day

Bill "Firegeezer" Schumm did an August 24, 2010 post: "A Rotating Cycle of Hopeleness …" that provided a bleak picture of Detroit EMS.

At that time the city was staffing 22 units but only getting 14 to 16 on the street. Within the fleet of 45 ambulances, 31 were out-of-service for mechanical reasons. Little evidence any repair or maintenance work was being done.

What is different in 2013

City is contracting with private ambulance companies to handle the less urgent requests.

Local business donated and installed GPS tracking.

The warehouse has toilet paper and blankets from earlier high-profile events that generated citizen donations.

And a donated 1983 aerial tower that has been warehoused for over a year and never deployed.

Mike "Fossilmedic" Ward

This morning:

Scott Ziegler

Last night while you slept, squad 4 rescued 2 kids from a burning house and transported them with the fire truck to the ER doing CPR en route….because there were no EMS rigs available…no EMS rigs available.

 

Posted by on January 29, 2013 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Urban Commander • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Detroit EMS: One Year Later

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Charlie LeDuff posts an update

One Year Later: Detroit's EMS System Still in Need of a Cure: MyFoxDETROIT.com

DETROIT (WJBK) – It's a story we've been covering for more than a year — FOX 2 taking a closer look at the way Detroit manages its ambulance service. What we uncovered was a deadly system on the verge of collapse.

Posted December 20, 2011

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Earlier posts:

July 02, 2011: “More Ambulances, More Training, Less Fear” New Detroit Fire Commissioner Donald Austin reaches out to medical community, says 22 new transport units will start arriving in January. Not writing up guys for minor uniform infractions

Yesterday's report raises questions if the ambulances have been ordered.

Posted by on December 21, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Fire Rescue Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Patient Management, Technology & Communications, Urban Commander, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

“More Ambulances, More Training, Less Fear” New Detroit Fire Commissioner Donald Austin reaches out to medical community, says 22 new transport units will start arriving in January. Not writing up guys for minor uniform infractions

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Quiet Enthusiasm

Detroit EMS: Don Austin Makes Real Progress on a Real Problem: MyFoxDETROIT.com

One month on the job.

Fingers crossed for Detroit native and retired LAFD chief Donald Austin.

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Posted by on July 2, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Urban Commander, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , , , , , ,

UPDATED Six shot 2 am Sunday. All 17 staffed Detroit ambulances on other calls. Five ambulances unstaffed. Police transport.

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WDIV Channel 4 got the "no ambulance available" aspect of this story.

6 Shot In Detroit, No Ambulances Available Victims Drove To Police Precinct

Six teenagers in a sedan were fired upon. WDIV states that when the victims called 911, were told no ambulances were available.

Clip 1

Shooting victims get to 12th Precinct Station (formerly Western District).

Police call for EMS, still no units available. Transports made by police cruiser.  One of the six has died.

Wisam R. Zeineh, President of the Detroit Emergency Medical Services Association, is interviewed by Channel 4.

Clip 2

Zeineh points out that all 17 staffed ambulances were on other incidents Sunday morning.

States that the city is authorized to staff 22 ALS units, but five units were unstaffed.

Not sure how many of the 17 staffed ambulances were downgraded to EMT ambulances.

Also note the repositioning of the single-role ems providers group from labor to advocacy group.

UPDATED: Fox 5 video

No Ambulance Available for Shooting Victims 1 dead, 5 injured; no arrests

Wonder why there was no fire company first responder assistance sent to the police station? The fire department staffs six squad companies that have made critical transports in earlier incidents. (see John's response)

Mike "FossilMedic" Ward

Posted by on April 11, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, EMS Topics, Funding & Staffing, labor, Major Incidents, Mass Casualty Incident, News, Patient Management, Urban Commander, Vehicle Operation & Ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Overloaded system delays ambulance response, dispatcher instructions result in blocked airway, ambulance crew terminated … another day in Detroit EMS

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While this is just one side of a story ….

Andrea Isom, reporting for WJBK Fox2, reports on the outcome of an internal investigation by the Detroit Fire Department after a December 18th incident where it took 25 minutes for the ambulance to arrive:

December 20: Suburbanite Gordon Mickey Dies after Seizure, Detroit EMS Tardy

“I waited, I guess, five minutes or so, and I said, ‘They should be here now,’” said Jacquese Hall, a friend of the deceased. “I called again because I’m frantic to see this happening right before my eyes.”

She called again. She got no ambulance, but she got this peach from the dispatcher.

“She said, ‘Get a teaspoon of sugar and put it under his tongue,’” Hall said.

December 23: Detroit Paramedics Punished: Is It the Wrong Move?

So what did the fire department do in this case? They put the paramedics on desk duty at reduced pay while they investigate.

Photo/D.Taylor-Bonds from http://tiny.cc/5i1zg

FOX 2′s Charlie LeDuff talked to one of the disciplined paramedics — Michael O’Neill.

January 26: Two Detroit EMS Workers Terminated

“I started doing compressions. My partner went to the head, to drop down to her knees, went to put the ET tube in and that’s when we found all of the crystallized sugar in his mouth. I took out of there with a suction machine an inch and a half, almost two,” he added.

Now, he said it was a 911 operator who told an elderly woman that was at the home with the patient to put orange juice and sugar inside of his mouth to help with what she thought were complications with his diabetes.

“That changed the ballgame for us, for everything, because now we’ve got to stop, get that sugar out before we can put any kind of breathing tube down that man’s throat,” said O’Neill.

….

A source with the city said O’Neill and his partner were not fired because of any media attention or for going to City Council to complain about their EMS concerns. We were told they were terminated because there’s evidence that they were not doing their jobs the way they should.

We do not have all of the information.

I am guessing that the sugar was administered 10 to 15 minutes before the ambulance arrived. Isom reports that O’Neill is getting a lawyer and looking for another job.

… it appears the wrong guys are getting punished.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on January 28, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, Command & Leadership, EMS Topics, Funding & Staffing, News, Patient Management, Urban Commander • Tagged: , , , , , ,

Detroit Ambulance Bursts Into Fire With Patient Inside

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Motor City EMS is Literally on the Brink of Collapse

ON WEDNESDAY MORNING A DETROIT FD AMBULANCE suddenly started burning in the engine compartment.  Between the slow response of the first unit and the even longer wait for the replacement ambulance to complete the transfer, it was more than an hour before the patient arrived at the hospital after calling for help.

WJBK-TV’s bulldog reporter Charlie LeDuff was right on the story, as always, and shows why the city has a long way to go before things get better in the Fire Department and the EMS Division.  While the city is “conducting a nationwide search” for a new fire commissioner, the mayor has laughingly appointed the head of the Apparatus Division Fred Wheeler to act as interim Deputy Commissioner.  According to the DFD website, the Apparatus Division is charged with:  The primary objective of this division is to provide a supply of safe, fully operational fire apparatus, functional tools, equipment, and supplies.  Chief Wheeler has openly expressed a desire to be appointed to the Commissioner’s job.

When LeDuff attempted to ask the acting commissioner  about the ambulance fire
and related maintenance problems, Wheeler ran off saying that he “ain’t got time
for this.”  See the complete sequence in the video below.  (WJBK-TV image)

View the entire video report on the ambulance fire and the subsequent self-destruction of Wheeler’s dream to be a chief here:

 

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Posted by on January 15, 2011 • Filed under: Administration & Leadership, ambulances, Videos • Tagged: , ,

Detroit EMS Update

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THE RECENT FLAP ABOUT THE CITY OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN, failing to keep enough ambulances in service to handle calls still has city officials befuddled.  (see the August 24 Firegeezer report HERE.)  Television station WJBK-TV has been almost alone in reporting on the sorry state of EMS in the Motor City and the other day they were granted an interview with the Fire Commssioner, James Mack.

Yesterday (Monday) they broadcast their report on the interview which didn’t turn out to have much new to report:

There were two things that I particularly noticed.  First, the chief tells that “The mayor signed off last week for me to hire 20 additional medics,” and secondly that “the rules have to change,” including having “other agencies” respond to calls that aren’t life threatening.

Taking the second item first, I think that to wish for “other agencies” to start doing your work for you isn’t a viable solution for obvious reasons.  The tv station’s interview was heavily edited down, but I like to think that if the chief had anything of more substance than that to say, it would have made it to the final cut and been included in the broadcast.  His rambling on about all of his relatives who live in the city is completely irrelevant to the topic and nothing more than an attempt to say something to fill the time with.

His first statement that the mayor has given him the ok to hire more medics sounds nice, but isn’t the major part of the problem the fact that over half of the ambulance fleet is sitting in the garage awaiting repairs on any given day?  Wouldn’t it have been more effective to hire more mechanics, too?  Maybe they did and he just didn’t mention it.

Commissioner Mack seems to be a sincere and truly dedicated chief.  But he could use some help in finding solutions to his problems.  It’s understood that the city council is heavily corrupted and squanders large sums on patronage and questionable expenditures.  The fault lies in front of many doors.

Says Firegeezer.

Posted by on August 31, 2010 • Filed under: ambulances, commentary, EMS Topics, Videos • Tagged: , ,

“No Ambulance Available” for Injured Detroit Firefighters

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Darlena Taylor-Bonds, writing in Detroit Examiner (HERE) provides a disturbing factoid about the building collapse that injured eight firefighters, four critically.

8 Detroit Firemen injured, No EMS units available

Some current workers continue to complaint about responding to runs that were more than 3-4 hours holding. As the workers dreaded the day that someone would call and no units would be available, today was the day.

Eight Detroit firemen were injured on Detroit’s Eastside while fighting a multiple alarm fire. Some of the injured firemen had to transported by the police department, because there weren’t any available EMS units.

Photo/D.Taylor-Bonds from http://tiny.cc/5i1zg

Taylor-Bonds covered the state of Detroit EMS in a June 28th column (here).

Friday’s headline, while dramatic, was not completely accurate.

Taylor-Bonds provided a link to a Radio@Firehouse.com recording of the incident.

You can hear Chief 6 report the building collapse, request for a second alarm, and update the status of injured firefighters HERE.

Quick Transport Noted

The compressed audio recording from Radio@Firehouse.com, while not providing a detailed time-line, gives us an idea of what happened on the EMS side of the incident.

  • Chief 6 calls for EMS units and reports collapse of building
  • Chief 6 calls for second alarm
  • 0748:  Second alarm dispatched
  • Squad 6 (suppression company) reports transporting two firefighters to St. John.
  • Chief 6 asks for ETA of EMS  (… 2 minutes)
  • Chief 6 reports EMS on the scene.  EMS transporting 2, Traffic Enforcement (police) transporting 1, Squad 6 transporting.
  • Squad 3 (suppression company) reports one minute ETA if needed for transport.
  • Unit 200 assuming incident command.
  • 0800: Radio time check

Detroit Squad 6 from Alan Simmons Fire Videos http://tiny.cc/3agba

It appears that the injured firefighters that were not trapped were enroute to the hospital within 10 to 12 minutes of the collapse.

Three of the five were transported in fire trucks or police cars.

I can think of better-resourced departments where rapid, but non-traditional, transports would probably occur given the same incident.

The inaccurate headline does NOT diminish the issue of the dramatically under-resourced fire-based EMS service in Detroit.  Better resources would mean all injured firefighters get paramedic-level treatment and transport.

Or ignore the critical shortages and crushing workload on Detroit firefighters.

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Posted by on August 15, 2010 • Filed under: EMS Topics, Firefighter Safety & Health, Firefighting Operations, Funding & Staffing, News, Urban Commander • Tagged: , ,