I’m kind of liking this Public Input at the informational meetings, you get to address topics when the initial presentations are done, and you don’t have to go to the 7 PM meetings and watch that circus (and last night was a doozy).
I spoke about the need for a Public Ambulance service since we are already paying the Fire Department to show up anyway, we might as well just give them ambulances and seal the deal (FF: 1:34).
There should be some distinction between public and private ambulance service. What about accidents competing to be first at the scene? When I’m hurt I don’t want to shop for a meat wagon. City ambulances could be for on site treatment and triage. Private ambulance could be for urgent, special, or distant transport.
I watched this gentlemen speak about the public ambulance service. The ONLY thing I disagree with is that fact the taxpayer pays for the person who can’t afford it. This is the problem with big cities and we don’t want that. People have to pay their fair share regardless of your financial status. This is what I hate about these ideas we want Johnny Taxpayer to foot the bill for folks who can’t and that is just wrong. I also don’t agree we should subsidize businesses.
These kinds of ideas are what pisses me off about this country. The poor get everything for free and the rich are the only ones who can afford stuff, while us regular middle Americans are the ones who truly foot the bills for the poor. If there are any responses to this post don’t give me the ‘we should tax the wealthy more” because you can take everything they own you still cannot pay for all the free sh!t we keep giving away and I am getting stuck paying for it.
Great idea in theory if you MAKE the person pay for it and it would be cheaper but, if you are just going let people who can’t pay slide we should let EVERYONE slide cause I am tried of having to pay my fair share when others are not
We are already paying for the SFFD to respond to every emergency in Sioux Falls, except we are getting ZERO reimbursement, that goes to our for profit ambulance provider. If we make it public, we will at least get reimbursement from those who can pay.
I am cool with whatever gets us out from under paying an arm and a leg. I just reject letting people off the hook to pay for THEIR service regardless of financial ability to pay. I am tried of paying for everyone else’s crap. I am particularly annoyed lately with this phenomenon as I have a child going to College in the fall and since my wife and I make more than minimum wage (sarc) we dont qualify for low interest college loans but, if we were poor she could go for free. Sorry to rant but, this stuff is getting old in this country and I worked hard to get where I am at and I don’t believe in paying for other peoples stuff, enough with it already
Most likely what would happen is the city could put a lien on the people who don’t pay like the county does. In other words, down the road if you try to get a loan it will show up on your credit and you will be required to pay the fee than or negotiate a settlement.
Don’t forget the police respond to many Medical Emergencies too. At least the county trains (or did) the Deputies to be EMT’s which is about saving lives. SFPD are many times the first to arrive and when seconds and minutes count, they could be doing something that may save a life if they had the training. They’ve spent so much time in the past at McKennan and Sanford getting free hots, they could at least be educated on an entry level about what the places are for besides farting a meal and a donut. It’s laughable, sadly, knowing that SFFR hires Paramedics who aren’t allowed to administer medications as far as I know. Why not utilize their skills? Oh, liability, that’s right. Hiring medical professional’s to stand by and watch the public succumb to trauma and health issues. That is great. Put the Paramedics in an Ambulance and let them do their thing. They too, are usually second on the scene and the Ambulance service as it is now and has been for many years have been last in the tiered system to arrive. At least give the City Paramedics the meds, equipment and permissions to use them. If they could afford to give Jim Sideras a hotel room in Texas with internet access, Computer, Roasted Pheasant under glass with cherry sauce….. Yeah, lets talk about liabilities… I’m not sure Sideras was allowed all of that but I was just hypothetically speaking. Besides, who wants to forget he still hasn’t went to trial? That itself, could give many people in Sioux Falls a heart attack. This town is going to hell in a handbasket. You just can’t win for losing. Boy, let me tell ya!
This is why the SFFR are going to train everyone to administer ALS (Advanced Life Support) even though most of the them know it already. This is because in most cases they are showing up first and can administer life saving skills. This is exactly my point, if SFFR is showing up first, and administering life saving skills, why not just finish the job and haul the person to the hospital. The SF taxpayer pays for all the heavy lifting and PP gets paid for the taxi ride.