slow ambulance service today
 

cardiac arrest at rohan today during morning pickleball league. someone called 911 and it took 30 minutes for ambulance to arrive. Did not seem to be in any hurry. Gentleman still in ICU. if it had not been for people on court giving cpr probably a different sad story. This was my second experience with pickleball player going down on courts and slow ambulance service. Medical personel when asked to hurry said "we don't hurry for anyone." Dont get hurt in villages.

Bravo to fellow pickleballers!!!
 

My husband was there too and said if it weren't for those performing CPR this gentleman would not be alive. Bravo for the quick response of fellow pickleballers. My husband also said that the ambulance was slow as well. It would be interesting to hear why it took so long with the ambulance station probably not more than 3-4 miles away on Morse/Moyer Loop. So happy to hear that this man is recovering.

That is totally unacceptable. I would expect a better response even in my crowded, congested hometown. But here in The Villages, they should perform much better. I hope someone in his family lodges a complaint.

Aren't medical units at the fire stations? The station at Sarasota Driving Range can't be more than 2 miles. If they were busy, how about the station on Buena Vista below the water tower? Seems if you cut across Hillsborough and turn right on Morse your almost there. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes. Seems someone at Rohan should follow up with some kind of inquiry.

That is not an Ambulance Station. It is a Fire Station. No ambulance is stationed there. The Fire Dept. and the Ambulance are two different entities that work together. The Village Fire Dept. should have been dispatched as well as an ambulance. Rohan Rec. Center is in Sumter Co. which is covered by Rural Metro Ambulance. A private / for profit company I believe.

If the Fire Dept. took half an hour, I would ask the Fire Chief what the problem was. If it was Rural Metro that was slow I would ask my County Rep. or County Manager why. They are the ones that are responsible for them being here. :)

I hope there was no delay in calling 911. Sometimes people think someone else called. I would think there is an AED at Rohan Rec. and I also hope someone went for it. And last, in a bad situation 3 minutes can seem like 30.... I've been there. Hope all turns out well. :pray:

A first responder said "We don't hurry for anybody"?

Unfortunately, I had the same experience about 6 months ago. A neighbor fell on his hip, turnout to be fractured. Took the EMS nearly 30 minutes to respond. I have to mention, they did a great job when they arrived but 30 minutes?????

Need to consider where was the ambulance coming from. They are not always that close to where you are. Sumter is a big county and also the fact of navigating through the villages and the traffic circles. That all slows them down.

I'm in Marion. They were close by. No excuse.

:agree:

If someone could prove who said " We do not hurry for anyone " that person should be reported to the proper people. This is not the right attitude to be working at TV.

I am not sure if the fire station at Morse and Moyer Loop has an EMS vehicle and team (I know they have fire engines which always seem to be sent with EMS), but, I do know the fire station on Buena Vista, across from the Eisenhower Rec Center does and that is no more than 10 minutes away.

When our village was brand new we had an emergency during a gathering at our postal station and it took the responders quite a long time to get to the women who fainted. It turns out that new folks calling for them and not knowing exactly WHERE they were, being new, were guiding them incorrectly and our street wasn't in the system yet.

But to hear anyone who works as a first responder say anything so controversial and contrary and uncaring is beyond belief.
I am hoping it was misunderstood.

10 minutes IS NOT an acceptable response time for a paid/professional fire dept.

:shrug: I don't know about private/for profit ambulance services.

Village Community Development Districts :read:

Post 14 answers your question also.

In many localities, 911 calls are monitored and the recordings are saved. If that statement was made, and it was my loved one that was involved, I would be voicing my concern with the authorities who govern the 911 service.

All a bunch of speculation.
If OP or somebody that was there with first hand knowledge, would contact the Villages Fire Chief (as a starting point) to get some factual information as to why the call took 30 minutes. He should be able to provide contacts for the ambulance service.
The point being is this an isolated incident or a pattern.

Half hour of CPR is grueling. Do the rec centers have an AED? Surprised the 911 did not put first responders in effect. A ambulance is the second to arrive.

When we first bought our house in Pennacamp there were only three people living in our neighborhood as it was still being built. The only other person there had fallen and fractured his hip. I had OnStar press the button and ask for a first responder. Told OnStar I was in the middle of a brand-new subdivision my fear was no one would find us. Before I finished my conversation I could hear the sirens, first responders were there in less than two minutes. I am hoping as we have grown so large that this is not a norm for us not to have a fast response. So glad there are people who could continue to do CPR for that length of time. My question is were they still doing CPR when help arrived? Even the fire station 10 minutes away could have taken over CPR.

This is definitely where "facts and data" may help the discussion. 911 services (public or private) maintain records of calls. I think the OP'r should contact the appropriate entity for assistance and time-stamps.

As a first-responder, it feels like forever before support arrives.

I had to be transported by ambulance from our home. We live in Amelia and it seemed to take awhile for them to come. We asked and I think they said they came from down by Brownwood. They said it depends on what's happening with the others, who may be responding to other calls. In 2015...we had to go to the ER and there were 7 or 8 ambulances stacked up in their driveway. I don't think it's an intentional thing that happens but it's scarey nonetheless when it's happening to you or a loved one. All the more reason to know CPR....and a good thing this person had folks who knew it.

I am still confused the ambulance is not your first responder. It is your transporter to whatever facility you need to go to. I understand the ambulance took a half an hour but how long did it take for first responders to arrive. That's the person I want to see take over from when I'm doing CPR.

I will relate my experience of an accident earlier this year at a local Rec Center and the response we got. Very Similar to what just happened.

If this accident occured on the pickelball courts most likely the calls to 911 were via CELL phone. Based on My experience, here is what happens...especially on the west side of The Villages. A 911 call is made and being Rohan it most likely was connected to a Lake County Emergency Center. The first question 911 operator asks is what county are you in ..OK Sumter. The call is then transferred to Sumter county and they ask your location...You tell them Rohan Rec Center in The Villages...but they want an ADDRESS....you dont have it....its Rohan Rec Center. The 911 center then puts a call out to find an available ambulance team...it may or may not be one close to the Rohan Center.....AND the ambulance may or may not be staffed by EMS personnel familiar with the Villages for it could have been staffed by any EMS team (from 30 miles away) that was filling in The Villages area but they would not necessarily be familar with our landmarks. The other thing that happens is when the CELL call was transferred to Sumter County EMS, the location data was not provided since their was no PHYSICAL ADDRESS provided...only Rohan Rec Center. What happens then is that the EMS ambulance team tries to coordinate the call from cell towers......THIS IS REALLY HOW IT WORKS...In our case, when we needed an ambulance the ambulance went to the caroline rec center...there is no caroline rec center (it was the ____ rec center in Caroline. The ambulance then went to Canal street Rec Ctr ..not only the ambulance but fire truck and police but OPPS Wrong one....finally 18 minutes later they finally showed up where they should have come initially with no sirens, no sense of urgency....just as you described. Money this is what happened in this case.

I spoke with Captain Ed Cain (located on Morse Blvd just south of 466A) who is the coordinator for the villages with the Sumter ambulance service. I met with Cpt Cain and he was very gracious..took my information and got back to me relating the facts as they were reported internally.....and believe me many of them were not accurate. BUt he did emphasize the problems with 911 CELL calls the system is far from perfect especially when not calling from your residence or from a known address .

I would contact Captain Cain, relate this story, and he will do a personal check of the facts.

This Problem really needs to be addressed ...especially critical if something happens say on a golf course!

:agree:

Edmund A. Cain, Fire Chief
edmund.cain@districtgov.org

Jeff Day, Deputy Fire Chief
jeff.day@districtgov.org

Capt. Dan Hickey, Sr., EMT
Fire Marshal
dan.hickey@districtgov.org

Capt. Roberto Gonzalez, EMT-P
Captain – Training
Roberto.Gonzalez@districtgov.org

Capt. Misty Morningstar-Twiss, EMT-P
Captain - Administrative Operations
Misty.Morningstar@districtgov.org

I was at MVP Brownwood this morning and the yoga teacher related that they had to do CPR on a man yesterday for 20 minutes before first responders arrived. She said that they were involved in another call. Everything worked out and the man is alive but 20 minutes had to seem like an eternity to the MVP employees.

If there were a statutory response criteria, they would have to modify it for The Villages where many operators of automobiles show no proclivity to clear out of the way of emergency vehicles.

I can't recall where I read it now (maybe someone can help?), but I distinctly remember instructions that if you're on a golf course and have an emergency...you were to call 911 and give them the name of the course and the hole # you were on.

If that's the case where the local first responders have hole #'s of specific courses already identified/mapped out, it's hard to imagine why it took so much time to get to a rec center. :ohdear:



ON EDIT: Here's where I found it. It's in the 'Good Golf Guide (page 12 of the PDF).

http://www.golfthevillages.com/golf-...dGolfGuide.pdf

I agree Call Captain Cain as I did for the incident I was involved in. He will get the facts as reported and get back to you.

I can tell you based on my first hand experience, if you make a cell call to 911 and you are at a location where you do not have a physical address (say a Rec Center, a parking lot, resturant, or golf course), the first responders response is very likely to be delayed. Many many variabes enter the picture when one uses a cell phone and many of the safeguards we expect to be there such as location identifier, local landmarks, rec center names etc, do not always transfer to the ultimate dispatcher or the responding EMT unit.

Captain Cain will be happy to meet with your local community groups to explain the limitations of using a Cell phone when calling for Emergency assistance. He will also explain how they try and overcome these limitations but they are not always successful

Do you know why after calling 911 they want you to call the country club....its because the country club will then make a landline call to 911 as backup to your cell call....and to provide a clearer direction as to exactly where the incident has occured and how the EMTs can get there.

Looking for EMS response times, I searched the districtgov.org web site. In the public safety department’s information under annual reports, the most current information they have is for 2013. In 2013, the Villages safety department seemed to imply that they handled EMS runs. “Emergency medical services is an integral part of the Department’s operation both internally and externally. Nearly 63% of our emergency calls are for medical services – that’s almost 26 calls per day” . I could not find any reference to response times.

So, they are there first to await a private company to transport the patient?

:read: The link is in post #14 from Monday.

I would bet the Rec Center has an AED machine, as most rec centers and public buildings here do.

I'm sure the sport pool at the rec center has an Emergency Phone that's a land line, near the pool equipment room and locker room doors. I'd keep that in mind and call from that phone first, or in addition to cellular call to 911.

I hope from seeing these reports, that residents too cheap to contribute a few bucks a year--to their neighborhood, volunteer AED equipment, responder training and dispatch costs--wake up and see that the fire department amubulances could be out on other calls already. This is why the dozens of effective neighborhood AED groups have been formed, and why the survival rate here in TV is much higher than anywhere else!

They had to shock him twice with the AED. That is what saved his life.

Who used the AED on him?

The paramedics, or a person present who got one from the rec center?

I'm glad he was saved.

I have called 911 once and two different units arrived in less than 5 or 6 minutes. I was still on the phone with 911 when the first unit arrived. 30 minutes is too long when you are in an emergency situation but let's not forget that our emergency people get an extrodararie amount of calls due to the age of our population. .

TVPSD RESPONDS IMMEDIATELY with a rescue crew involving paramedics/professional first responders. Their avg response time is about 6 minutes. A private ambulance company responds to transport the patient after TVPSD has stabilized.


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slow ambulance service today
 

This an inappropriate and inadequate explanation of the event. The process here in TV is that paramedics/professional first responders from TVPSD respond in a rescue truck (typically) or fire engine within an average of 6 minutes. These are the folks you want there ASAP. They will treat and stabilize - which can take awhile. The ambulance arrives secondarily to transport the patient.

The comment about "don't get hurt in villages" is bologna. If you drop from a cardiac arrest, the national recovery average is about 5%. In TV it is greater than 45% because of the number of residents trained in CPR/AED and TVPSD. The initial responders in the Rohan situation made a lifesaving difference. God bless them.

The immediate response by TVPSD, within 6 minutes, with the necessary drugs and treatment, made all the difference in the world.

If you don't know what you are talking about please don't make comments about things that you don't understand. Initial responders and the TVPSD response were timely and appropriate. We are very fortunate to have such a well organized, trained, and professional group here if we need them.

My comments are based on my knowledge of the system and discussion with TVPSD leaders today.




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Bogie - you are completely accurate. Unfortunately the OP has no idea of the process here, I do. And I spoke with TVPSD leaders today. I have addressed that in the post before this one.


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For those wondering how the individual is doing, I'm going to copy a portion of an email he sent on the 21st:

" I suffered a cardiac event on Monday 9-19 down at Rohan Rec Center. I passed out from being in v-tach. The group I was with started CPR and hooked me up to the AED that shocked me and then the medics arrived. I am going home tomorrow."

Great news that he is doing well - thanks to CPR/AED trained Villagers, and our very professional first responders from TVPSD. I pray for his continuing improvement.

If YOU have not been trained in CPR/AED, please consider it. You can make a difference. Classes are offered by TVPSD and CERT on a regular basis.


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Thanks for the great post. I agree with the underlined.
You talked to the right people, got the facts and shared on TOTV.