Fort Worth Fire Department to take over MedStar ambulance services

While the transition to a fire department-based EMS service will cost the city, response times are expected to decrease.
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[@burritoman5891]

Congrats on all the EMT / Paramedics with their new found benefits and pay raises! well deserved

[@sleepyjay2664]

Easier said than done. Both the rank-and-file and management have to be on-board for it to work. Ask any FDNY EMT, and they'll tell you that they are very much treated as inferiors

[@battlesqueak5838]

Detroit too

[@smorris281]

The FDNY merger was nothing less than a shotgun wedding, and they're still waiting for the divorce. It works in some cities, but not in others.

[@LaCoListener]

Well they aren’t equals…

[@garrettfitzgerald955]

No comment from front line Paramedics / EMTs ???

[@hounddog946]

Minimum wage to a fire department job.JACKPOT!

[@TRIPLEDIGITS]

Same as other cities

[@user-jc3pq6qf7g]

Why absorb Medstar into the city. I’ve seen this type of political move. Citys want to eliminate private Ambulance services. California is a good example. In some countries all paramedics are within the fire dept and only emt-basics staff ambulances. Also, Harris County replace Cypress-Creek EMS with a service within the ESD.

[@andrewhb531]

MedStar actually isn't a Private ambulance service. It was created by the city 35 years ago and received tax dollars up until about 10 years ago when MedStar stopped taking the monies. But agencies like AMR are definitely being replied by City Services.

[@buckiesilas5284]

Does the Emt, EMT-Paramedic get the chance to cross over if they would like to??

[@Glockenstein0869]

Great news!

[@keegangidley2071]

This could work for a lot of places however most fire departments want Firefighter/Paramedics, not just standalone paramedics. Not everyone wants to be a firefighter.

[@smorris281]

Most Chicago and FDNY EMS are not firefighters. Some Fire based EMS are situated where EMS and fire are separate, yet under the same umbrella, like FDNY and Chicago. They're not fully integrated, or interoperate. Then there's LA County and San Fran, where its totally the opposite.

[@nicholasmakepeace8748]

Awesome news

[@jaredreyna3773]

Now that’s a good way to spend my tax money

[@paxundpeace9970]

This is good news for EMTs and Paramedics. Private Ambulances are mostly for profit and cost patients a lot of money.

[@alexandermakrianis]

I'm kind of surprised that they are just inducting these employees into the fire department instead of doing the usual competative testing, but its a good thing. I wonder if these employees will be required to become firefighters too.

[@henrytaylor69]

Will they walk in with they're seniority in tack and with their pension and benefits.

[@HebrewJerusalemPrince777]

Medstar could be filing for bankruptcy nationwide

[@ATF1985]

Crazy it took this long for Fort Worth to do this, great move

[@SFClark]

I would imagine Med Star will be passing off all of their pension liabilities to the tax payers.

[@larry648]

It’s a private company, I doubt they had any pension, just 401k.

[@TRIPLEDIGITS]

I guess we don't vote???? On that???

[@user-ln7of9gs4s]

Do you want ambulance service? Or not? You want to vote on not having any ambulances?

[@smorris281]

Fire based EMS is simply the best. I just hope this merger goes more smoothly than the FDNY and San Fran mergers did.

[@andrewhb531]

What makes fire based the best?

[@thomaswilliams1123]

Most of the world is third service with the exception of Japan and the USA.

[@smorris281]

@@andrewhb531 More resources, cross training, usually faster response times, better training facilities, interoperability and a more unified command structure. In most cases, but there are exceptions.

[@literalantifaterrorist4673]

third service is the best, as it guarantees funding goes towards EMS and not suppression, as well as guaranteeing that you have motivated EMTs and paramedics, not firefighters who begrudgingly got assigned to the ambulance for the day. We have a system where I work where we have a county-run ambulance service and city-run FDs, who all operate under the same medical directors and SWOs. Our ambulances are 50/50 in ambulance stations and fire stations, and it's the best of both worlds. Firefighters don't have to run on ambulances, and paramedics don't have to run on fire trucks.

[@WaveGod813]

What the hell

[@user-ln7of9gs4s]

Watch the video. It was a up hill battle financially for Medstar, hence that’s why the city is taking over the only ambulance service in Fort Worth for the past 40 years.

[@LakyshiaTex-Ann]

I wonder what they have planned for the design on the ambulance's now? Did they show you guys a design concept? Could be pretty cool or end up basic like their other apparatus hahha