Comments on: Today’s news budget, 12/6/2006

By: Politics: The unanswered question is WHO kicked Sam Polk off the voter rolls | Peoria Pundit

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:04:25 +0000

[...] the executive director at the time was Jeanette Mitzelfelt. She’s a Republican. She was fired by the election commissioners in December 2006, a month after Polk was denied the right to vote. The reasons were never made [...]

By: Peo Proud

Peo Proud — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:10:00 +0000

Forgot to mention, that while Bucket Head says the Peoria Fire Department is not EMT level by choice, I think the facts say differently. The City Council (which determines service levels for City staff) have chosen to enter into an agreement with AMT to provide paramedic service to the area and not to enter into that service with the Fire personnel. In fact, as I recall, NO formal request has ever been submitted to take Peoria service to the paramedic level. So I think a choice was made.

By: Peo Proud

Peo Proud — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 00:05:54 +0000

Sorry to offend Bucket Head……but look at how other municipalities staff their ambulances (where there isn’t a professional ambulance company responding) and where they provide paramedic service and tell me why Peoria is so different that we need to do it with more personnel than they do. I’m waiting for the rationale and would love to hear it.

If we want to solve the problems in Peoria related to adequate protection for all citizens (fire service and medical) we have to look beyond the way it’s been done for the last 100 years or we’re doomed to fail and to continue providing sublevel service to the community as a whole. We have the means and the ability to have an even better level of service if we choose to.

By: Bucket Head

Bucket Head — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:08:55 +0000

I see Peo Proud is spouting off again about something he doesn’t know anything about! First, professional ambulance companies have two personnel because the fire department is already there with three fire fighters(limited to emt level – not by choice). Peo Proud, have you ever tried to work a full arrest with two people-last night we had four fire fighters and two ambulance paramedics for a total of six at just such an incident. Two fire fighters rode in the ambulance to the hospital and the patient was delivered with a pulse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: prego man

prego man — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 08:41:24 +0000

Junction City?

By: Mr. Simple

Mr. Simple — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 03:52:07 +0000

Gee, I wonder where this shooting happened? Hmm.

By: Peo Proud

Peo Proud — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 00:11:40 +0000

MDD – No doubt about that and a good point. However, if we’re going to staff the entire City for basic life support (they are not paramedics) that’s fine…but you don’t staff for medical calls in the same way that you staff to fight fires. I’d be all for installing some mobile units that are out in the neighborhoods to address basic life support. Howver, we can’t afford to build and staff a service network for medical calls based upon a fire service model. That is unrealistic, wasteful, and too expensive. Until we as a community come to grips with this, we’ll never have more than the basic level of medical service out of the Fire Department — we can’t compete (in either service level or cost) with a professionally run ambulance company — unless we use similar resource allocations. Case in point – the City staffs its basic life support unit (Rescue 1) with three personnel and most professional ambulance companies (including those run by other municipalities) use two personnel.

Let’s build fire stations as needed to address fire issues and then place medical units in service as needed (and where needed) to provide that service.