Response time for EMS
 

Last Saturday (330pm) at Sweet Bay in Pinellas Park,
a shopper (male) was shopping and passed out and hit his head on the floor.
My husband rushed to his aid, as I went to the front of the store to ask someone to call 911. After about 10 minutes, a police officer arrived from Wildwood then another 10 minutes The Villages fire truck, after that the firemen called for EMS. Total time 30 minutes. If anyone knows this gentlemen, please post if he recovered and his condition. Should it take that long for a emergency team to arrive?

For some strange reason when a place is brand new, they have one heck of a time getting there. We had the same experience in our new village last year when someone passed out at a block party from the heat. They went sailing by on 466, we could see them but we were too new to be in the GPS.

Usually the response time is very fast. You have to be clear when you are calling; ie.... The NEW Sweetbay ON 466A...etc.

A couple weeks ago one of our tennis players at Tierra del Sol fell on his face. We immediately called 911 and it took nearly 15 minutes. Two EMS techs arrived and treated him and then called for an ambulance which took almost another 15 minutes. I was concerned with response time.

A
 

I do hope the person who fell is okay.

Who made the call for help? Who did they call? Judging by the number of ambulances that go past my yard each day, the delay in EMT arrival might be due to all ambulances engaged. When they take someone to the hospital, don't the EMTs stay until patient is in exam room?

Traffic sometimes plays a role in ambulance speed. See cars NOT moving out of the way. During the winter that can be even more of a problem.

We were on the trolly tour recently and they said average response time was 4 minutes. I guess as the area is getting larger the response time has changed.

EMS drivers are sitting around at The Villages ER...waiting for an hour or so to get their fare admitted. Perhaps this is why it is longer than the past 4 minutes.

Depends on the situation and traffic, it might take time more than 4 minutes. I worked as a volunteer for several years as an EMSdriver and I know how difficult it could be. After a past transportation to a hospital or ER station we have to clean the car completely, doing disinfection, filling up all used materials including liquids, bottles, charging batteries for AES etc. then cleaning yourself and get ready to go. That all takes time, and, of course it was mentioned, new destinations, very often we have to go without using GPS.
That all just to understand delays which could be coming up.

Are you aware we have a sort of different rule here that makes the transporting emergency people have to stay with the person they brought until they are seen at the hospital by medical personnel. It really ties them up.

I am not sure how we can change that rule, but it would help these folks be more accessible to all of us Villagers and cut down on the response time especially when the population numbers peak in the upcoming months.

There will be many accidents during the season. PLEASE be careful.

The EM people have to stay with the patient until a physician arrives and takes over not just the patient but also the responsibility. The physician also always wants to know what was the first response and what was happen (how they found the patient, etc.).
I am not sure that this rule can be changed at all.

Waiting
 

Really StarbuckSammy?? What EMS truck do you ride on? Because I work in TVRH ER as an RN--been there since June fulltime nights with overtime shifts and not one single time that I have been working has a truck been waiting an hour or "hanging out". Most are too busy to do that--they dump and go to the next call- because that is what they do.

Busy season is coming and if more people would save EMS for emergencies and the ER for true emergencies we would decrease the wait time. I'm sorry but the "chest pain for two weeks, headache that has been there for 3 days, tooth pain, swollen leg that started last month"--see your PCP and if you are visiting--FIND AN URGENT CARE and if it is after hours and not a true emergency--then PLEASE wait until the am and see Urgent Care

Emt
 

EMTs can report off to any nurse that can take a triage for a stable person and that person can be left on a hall stretcher and the EMS can leave. EMS is dispatched at the same time as Fire--except Fire can usually respond quicker--not many calls for fire trucks, but extreme numbers for EMS. They are busy most all day every day.

I agree.

A typical response time is 5 minutes, however, that can depend on a lot of things such as traffic, travel time to and from call/hospital, if the station is out on a working call, etc. Sometimes dispatch will have to send a unit from a different station if the one for that district is out of the station, another time delay. Also, these days personnel are cross trained, so the firefighters on the truck might just be medics as well, but you will have to wait for a transport unit. But in lots of localities now firefighters are at basic an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and can get things going until the Medics get there. When it comes to emergencies, you have to hope for the best. Sometimes they are in the station just waiting for the next call and sometimes they are spread thin!

Pooh, I understand he was in the hospital for two days and was in rehab but is recovering. Someone ran over to the rec center at Tierra and the call was placed in just a couple minutes.

I don't think you want to be telling these people to self diagnois themselves. I don't think you will find an EMT/Paramedic, doctor or RN who will put themselves out on a limb like that. If a person can't get into an urgent care because it's closed for the night do you really want to accept that your wrong and the patient is in a dangerous situation? Yes, we all feel like the system is abused but negligence is something none of us want to face. By the way, the ER's here do get stacked up in the coming months and the EMS crews do have to wait long periods of time to hand off their patients.

Can someone explain to me, if an ambulance is called and used to go to TV hospital, is there a charge for this? Or is this service covered in our amenity fee?

U will be charged for the ambulance bill

All new to me...how much is an ambulance bill?

Are the times you quoted accurate?
The fire department first responders should have been on the scene in around five minutes.
They than determine whether the ems should respond fast or slow by the extent of the injuries of the patient. Than again the first police officer on the scene could have made the call for a fast or slow response. This is done because there have been too many deaths and injuries due to all out quick response by our public safety personnel on our roads.
I am a retired firefighter/paramedic.

Info I have gotten from my daughter who is a medic south of Orlando is a basic ambulance with two EMT's will probably cost between $1000-$1200. If you get a medic unit and they do any treatmeant it will go up from there. Most often this is covered in part or in whole by ur health ins. Or if an auto accident then by ur car ins.

Is there a charge here in TheVillages?

Where I am from in West Chester, Ohio, there is no charge for an ambulance.

Perhaps this is something we all think will be like from whence we came.

Is there a fee for EMS?

Yes there is a fee. It will be from Rural Metro who has the contract to provide EMS for Sumter County. They are the ones in the blue Sumter County ambulances. The Villages does not charge for the paramedics to show up but when the ambulance shows up and transports you to the hospital there will be charges to you.

Most of the time The Villages EMS is on scene in 4-5 mins from receipt of call. The ambulance/medics are dispatched simultaneously and may arrive before or after the firefighter/medics. But if everyone is busy and units have to stage to cover other areas or they are all busy and have to rely on mutual aid then obviously it will take longer.

I had an opportunity to listen to the head of this Department. It took me by surprise to hear him say that given the costs of fire trucks he was not about to let them sit idle. According to him 90% of calls were medial and 10% fire oriented. It would seem that given the critical response time for a medical emergency time would be a major factor. Perhaps I am wrong but it would seem that a fire truck would never be able to beat the response time of medical emergency vehicles??????

I am always surprised when a full-fledged fire truck arrives in addition to the paramedic trucks. Why send a hugely expensive fire truck to a medical emergency? There must be a very good reason?

There is a very good reason. Engines respond with at most 3 and usually 2 personnel on it. They come from a fixed location and are usually tied up for at most an hour on scene. The ambulance/medics are coming from a staging point but they may or may not be closer to the call. This way there are maybe 4-5 personnel on scene to help with the patient. If all are not needed then the engine goes back in service and can respond to another call. If u use an engine it can be very versatile to respond to either fire or EMS. If u have just EMS responders on an ambulance there r only 2 on a crew. Sometimes that's not enough help. Accidents, cardiac arrests, obese patients are just some of the reasons 2 man crews r insufficient.

Spent a long time in EMS, almost always the engine was first on scene. An engine is always easier to see and most give way to a fire truck quicker than an ambulance. It is rare that an ambulance will beat an engine but it is a race to save a life, not for a trophy. Plus in most jurisdictions u r supposed to go the speed limit or maybe 10 over.

HMLRHT1, that was the first coherent answer I've ever gotten to my firetruck question.

One of the biggest reasons is cost savings as over the years fire dept personnel have become much more multi-function personnel. In The Villages I believe there is a 2 mile radius for fire station coverage but the ambulances cover a much larger area thus creating a slightly longer response time.
The process is supposed to work as the fire dept being the 1st responder to the medical call and will start medical treatment. The ambulance arrives and continues that treatment to the hospital.
In my years in the fire service the fire engine would almost always be 1st on scene. Another advantage to this is the turn time for the responders. A fire engine may be committed to a medical call for a short period of time while an ambulance on a medical call could be committed to that call for an hour of more.