This seemingly mundane news item is creating a stir among the Fire Department . . .
The South Platte Fire Department has taken on a new ambulance service. The department announced plans to end its contract with the Kansas City Fire Department last week. It has decided to go with American Medical Response.
In March of this year . . . KICK-ASS TKC TIPSTERS provided some background on the Northland frustration over response times that finally took an unprecedented step:
Background: TKC BREAKING AND EXCLUSIVE NEWS!!! SMOKEY DYER'S KCFD ADMINISTRATION NOW UNDER FIRE FOR SOUTH PLATTE COUNTY AMBULANCE RESPONSE TIMES!!!
Money quote from the report: "South Platte officials said they were not satisfied with KCFD's reponse time - and that AMR is cheaper."
In the aftermath of MAST consolidation . . . Kansas City still hasn't come to terms with the response time issue that now has objective folks with a choice bailing out of our local system.
DEVELOPING . . .
Have they found a new chief yet?
ReplyDeleteHas the State of Missouri decided to take some action in response to the letter of deep concern and complaint from the ER doctors regarding the acutely diminished medical treatment emergency patients receive from KCFD EMT?
ReplyDeleteHeck even worse Twitter had a major outage this morning. It was awful, for 15 minutes I couldn't force my agenda on people. Never again!
ReplyDeleteFuck south platte. Amr is cheaper cause they pay their people shit, and their patient care is horrible. All this means is that there will be one more ambulance to respond to kansas city emergencies.
ReplyDeleteAlso AMR doesn't have the equipment KCFD does. sourh Platte is a joke.
DeleteNo biggie. What's another $800,000+ of lost revenue to the Fire Department? I wonder what would happen to any other city department head that lost nearly a million dollar contract? Good work Smokey.
ReplyDeleteWow, what insight 1:57: higher pay=better service and quality? Clearly your economic foundations are unmatched. South Platte fired KCFD because of their poor patient care. Your answer is to pay the failing KCFD more to get better results? Did you conceive this plan while playing XBox for last 6 straight hours of your shift at the fire house?
ReplyDeleteRe-read their post, they said amr = horrible patient care.
DeleteKCFD was fired for poor response times, i.e. horrible patient care - AMR was given the contract based upon better service and lower cost
DeletePoor response times do not equal poor patient care. Poor response times means it takes to long to get way the hell out into south plattes district. Big difference
DeleteCan KCMO fire the KCFD?
ReplyDeleteHow about you take a look at the customer satisfaction survey for as far back as you care to look. KCFD overwhelmingly take the top spot year after year. The people who matter....the citizens of KCMO love their fire dept. Can't twist those numbers. That's all I have to say about that....I'M OUT BITCHES!!!!
ReplyDeleteDem der things is emerguncy vehicles!? Shoooot all dis time I been usin as a taxi and puttin it on my missoouriri......mastercard.
ReplyDeleteNever used to see an ambulance parked at price chopper before the fire dept took over. Now they just replace a fire truck on their daily shift clogging up the fire lane in front of the store.
ReplyDeleteCustomer satisfaction? no way.
ReplyDeleteKCFD will still be running calls in South Platte because AMR will be calling them for help every 5min just like they do in Independence. AMR is more concerned with running hospital transfers that guarantee payment than the emeregency calls that may not pay that they are contracted to run.
ReplyDeleteSouth Platte is ridiculous. They are one of the wealthiest areas in the Metro and yet they pay for the cheapest services they can find. KCFD offered them more ambulance coverage to run their calls and they refused because they didn't want to pay for it. They only wanted to pay for one ambulance. Go figure that one ambulance cannot handle the burden of a population that size spread out over a large area. Now they are going to pay less money for AMR who can't even run their own calls in Independence and calls KCFD at least 5 times a day. South Platte needs to get a clue and put an ambulance in all three of fire stations. Then they will have adequate coverage their citizens can be proud of and know is there for ever emergency.
ReplyDeleteSouth Platte has been full of crap for years. They bitched and moaned about Mast as well. The only time they were happy was when Mast was providing them coverage at the expense of KC taxpayers. As soon as the council said it was time to pay up they started whining and trying to get the most bottom dollar they could. They have enough money they could start their own ambulance.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy those pay raises KCFD.
ReplyDeleteMaybe buy a steak tonight with an expensive bottle of wine to toast the ripoff you've pulled on KC Taxpayers.
Too bad the rest of KCMO can't fire KCFD also!
ReplyDeleteLets face it, the Funk and his cohorts down at the FD just screwed things up. Just know that the Fire Department is run by the same city that has its famous Sleep on the Job Water Department.
ReplyDelete452 get over it. What's done is done. We can all just keep rehashing the same shit or move on. Besides, they are anyways.
ReplyDelete1:57 you are right AMR does pay their people shit, KCFD in comparison get paid the bank, one would think if you got paid more you would do a better job....apparently not and South Plate fired you losers because your department sucks!!!
ReplyDeleteMan I'm so bummed out some internet troll said our fire department sucks... that hurts so much. I think I'm going to quit and move to johnson county where the real firemen work :(
DeleteMan, I make almost 21 bucks an hour as an AMR employee.
Delete2:49 - wearing your pants down to your knees was never in style,anyway on another note moron we would love to see those numbers, and no, not the fake ones, but the real ones...and the people of Kansas city dont "love" KCFD they love the idea of a fire department that is respectable unlike yourself....."bitch"
ReplyDeleteHeard Capitol Grill is having a fire fighter appreciation night and the tax payers are treating. Enjoy...ya bringing your wife? or leaving her at home and taking your mistress? Whats his name again?
ReplyDeleteHearing the firefighters on these comments try to rationalize their shitty performance and extortion mentality. Platte did the right thing after Smokey the Pig told them if they want better response times they'd have to pay more money. KCFD continues to suck.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm....has AMR been running in south platte? How do we know you provide better service?
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you firemen go wash your truck again and get offa here.
ReplyDelete7:33 wash their truck? that's a great idea, it gets real dirty when on a run to the grocery store or cruising the streets for tail.
ReplyDeleteThey will wash their truck, I have seen it...the fire truck is in the driveway and their personal truck is in the bay....getting washed.
I have an idea...let's fire all the old mast folks, and contract with amr for our 911 response too! Most of the KCFD folks are deadbeats that hate their jobs and bash the fire side. So let's fire them all and contract with amr. Sell all the ambulances and that big building on eastwood. That would save a couple million right there. Then sly can buy his toy train! What do people think??
ReplyDeleteYou took over ems in order to make it seem as though you run enough calls to justify your workforce.....not sure dropping your responses by way more than half would benefit you on the fire side.
ReplyDeleteCuts by politicians are not the Firefighters fault
ReplyDelete8:20 you are a MORON, most of the Mast folks have already left, And as far as AMR goes they have provided better service than KCFD ever did before the merger,Thats why South plate has employed them after the taste of failure from KCFD!!! If Mast was still here south plate would not have had to rub shame in your KCFD face! Mast is gone and South Plate is no longer needing KCFD's worthless service. You KCFD fuckers suck!!! Thats why we in Plate County got rid of you morons.
ReplyDeleteWow...you live in plate county huh? Who's the moron?
DeleteI like the cut of his jowls. Smokey reminds me of Ned Beatty getting manraped in his tighty whiteys.
ReplyDelete11:17. I am an emergency room nurse. Your comment "most of the Mast folks have already left" is completely false. I see many of the same faces that I have for years.
ReplyDelete@1117 you are even a bigger idiot than 820. Most of the Mast people have not left. They are still there. Mast always lost about 10 people a year which has continued with KCFD. Just so you know AMR is the worst service in the Metro. Every single one of their employees tries to leave when ever another department is hiring. A great deal of their employees just put in apps for medic openings at KCFD. If they are so great why is Independence constantly threatening them with putting their city out for bid? Why are they constantly calling KCFD ambulances to pick up the slack in Independence?
ReplyDeleteOver 30 medics left KCFD in 2012. Not sure how many emts have left.
ReplyDelete1:10. I'm calling out your bullshit. Same with 11:17.
ReplyDeleteBig bad fireman, you are so used to the lies from Louie and Smokey, you wouldn't know the truth if it bit you in your little peepee.
ReplyDelete1:41. Who's "Louie"?
ReplyDeleteYou people are so ignorant. You think just because you read something on TKC or in the star that you know everything about a situation. The media sucks and 99% of the time only present a small fraction of the information and guesstimate the rest. None of you has a clue.
ReplyDelete12:26 Wrong. AMR WAS the worst service in the metro. KCFD now holds that title. South Platte dumped KC and went with AMR because KCFD service is shit!
ReplyDelete836. Wrong. AMR still sucks thats why all their employees are trying to get on with KCFD. My guess is you're one of the worthless old Mast employees that can't let go of the fact that Mast is gone so you give shit care to your patients.
ReplyDelete@836 How is KCFD service shit? It's all the same medics and emts Mast had. KCFD just doesn't cook the books like Mast did when it came to response times.
ReplyDeleteKCFD EMS sucks, that why their code saves are among the nations best (better than MAST or AMR), why every measure of their patient outcomes is as good as MASTS's (and better than AMR) and why their's a list of people trying to get hired there from places like AMR, MAST, South Platte, etc.
ReplyDeleteKCFD Fire sucks, too, which is why they have a nationwide reputation for agressive interior attacks on fires, high fire volume relative to population and age of the city's built environment, and an excellent work environment with knowledgeable and hard-working firefighter's who answer the calls when they come in, provide great Fire protection, EMS response and handle a host of other emergency and non-emergency calls when required.
You know who doesn't do such a great job living up to the standards of their profession in this city? Our "journalists" and all you office monkeys toggling back and forth between facebook and TKC while you're at work...
Has the state of Missouri looked into the acutely diminished state of ER service at KC area hospitals where doctors are spending their time evaluating EMS providers that they rarely interact with based upon no actual scientific data or evidence -- you know, the supposed foundation of modern medicine-- but instead relying on hearsay, nurse's gossip (in between flirt sessions and sex-jokes), and confirmation bias.
ReplyDeleteNo? Shocker. Maybe because the state doesnt waste its time and resources fighting the petty battles of disgruntled ex-MAST administrative staff who where justifiably dismissed from their positions of privilege and graft.
WOW!! Finally some intelligent posts.
ReplyDelete12:29 Oh I guess you haven't seen the stats. Of COURSE you haven't because fire admin is hiding the numbers! MAST cardiac save rate was 43%. KCFD took over and it dropped to 14%.
ReplyDeleteProof will be in the puddin' come 10/01/2012.....
ReplyDelete2:32. As an ER nurse of 18 years and counting in the Kansas City area, your claim of a 43% "save rate" of cardiac arrest patients is a COMPLETE LIE.
ReplyDeleteWho gives a shit. What south Platte does theyre not even a real fd, half of them want to be kcfd. Hit it hard from the yard keep up the good work boys,lol
ReplyDeleteFor those who think AMR is so great most of their EMTS & medics either already work for another Fire Dept full time, work for another Ambulance Service full time, brand new out of school (trying to get a job & some experience) or CANT GET HIRED ANYWHERE ELSE! Those are the FACTS! Theres a reason why Independence has hired Fire/Medics in the last few academies. Id bet Independence Fire/EMS will be coming at some point but AMR is so cheap it may not. I know we just hired a couple old MAST (KCFD) medics. I know for damn sure if they bring this shit attitude over here they might as well start packing their bags & filling out other job applications. Old MAST employees are NOT Gods Grace to EMS so if they have that attitude, thatll be changed. I can guarantee most negative comments are coming from bitter MAST employees. They miss sitting in Quik Trips parking lots feeling their seat get smaller and their ass getting bigger. KC FIRE you do a great job! We know it here and so does other people who have a CLUE about the Fire Service, not only nationwide but worldwide. Keep Fighting Brothers. Stay Safe. Yours truly from the other side of the River.
ReplyDelete