Ambulance recommendation
October 3rd, 2007 by 
Alica
The Brandon Ambulance Quality Assurance Committee presented its findings to the City Council on Oct. 1. I was at the meeting. I have copies of the recommendation, the ambulance ordinance and the application form. (It is available on the city Web site, www.brandonsd.com.) I don’t have a copy of Med-Star’s application.
As I understand the committee’s recommendation, Med-Star either does or easily could comply with items A through H, and items J through M, of the application. That means Med-Star has provided background of the company, a detailed plan of how they would serve Brandon, a written plan for staffing, service rates and record keeping, a list of employees, and proof of insurance, state licensure and inspection. The company also either has or could easily get equipment and medications that would meet state standards.
The committee, according to the report, ran South Dakota background checks on the employees. They asked the Council for permission to run out-of-state background checks but were denied. The reasoning presented at Monday night’s council meeting was that it would be impossible to check every location for every employee – it would be too large of a net to try to cast.
The council also denied the committee’s request to do a credit check on Med-Star. That information is not required in the application, nor in Ordinance 404, the ambulance ordinance.
The committee found that Med-Star’s medical director, Dr. Kevin Vaska, is a cardiologist who was under the impression he would review only cardiology cases. The committee recommended that if Med-Star is licensed with the city, the company should have a medical director who can advise on a wide variety of medical problems.
The final item on the application, item N, is for the Council to set a fee for licensure.
The committee contacted Huron and Aberdeen, where Med-Star has provided services in the past. In both cases the committee was told that Med-Star was not in town very long and left town without warning. Jay Masur, owner of Med-Star, said that in both cases, he left town because he didn’t have enough calls to sustain his business. He said he notified the appropriate people in both towns before he left.
The committee contacted the Sioux Falls veterans hospital, which contracts for Med-Star for transport service. The committee was told that the hospital is pleased with the service provided.
The committee report included additional concerns and recommendations. Among them are these:
The list of staff doesn’t include the amount of emergency (911) experience the employees have. Mary Brooks, who presented the findings, said that while response times are important, experience and skill must be given priority.
There should be a probationary period after licensure to make sure the applicant maintains the standards the city sets.
The city should get periodic feedback from emergency rooms and patients and should spot check the service to make sure the company is maintaining the standards the city sets. The service also should cooperate with the Brandon Ambulance Quality Assurance Committee to make sure standards are maintained.
There isn’t any language in the recommendation that says in so many words that the committee is advising against Med-Star. But that’s how I interpret the findings. Mary Brooks said that the new ordinance, #404, looks like it was written to conform to a particular company. She said it would be better to write the ordinance and then look for a company that conforms to it. If not, “We’re setting up our first responders (Brandon police and fire) for a catastrophe,” she said.
City council members did not vote on Med-Star’s application Monday night. Alderman Harry Buck, for example, said he probably has more questions for the applicant right now than for the committee. Mayor Larry Beesley agreed. Alderman Don Hammond said he needs time to digest all the information presented. The Council didn’t set a date to do the vote, but the next regular City Council meeting is Oct. 15.
How comfortable do you feel with these findings? What else do you think the Council should find out or consider before making their vote?
Posted in Uncategorized | 
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Alica,
One of the major items that was discussed and must be included in the information is the issue of direct medical control. This has been an issue since the start with Medstar. No one seems to understand how crucial this is! Councilman Karber tried to dismiss this as unimportant at the meeting but it’s clear he DOESN’T understand how this works, (or doesn’t care)
Here’s how it works…An ambulance service must have an agreement with the hospitals they are transferring to in order to recieve orders while ENROUTE to their facility. Yes, Medstar can drop a patient at their door and they will accept them, but…if that patients condition becomes critical on the way to the hospital and they need an order for a life saving medication or procedure they will NOT get it. Believe me this happens often and is a must for our citizens.
The following is a quote from the committees recommendation. “Also we feel that an ambulance service would want 24 hour access to medical control. In visiting with Avera McKennan and Sanford USD Medical Center, the ambulance service will not be able to use medical control from the hospitals. These hospitals also confirm our recommendation for a Medical Director.
Also, the paper stated Medstar was providing 3 ambulances to Brandon. Mr Masur when asked by a citizen at the meeting said he would GUARANTEE ONE ambulance. Check the tape.
Mr. Masur also stated that other medical people don’t have to have background checks so why should they. NOT true, not only do Sanford employees have a background check, but also a drug test. Brandon of course doesn’t require a national background check OR drug test. Good grief the funeral homes in Sioux Falls require drug testing and they work with dead people!
The credit check issue, why is Medstar worried about allowing a credit check. The people and city of Brandon deserve assurances that the company they hire can afford to operate and will be here a year from now. We’ll be left out in the cold again with no emergency services provider if they aren’t in the black now or a year from now.
This whole issue was brought up by city council because a local service could be to our door in “2-5 minutes.” Which they repeatedly drove home that point. Do we know if Medstar is guaranteeing a minimum response time????? And if so, is it 2-5 minutes as they promised?
I also would like to comment on Mr. Karber’s question about whether the committee visited Medstars place of business. This was not part of this committees obligation. Their obligation was to review the application and qualifications of Medstar. They are a state licensed medical business, of course it’s clean and properly set up. The patient assumes this when going to any licensed medical facility such as a clinic or hospital. Medstar is no different. If we would have gotten an application from Gold Star in Rochester, would we have driven there to inspect their facility, No, that is the states job.
I also took offense to both Mr. Karber and Mr. Masur chastizing Mrs. Brooks, it was intimidating and uncalled for. She is a volunteer who did exactly what the council asked of her and to be treated like she was is unexcusable. Shame on them both. It was an obvious impartiality issue on Mr. Karbers part. Why does he feel the need to campaign for Medstar?
As far as Mrs. Brooks saying the ordinance looks like it was written for a particular company…if you think back, Mr. Masur asked for the re-write and gave input on it’s contents. So yes, I believe that is truth. It’s like writing your own job description.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:25 pm
The application can be viewed at city hall….you will find that there is nothing there that gives you response times. Wasn’t this a big issue?
**The other thing is backup. They just don’t get it. There is NO backup if Medstar could not make the call. Yes, Our firefighters will always be on the scene, but we can not guarantee that an ALS unit will also be there and in what timeframe.
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Mr. Masur stated at the meeting his backup is the county and that’s what “mutual aid” is for. (listen to the tape) He surely can’t believe that if he’s the professional he claims to be. I’ll say it once again. MUTUAL AID IS FOR DISASTER RESPONSE ONLY. Call the county and ask them if Medstar is busy on another call if they’ll run over to Brandon. If even that was the case the 2 services must have a written contract. Can Medstar produce that contract with another service? Ask him.
October 4th, 2007 at 8:04 am
If Med-Star got a bad review from 2 other cities they provided for, People are questioning their personal, Rural Metro already has stated that Brandon does not have enough emergency calls to stay open and there is no back-up ambulance. Why are people still wanting such a JOKE of a Medical service to provide LIFE SAVING procedures of them and their families? Rural Metro has been a great service to Brandon and to what I understand work well with Brandon’s Fire Dept. Brandon has alot of dedicated EMTS that will be at your door in the matter of minutes if they think you are seriously injured of sick, they can get a care-flight in route, since Rural Metro takes a little longer to get to you. I can recall many times were Brandon has had more then one medical call or has requested more then one ambulance to a call. What is Med-Star going to do if all their ambulances are transferring pt for a local hospital and they only have one rig in town? Sounds like there is a few people in this town that will do whatever it takes to get Med-Star signed up. And that is very sad, when it comes to saving lives.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
The same facts have been given to our council over and over. So why are they not listening to facts? What is on their agenda that they push so hard for business that is not in the best interest of the community. Do you wonder what they might be planning on spending the $300,000 they could possible save on contracting with the sheriff’s office for? Do you think it is to subsidise Med-Star? I and many other hope they are not even comtemplating this!!!!!
October 4th, 2007 at 7:59 pm
Mary Brooks, Dr Van Es and Bonnie Petersen, did a fantastic job going over the application and researching the company. Thank you for caring!!
October 5th, 2007 at 4:29 am
Mutual aid isn’t for mass casualities. It’s very common to have ambulance services run calls for each other. Maybe garretson’s ambulance is on a call. They’ll call another department nearby to handle that call. And the reverse is true. You help people who help you.
That statement simply isn’t correct.
But the real issue is medical control.
A cardiologist isn’t a suitable person for exclusive medical control. You need a board certified emergency medicine physician who understands the protcols of the particular system. Either that, or you just don’t have situations where you need to call for orders.
Paramedicine isn’t the Johnny and Roy days where you call for everything. It all depends on protocols. And this is where a medical director comes in.
I’ve been following this issue quite closely. And I’ve been hoping to see some action. I really thought MedStar had it in the bag, and I was glad to see them finally moving beyond the transfer calls.
But if they’re not going to pull a emergency medicine physician out as medical control, then there’s really no point in changing what we have.
Oh, and FYI, for the person talking about taking a helicopter –if you think that it’s cheap, or that your insurance is going to pay for it, you’ve got a surprise coming.
When you get into a helicopter for a ride to the hospital, just get out your checkbook and start writing zeros.$$$$$$$$$$$$
Big time money. Rarely warranted. Overused. Dangerous.
October 5th, 2007 at 5:45 am
#7, So for a mutual aid call you are going to wait for Garretson’s ambulance to come to brandon. I thought this was all about providing faster care? And is Garretson an ALS service? Why not stick with a nation wide company that has the money to back them. We should be thankful we live so close to Sioux Falls. I grew up in a town that was 45 miles from the nearest hospital and our town only had a BLS ambulance service and guess what I am still alive!! People down there would have loved to have a service like Rural Metro be at your door in 10-15 minutes. And #7 if a need a helicopter to save my life, I will not care waht it cost, by the sounds off it I would rather pay the extra money to take a helicopter then ride with Med-Star, at least the personal will know what they are doing to me.
October 5th, 2007 at 6:11 pm
I find it very interesting that up to 4 members of the city council regularily spend time together at various places in Brandon with Mr. Masur from Medstar. And it’s been going on for months. How can they remain impartial and vote on his service if they are all that “tight?”
October 9th, 2007 at 12:10 pm
I would love to see a Brandon business awarded the 911 license. But, not at the expense of someone losing their life because the paramedics were inept at the skills necessary to save a life. This is not a critisism of Med-Star’s paramedics. It is a statement of fact. If you do not work in an emergency setting, how could one expect them to have those skills?
When the facts as to Med-Star’s shortcomings are brought to the city council’s attention by a committee selected by this same council, what happens? They get ran into the ground, criticized, and scoffed at. If you don’t like or want to hear the answer, then don’t ask the question.
Concerning Mr. Karber…the more I hear of his escapades, the more I want to laugh. He is out of his league. First, he has no concept of what is really required to operate an ALS service. A good, honest perosn would study the issue, gather the facts, and make a sound decision that benefits the people in Brandon. Nothing is worse than someone who is ignorant AND arrogant. Second, he is so obviously biased toward Med-Star that one starts to wonder where his true loyalties are. Lastly, Mr. Karber is a politician, fashioned after the old-style boys club…and I can only hope the people in his district will do all of us a favor and not re-elect him next term.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
#7- Let me start by saying that mutual aid is NOT “very common” as stated. It is used when a service can not cover its area. When this happens the ball has been dropped. Ask how many times rural metro has had someone else run their calls (zero). The founding fathers of Mutual aid (if you will) designed it to be used in multi-casualty situations only.
Secondly, and this is not really the place for this but you brought it up, you are right about the cost of air transport, but what price do you put on life. And unless you have spent hundreds of hours in a helicopter locally (as I have), you can’t really give an educated comment on the overuse or danger of aircare transport.
October 9th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
Are we sure that we are all looking out for the #1 issue at hand?(THE PATIENT)everyone takes the same test and we all have the same resert classes. If the staff meets the qualifications what is the problem? Everyone that has negative things to say about this service needs to ask themselves do I want to wait 20 mins for a service of the same to care for my loved one or would it be better to wait less than 5 mins. If this was my loves one in cardiac arrest and their staff meets the same qualifications I WANT WHO EVER IS THE CLOSEST!!!!!But I think everyone has this all figured out that this is not what is best for the pt it is ALL PERSONAL attacks on who owns this company. Mary Brooks knows nothing about any of the staff that works at Med Star other than rumors, so she need to get her facts right!!!
October 9th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
#6 There was POOR research done about this company!!The board was asked to come and look at this company and declined to do so. So how can you evaluate a company if you never look or ask any questions directly to them!! Once again VERY POOR RESEARCH!!!!!Who really runs this board?
October 9th, 2007 at 8:54 pm
#13 I personally know most of the advanced level staff at med-star can speak from experience. I would rather have BFD come and perform great basic skills, and wait for the experienced medics. Because after all if the medic with no experience gives the wrong drug or cant get the airway secured the patient dies and THAT is what matters. And yes experience IS that important, if it were not then why do all good 911 services and air transport services require at least 1 year with a primary medic before you can work on your own.
Saying “I want whoever is closest” shows your inexperience in the field. Lets face another fact, why do medics go to work for a transport only service, because they are not qualified to work for a 911 serice, or were fired from a 911 service. Is that the person you want walking through your door? Brandon deserves better.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
#13 Just one more quick note, what would the board have gained by visiting the ambulance garage? If I am auditing a company I would gain nothing by going to the break room and shaking the workers hands. The board has a difficult task and did great! Again you show your inexperience in the field of EMS if you think that is how certification research is done.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:44 am
#12 and #13, (Mr. Masur),
It’s quite obvious after listening to you say the same things over and over the past several months who you are. You grossly misrepresent Rural Metro times by using “20″ minutes, we all know that’s not an accurate number when talking about a code 3-4 call.
The research was done by an independant panel the COUNCIL appointed.
Nothing the panel reported on was personal. They studied the SERVICE. If a service from Rochester MN had applied do you think they would’ve driven there to “inspect” their “place” It’s NOT THEIR JOB
October 10th, 2007 at 4:46 am
PS….THE PEOPLE run this board.
October 10th, 2007 at 6:36 am
Mary Brooks read the report, but this was a report that was studied by 3 people appointed by the council. A doctor, a PA and a nurse. All are quaified and did this for no $. So why would Jay think they have an agenda???? Jay, you are paranoid and have a sub standard service…get over it…go away!
October 10th, 2007 at 6:37 am
The Brandon Ambulance Quality Assurance Committee
Recommendation to the City Council
October 1, 2001
Committee Members:
Dr. Nicolas Van Es, Physician with Sanford Health
Bonnie Petersen, Certified Nurse Practitioner with Sanford Health
Mary Brooks, Retired Registered Nurse and Resident
Applicant for Ambulance Service for Brandon, SO:
MED-Star Paramedic Ambulance Inc.
Goal and Plan for Committee:
The plan for this committee is to review applications for an ambulance provider for the city of
Brandon. We would review the application and complete a background research of the
applicant, compile a list of information obtained, and then give recommendations and
concerns to the City Council.
We feel that the ultimate goal should be to have an ambulance service that gives Brandon the
same or equal quality of care, if not better than what we have previously had.
Interviews by phone regarding this application that were done:
1. The City of Aberdeen
2. The City of Huron
3. Dr. Kevin Vaska
4. The Veteran’s Hospital of Sioux Falls
5. Rural Metro Ambulance Service
6. Sanford Health System
7. Avera McKennan Hospital
Other information gathered or requested and reviewed:
1. The application of MED-Star Paramedic Ambulance Inc.
2. Background checks on the staff of MED-Star Paramedic Ambulance Inc
3. Additional background checks from other states -this was denied
4. Credit Check on MED-Star Paramedic Ambulance Inc. -this was denied
Our findings, recommendations and concerns are as follows:
1. If this ambulance Service is selected: The residents of Brandon would rely on the City
and City Council to assure that the applicant has the required ground ambulance
licenses as required by the City , the County and the State. (Refer to Application # F) It
would be the responsibility of the Ambulance Service to notify the City with any
variation in the required licensure.
2. If this ambulance Service is selected: The residents of Brandon would rely on the City
and the City Council to assure that the applicant has Insurance verification as listed in
the Ordinance #404 Section 6-7-8. (Refer to Application # N) It would be the
responsibility of the Ambulance Service as listed in the Ordinance to notify the city in
the case of any variation in insurance coverage as required.
3. MED-star Ambulance Inc. is the contracted provider for ambulance service for the
Sioux Falls Veteran’s Hospital. They listed their service with them as outstanding and
only good comments were given.
4. Availabillty- Ordinance #404 Section 6-7-11. (Refer to Application # H) The 24/7/365″
would mean having staff at the ambulance garage at all times. This would not mean
having someone on cal,. It would need to be taken into consideration that if a call is
taken, it could mean that that ambulance and staff could be gone an hour or more.
There would need to be staff called in to cover at the garage at that point. We would
wonder if the cost of this staffing has been taken into consideration. If finances
become a problem, is the City of Brandon and its citizens going to be asked to finance
this service?
Equipment Required -Ordinance #404 Section 6~7~9. (Refer to Application # J) MEDStar
does not have all the required equipment/medication as listed by REM SA. ( See
attachment) MED-Star Paramedic Ambulance Inventory List showed in most cases
more numbers of the items then required. This required equipment/medications needs
to be completed prior to licensure in Brandon. This completed inventory would need
to be verified by someone prior to approval.
5
6. Medical Director- Ordinance #404 Section 6-7-13. We reviewed the application listing
Dr. Kevin Vaska as the Medical Director. Dr. Vaska is a well know Cardiologist in the
Sioux Falls area. His credentials are outstanding for Cardiology. When Dr. Van Es
visited with Dr. Vaska, he was under the impression he would review records and set
protocols for Cardiology patients only. Although Dr. Vaska meets all the listing for the
Brandon Ordinance, we would recommend a Family Practice or Emergency Room
Physician. Our concern is for broad spectrum knowledge of everything that the
ambulance crew would encounter. For example, the protocol and care of the patient
who has complications of Diabetes, Asthma, Seizures, or the needs of a Trauma or
Pediatric patient. Also we feel that an ambulance service would want 24 hour access
to medical control. In visiting with Avera McKennan and Sanford USD Medical Center ,
the ambulance service will not be able to use medical control from the hospitals.
These hospitals also confirm our recommendation for a Medical Director .
7. MED-Star Ambulance Service did attempt to set up an ambulance service in Huron
and Aberdeen. Mary did contact both cities to check on their service there. In
speaking with the Fire Chief for Aberdeen she was told that their services at that time
could only be by a special call number and not 911. He was unsure of the exact time
that they were there but it could have been 2-3 months. At first they had two
ambulances there and then finally just one. His comment was that they never made
arrangements for leaving and just disappeared. This left. people waiting for their
services that never came. There was one incident where the person called the
number they had left. and was answered by MED-Star in Brandon, who called the
ambulance service in Aberdeen. There was a period of time where people were trying
to contact them and they had left. no information that they were no longer there. The
Aberdeen department had to get information out on this.
8. I also contacted Huron where MED-Star set up services after Aberdeen. The person I
talked to there was not sure how long they serviced the area. It was set up the same
way with a private number to call since Huron has an ambulance service that does 911
calls. He said MED-Star”s communication was by cell phone and that this is unreliable
in some areas there. He was not sure when they left, but he knew the water was shut
off to the building that they were using. Again there was no notice that they were
leaving.
9. A concern the committee that has our medical background is the experience level of
the service. The application with the list of staff does not give their experience with 911
cares. We realize that they are staffed with Paramedics and EMrs and they are required
to maintain continuing educations hours. The applying service has been doing mainly
transporting of patients and that does not gain experience with the care of the acutely ill
patient. For example patients with cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, trauma and the care
of pediatric patients, etc. The average response time for the Brandon Fire Department for
the year 2004 was 5 minutes, 10 seconds and for 2005 it was 4 minutes, 21 seconds.
Rural Metro’s average response time for 2006 was 18.48minutes for Code 1 and 13.39
minutes for Code 3 and 4. There would be a benefit in time in making that first contact
with the patient, but if there is not experience to care for the patient on the site or during
transport that may not make any difference.
10. The committee also feels that MED-Star will need to initiate and maintain a
relationship with the various hospitals that they will be transporting patients to. This
includes, Avera McKennan, Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota and Sanford USD
Medical Center. The continuity of care for the patient will be crucial.
Other recommendations for a Brandon Ambulance Service:
1. There needs to be a set of standards for this service to maintain. These could be set
up and monitored by the Ambulance Quality Assurance Committee.
2. There needs to be a probationary period and the contract can be nullified if all aspects
are not abided by. Keeping in mind that if the Ambulance Service can not maintain the
requirements and standards, we may be left with no ambulance service for Brandon.
3. Feed back from the ER Doctors on the services that are provided by the Ambulance
Service.
4. There would be follow-up from patients who use the Ambulance Services.
5. There would be routine and unannounced spot checks done by the Ambulance
Committee for Quality Assurance.
6. There would be total cooperation between the Ambulance Service and the Ambulance
Committee for Quality Assurance.
October 10th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Jay
You were quoted as saying that you left Huron and Aberdeen because of low call volume, if you think Aberdeen had a low call volume and you couldn’t afford to stay, how will you afford to stay in Brandon? I just hope that when the dust settles the good citizens of Brandon are not stuck without a service or paying your service a subsidy to stay.
October 10th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I’m sure that those issues were discussed over a smokey beer with all the right people, or should I say council members. After all, this is the second time the council asked for medical opinion and then when given the recommendations they ignored the report. They will no doubt vote “good ole boy” in true fashion again. How about the folks on the council with obvious ties to Med-star excuse themselves from the vote???
October 10th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
The issue at hand is still the same ones that were raised even before this issue was voted on:
1. Who will be the medical director and will they have a relationship with the Sioux Falls hospitals?
2. Will this new ALS service be staffed to handled multiple calls?
3. What is the ALS experience level of the medics that will be handling calls? If any?
This is serious business. People’s lives are at stake. All this speculation about mutual aid, who is drinking with whom, air transport, who has an agenda, et cetera really means nothing. Saving lives is all that matters. It is time to put egos, pride, and politics aside and make some sound decisions based on sound research.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:02 am
Amen Brandon Resident!! There are to many egos and agendas involoved in this whole thing. We need to do whats best for the city of Brandon, not whats best for peoples egos!!
October 11th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
Anonymous Says:
October 5th, 2007 at 4:29 am
Mutual aid isn’t for mass casualities. It’s very common to have ambulance services run calls for each other. Maybe garretson’s ambulance is on a call. They’ll call another department nearby to handle that call. And the reverse is true. You help people who help you.
That statement simply isn’t correct.
But the real issue is medical control.
A cardiologist isn’t a suitable person for exclusive medical control. You need a board certified emergency medicine physician who understands the protcols of the particular system. Either that, or you just don’t have situations where you need to call for orders.
Paramedicine isn’t the Johnny and Roy days where you call for everything. It all depends on protocols. And this is where a medical director comes in.
I’ve been following this issue quite closely. And I’ve been hoping to see some action. I really thought MedStar had it in the bag, and I was glad to see them finally moving beyond the transfer calls.
But if they’re not going to pull a emergency medicine physician out as medical control, then there’s really no point in changing what we have.
Oh, and FYI, for the person talking about taking a helicopter –if you think that it’s cheap, or that your insurance is going to pay for it, you’ve got a surprise coming.
When you get into a helicopter for a ride to the hospital, just get out your checkbook and start writing zeros.$$$$$$$$$$$$
Big time money. Rarely warranted. Overused. Dangerous
I’m not sure where you’re getting your information, but it is NOT common for services to run other services calls. There must be contracts to do this. Garretson will not “help us out” they can’t even cover themselves. And the representatives from Garretson were at the public forums. MEDSTAR IS ON THEIR OWN if they get this contract. They guarantee ONE ambulance 24/7 to Brandon (out of Mr. Masur’s mouth) Which means BRANDON IS ON IT’S OWN if they award this contract to Medstar. Most accidents happen with at least 2 people in the car, who’s going to transfer the other? Not Garretson, not Rural Metro. Believe me if my family member is the second victim I will be sueing the city of Brandon, for contracting with lessor quality service than we had before.
They also have NO WAY or NO HOSPITAL to give them direct medical control enroute. The Sioux Falls hospitals have DENIED them.
All he has a medical director for is ADULT CARDIAC patients, what about the rest?? He DID NOT list Dr. Schaeffer on his application to the city yet claims him as a medical director. Which is it? BTW…Dr. Schaeffer doesn’t have privileges at a Sioux Falls hospital so it doesn’t matter anyway.
I also would like to know what qualifications you have to make the statement that helicopters are overused? according to who? do you have research you could provide us?
I’d be willing to bet more ambulances crash more than helicopters, if you weigh the amount of runs for each. I haven’t done the research, so I won’t make a blanket, unsubstantiated statement.
You also can’t make a blanket statement about what services my insurance covers. Even if it didn’t cover a helicopter ride, and it meant if my child lived or died, I think I’ll get out my checkbook.
October 11th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
The first half of the above post should have been a quote from post #7. Sorry, now it’s hard to understand who’s saying what. My post starts with….I’m not sure where you’re getting your information….
October 11th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
#14 and #15 I do work for a 911 service and I am also a flight medic as well with 15 years of experience so watch who you are talking about!!I am sure I have just as much experience as you do IF NOT MORE!!If you think I have no experience bring what little you have to the table!!Keep in mind EVERY medic takes the same classes, even you!!
October 11th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
#14Once again you are not sure of what is going on!!There will be an experience medic with more than 1 year of 911 on this ambulance you should maybe attend one of the meetings to get your facts!!When you do not know it is hard to keep the facts straight!!This is how statements get out of hand!!
October 11th, 2007 at 5:45 pm
current medic (Mr. Masur),
If you have the experience you speak of in post # 26 you shouldn’t be afraid to say who you are, in fact, I’d think you’d be proud to name the flight service you work for. There’s only 2 locally, which is it?
October 11th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
I haven’t paid much attention to this issue, so I have a pretty basic questions. Does Brandon pay anything to the ambulance service, or is their income derived from the fees they charge for transporting people? How many calls were made last year in Brandon and how many of those were code 1s? What is the current service’s cost vs proposed cost?
I’m trying to figure out how a company that couldn’t get enough business to support itself in bigger towns expects to get that much business in Brandon - will the fees be that much higher? Do we have that many people needing transport? I can’t see getting a new service if it has to close its doors in a couple of months. I truly am confused.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:33 pm
confused I can answer your first question, no city money is provided to provide for our current provider (Rural Metro). Now for the your other questions both I and the advisory committee(medical professionasl) are a little confused as well since answers for our questions are danced around and/or avoided by our city council members.
Hopefully everyone keeps in mind that our most vocal alderman Ruebin (Race track owner - Husets) has no business dealings with med-star (Ambulance at Husets every Sunday night) and the second loadspeaker Mr Karber does insurance work and added his name in support of Med-star pamplets on behalf of the council (no conflict of interest)
October 12th, 2007 at 7:10 am
also confused….it’s getting muddier. You say Rubin has NO business dealings with Medstar but if he works for the track he DOES. Also, Karber doesn’t do insurance work BUT he stated in a meeting that HE called an insurance company on Medstars behalf to get him a quote and better rate. And he did endorse the pamphlets. You say no conflict of interest…did you mean conflict of interest??
October 12th, 2007 at 8:58 am
The word that you are searching for is “sarcasm.” HUGH CONFLICT OF INTEREST….PERSONAL AGENDA….PERSONAL GAIN…BAD POLITICS.
October 12th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
#28 I am not Jay where I work really has nothing to do with the matter at hand I am just stating my experience.
October 12th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Don’t believe you.
If where you work doesn’t have anything to do with it, then why did YOU bring it up.
I will guarantee that a medic for either one of the local air services wouldn’t dare say so on a blog out of respect for their employer.
October 12th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Yes anonymous, I suppose I was being a little sarcastic but I just can not believe there is not more of an uproar about this issue then a few of us on this blog. Having followed this issue now and back to when Jay started Caretram in Sioux Falls. Jay and little band of supporters like to misuse numbers and half truths to play on people emotions regarding an ambulance service.
Just look at some of the comments Jay and his supporters have made about medical situations, medical directors, and the biggest card of all response times. Just listen to Jay on how many lifes he could have saved if his company has responded, check the Argus back to Caretram days (partial response times) and check our own city council meeting minutes. Compare what Jay said at our first forum and then go online and look at the Aberdeen paper (September/Octoboer 2006) in regards to the service Medstar was going to provide the fine citizens of Aberdeen –for 2 maybe three months before disappearing in the middle of the night.
These statements coming from a for profit service scare the hell out me. Give me solid information that can be verified like # of paramedics, # of EMTs, years of experience and training of each responder, staffing schedules, written mutual aid contracts, and full disclosure of medical directors and their roles and practicing facilities, and references outside of your organization or city council and their families.
But alas all of our discussions are for naught, the good ole boys (Ruebin, Buck, Karber, and Hammond) have already made up their minds and are going to approve Medstar next Monday night against the advisory council recommendations of keeping our current system and lack of a complete application(not our medstar tailored app hell lets waive the fee too). At least the advisory committee took some time to find the facts by interviews with the communities Med-star has serviced and Med-star own doctors. Thanks to the advisory committee for your time and effort.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
I hope the city has deeeeeep pockets and a really good insurance policy.
October 12th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Do you people really attack other services like this? Dell Rapids? Garretson? And if you don’t why not? Should Rural Metro be their primary provider there as well? Do you tear there sevice and staff apart too?
It sure appears that the same people are replying on here, and if it is such and issue where is everyone else?
Once again the real issue is who owns the service and the past GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!!!!
October 12th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
I have been silent long enough -as a 30+ year resident of Brandon I have seen this city grow from a village of 800 to a city of nearly 8000. How have we allowed our city council to be taken over by this crowd..
The advisory committee wrote a well documented, well thought out, well researched, factual report. Apparently several of the council members cannot read. How can any half-way intelligent person read this report and not see that there are major red flags to be resolved before giving approval to this service.
One of the biggest is medical direction. Dr. Vaska is a fine cardiologist, who as I understand from reading the Challenger reports did not know that he was going to be the medical director for the service and undestood that he was reviewing adult cardiology patients only. There is a vast difference in the emergency treatment rendered to medical patients vs trauma patients, such as fluid resuscitation, ventilation, dealing with surgical trauma, head injuries and bone fractures. Cardiologists do not deal with patients in these situations and I would think that Dr. Vaska would be the first to ackhowledge that he is out of his realm. As to Jay’s statement in the Challenger story that Dr. James Shaeffer has been his medical director since the 80’s - Dr. Shaeffer has not had privilges at any hospital within a 100 mile radius of Brandon for more than 15 years! I understand he is not listed anywhere on the application, so bringing his name into the conversation is totally irrelevant. He is not and cannot be involved in medical direction if Med Star is to meet the requirements of the ordinance.
The experience level of the EMT’s is HUGE - 9-1-1 requires constant practice, practice, practice. The few calls that Brandon has is not enough to keep up skills in treating true emergencies such as severe trauma or critical medical issues. Transport is not practice. This is absolutely the scariest of all.
Response times seem to be the issue with some - but as I have witnessed in my own neighborhood, within less than 5 minutes from the 9-1-1 call, the Brandon FD is on the scene, and within another 5-6 minutes, RM is here, and Med Star’s rig, obviously monitoring the scanner, showed up about 3-minutes AFTER RM was on the scene, “checking to see if there was anything they could do”. I never did figure out why they showed up, because in talking with my neighbor later, they had certainly not called them. They just stood around in the yard until RM had left with the patient. Our local EMT’s can and always have been very competent first responders, and do what they are supposed to do - assess the situation, start CPR or first aid right away and get the patient ready for the paramedic ambulance so the patient is ready to go. All calls are basic to begin with. It is all about the A, B, C’s - airway, breathing, circulation -
The city of Brandon is opening itself to massive liability if this application is approved. If everyone who feels this way delivers a signed letter to the city council, as I will, stating that if anything happens to me or anyone of my family members as a result of this action, I will hold the city of Brandon liable. I would hope that they get so many of these delivered in the next two days that they will need a truck to haul them into City Hall on Monday morning. Perhaps some of the council members should stop doing their polling at Sneakers and ask the sober citizens of Brandon what they want.
Most healthcare workers in the country - whether they are a physician or food service tray passer have to have background checks and drug screening. That is routine - in almost any business. I cannot see why the council feels that it is not relevant - these providers are dealing with patient’s LIVES! Anybody remember “Dr. Swango”? That’s what happens when you don’t do bacground checks further than your own backyard!I also sure hope that the city is checking the financial viability of any other business it proposes contracting with - that is just basic good business practice.
October 13th, 2007 at 7:15 am
#38,
A -friggin -men.
I’ll deliver my letter today.
October 13th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Thank you, another long-time citizen!!!! Your post is intelligent, reasonable, and rational! I agree whole-heartedly, and I only wish all citizens of Brandon would read your post and do as I fully intend to do, and deliver my letter today, also!!!!
October 13th, 2007 at 9:04 am
I truly hope that Mayor Beesley takes his job as leader of this city and realizes the liability the council is putting the city under, and uses his power of veto.
October 13th, 2007 at 10:01 am
PAST BEHAVIOR IS A GOOD INDICATOR OF FUTURE BEHAVIOR.
Basic psychology…
October 13th, 2007 at 10:08 am
The reason chiropractors and podiatrists don’t need backround checks is because they’re SELF-EMPLOYED. Quit trying to confuse everyone with your mis-information campaigns.
October 13th, 2007 at 10:34 am
They also don’t deliver drugs or perform other life saving procedures, such as intubation, combitubes, IV insertion, interosseous needle insertions…..shall I go on??
Some of the stuff that comes out of Masur’s mouth truly amazes me.
PS….about post #38, the part about Medstar showing up at a call in Brandon (after RM is already there) ,,,,,I’m DISGUSTED. That is one of the MOST UNPROFESSIONAL things I’ve heard.
October 13th, 2007 at 11:40 am
Also about post #38, not only is it unprofessional to show up on a call based on scanner information, it is also illegal. Under federal law, use of scanner information for direct or indirect commercial advantage or private commercial gain is illegal. Google the “Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986″.
October 13th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
As a former EMS provider and educator, I have to say that I see serious liability issues in licensing MedStar as the sole provider of ambulance services in Brandon. The number potential pitfalls to this change are too numerous to list, but I will go for the top 4 as I see them.
1. Real time medical control.
This is a big issue. Anyone who has had a patient crashing in the back of an ambulance knows that this is HUGE. I want to be able to get orders from an ER pysician if I need them. MedStar will not have that direct link to the physician — they will run off of pre-written protocols for different medical and trauma situations. We all know that you can’t forsee everything, and I don’t want myself or my loved one to be the patient in the rig when they are “punting” b/c they don’t have a protocol to cover their situation.
The only communication they will have with the hospital is to report on the patient’s condition so that the ER staff know what they’ll be dealing with when the patient comes through thier doors, and how long it will be until they get there. If MedStar wants ER direction, they need to go through the credentialing process with the local hospitals like RM did.
2. Medical Director.
Dr. Vaska is a great cardiologist, but he’s not an ER physican and has no experience with trauma, orthopedics, etc. If I’m having a heart attack, he’s my guy; but if I’m in a motor vehicle collision, he’s not going to be alot of help. Ask any experienced street provider and they will tell you that their worst nightmare on a scene is having a physician show up with no trauma experience. Good physicians like Dr. Vaska know that trauma is out of thier realm — I don’t think he’s going to want to put his license on the line for this outfit. From what I understand from the news stories, he didn’t even realize he was the Medical Director of record on the application. He just thought he’d be consulting on cardiac protcols and reviewing cardiac runs.
3. No back ground checks of employees.
I understand that Mr. Masur stated that other health care employees do not have to undergo background checks, so why should his employees? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Ironically, my employer on Thursday told me I needed to come to HR and sign a new consent form for routine, random background and credentialing checks because mine had expired. I know they do background checks on potential new hires, and apparently they randomly check us, because they knew my consent had expired.
I would think that Mr. Masur’s insurance company would require background checks — if not they’re idiots (as apparently the city counil members are). Who wants the liabiltiy of someone you know nothing about other than what they wrote down on an application? They city of Brandon and Mr. Masur must have deep pockets indeed to be willing to take on that exposure.
4. Response time.
This seems to be the BIG ISSUE with this group. The first 5 minutes of any call are a BLS run. Only after you have assessed the patient do you know if this is going to require Advances Life Support measures. Our local Rescue Unit does an excellent job with that initial contact, and by the time Rural Metro gets here, they have the scene under control, the background information on the incident or complaint that they can report to the recieveing crew, and have the patient prepared for transport and any ALS measures necessary.
Also, EMT-Basics, which is what staff our local Rescue unit, are now able to administer epinephrine for bee-stings (Mr. Karber) or other anaphylacitc type reactions, assist patients with administering asthma medications, and defibrilate cardiac patients with an AED.
I want to commend the Quality Assurance Committee on doing an excellent job. Too bad the Council Memebers in Brandon think they know more about Emergency Medicine than this group. I don’t know about the emergency medical backgrounds of the other members of the group, but Bonnie Peterson, in addition to being a Nurse Practitioner has, I belive, close to 20 years experience as an ER and Flight Nurse. She is indeed an expert in her field, and the Council needs to LISTEN to her.
October 13th, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Are you really saying Dr Vaska knows nothing about trauma pt’s? I do believe he was an ER Dr for awhile, how rude. The ordinace only states medical direction not only an ER Dr.
October 13th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
What do people really know about Rural Metro? How many experience medic’s are left there? Most of them went to the flight programs and this has left them with a lot of new just out of school medics.
October 13th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
You’re grasping Jay.
We all know what the ordinance says and we know you do too, because you helped write it. It’s called LOOPHOLES.
Apparently your service needs loopholes to run. Rural Metro qualifies under REMSA, so they don’t need loopholes. I also know that they don’t let green medics run alone until they’ve mentored under a senior medic for a full year.
October 13th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
The issue is not RM - they are not the ones asking for a license - Med Star is - don’t cloud the issue! AND if RM would apply (we can only hope)they will have to go through the same application procedure, including background checks of their personnel if that is what is required as well as the credit check of the service - I am sure we all want to be fair. However, I understand that they have chosen not to apply at this time. In any case, what we DO know about their service is a past history of many years of good service to our community. They have continual review of their runs by the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority - and if there are patient care issues, they have an action plan procedure and follow-up education process with the medic or medics involved if there is a concern - very quickly. As I understand it, there will be no such oversight of Med Star’s performance. What kind of a plan does the city of Brandon licensing authority have set up for continual quality review of ALL runs and appropriateness of patient care? This is important folks!
It is time to quit nit-picking over stupid little issues and look at the big picture. As I undestand it this whole dumb process began after a citizen made a decision NOT to call 911 and started out for the hospital on his own after drinking a bee in some kind of beverage. How can that be the fault of RM or any other ambulance service? That was a concsious CHOICE to not call for help by a supposedly competent individual. And because of this CHOICE not to call for 911, like any other rational adult probably would have made, our whole community has been turned upside down and now LIVES are at stake. WHY are the citizens of this city being held hostage by this group of council members. THE SYSTEM WE HAD WAS NOT BROKEN - WHAT ARE WE TRYING TO FIX!
October 13th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
another long time citizen,
In all actuality this started LONG before the bee sting incident. That was just used as propaganda to drive home the scare tactics our council and Medstar have used since the beginning.
This has been on the agenda of our council since November 1st, 2004. Jay Masur asked the council for a new ordinance, and HELPED write it. He also applied for a license in Brandon in 1994 and 2003 and FAILED TO QUALIFY EACH TIME. You may find these items in archived city council meeting minutes.
October 13th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I am not Jay!!You are going by if its not broke don’t fix it, but why not make it better? If you few people with these complaints have nothing more to do than bitch on thisblog bring you issues to the mtg!! The more I read on here things are out of hand!!I have a feeling some of these entries are the same person just different name to make it look nice. I know about RM as well I used to work there and things weren’t all you people think. Bring your complaints to the mtg Monday!!
October 13th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
BETTER????? FEW PEOPLE???? I assure you - as I stated - this is the first time in my life that I have ever been driven to go on a public forum. What has Med Star offered that is BETTER. This is lowering the standard of care in this city - and as I said before - THIS IS NOT AN ISSUE ABOUT RM - WHO CARES that you used to work there. THEY ARE NOT THE ISSUE - meeting the requirements of the ordinance is - and even with all the things the ordinance lacks, Med Star STILL does not meet the requirements of something that it is fairly well acknowldged that Jay helped write - what possible objection can anyone have to making sure they are in compliance before granting the license. And I fully intend to come to the meeting on Monday, as well as contact the council members who will answer their phone or return calls!
October 13th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
Current Medic - Your are so right —
Lets make it better by licensing Medstar who will respond with 1 paramedic versus RM with 2 paramedics (No staffing schedule submitted - not required)
Lets make it better by a service that does not meet REMSA
Lets make it better by having an ALS service(Medstar) with backup by a possible part time ALS service from garettson (response time from garretson is what?). Where are the mutual aid contracts so the committee can review?
Sorry no disrespect is implied to the volunteer(not for profit) amublance service in Garretson or Dells, just as our local fire dept you all do a great job without the profit motive - it to help the people
October 13th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
I believe people don’t understand what REMSA does, they are a joke!! They have no medical backgroud to even look at any emergency calls, but that’s OK how wrong that they over see anything of the such. This issue was voted on in Brandon to let someone else apply and that didn’t say who could and could not apply. How could Jay even have anything to do with the ordinance when he does not even live in Brandon and is not on the council board? Maybe they should have it when you call 911 you have the right to request whom you want. What would be wrong with that? There are people that are in favor of letting Med-Star operate, so request it maybe that is the answer to everyone’s problems. If you feel like waiting on you illness than so be it drive yourself to the hospital if it is not important enough for someone to respond in a shorter amt of time. If Med-Star was a volenteer service then would it be OK for them to be in Brandon? Like I have said all along it just is who owns the company and the past.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:01 am
So what happened to the response times? They are not included in the application!!! Yes, I have seen a copy of it and guess what…the one major item Jay said he could do better at is not even in there. Imagine that! Doesn’t Garretson have 1 paramedic? and they are only a pt ALS unit? otherwise BLS? Has anyone seen his rigs? I heard they now say call 911 on them? Maybe putting the cart before the horse? or inside knowledge of what our favorite council will be voting Monday???? Jay’s employess are the ones pushing this along side of Jay…I bet hoping they can actually bring some $ in so paychecks aren’t being bounced????
October 14th, 2007 at 8:19 am
current medic,
You need to STOP lying.
The REMSA board is made up of the following:
City Board- 5 city residents
1. Maragret Sumption
2. Tony Tiefenthaler
3. Phyllis Heineman
4. Cecilia Gibbons
5. Nancy Wahlstrom
Medical Board- 6 PHYSICIANS -1 layperson
1. Mary Helen Harris, MD
2. Garret Taylor MD
3. Ellen Kroon MD
4. David Strand MD
5. Doug Geise MD
6. Jim Walery MD
7. Janet Kittams-Lailey-layperson
Medical Director Jeff Luther MD
Quality Control Dean Trumbull
Executive Secretary- Julie Charbonneau
I dare you to tell the above mentioned boards to there faces that they are a joke and have no medical background. They’re DOCTORS
As far as your statement about Jay having anything to do with writing the ordinance…..this is a quote from the council meeting of November 1st, 2004.
“Jay Masur appeared before the council requesting that the council write a new ambulance licensing ordinance so he can operate within the limits of the city of Brandon. After a lengthy and heated discussion, alderman Polzine moved alderman RUBIN seconded to direct the city administrator and city attorney to work with Jay to draft a new ordinance and present it to the council by December 6, 2004 regular meeting motion carried.”
Let me remind you that Mr. Masur applied for a license in Brandon in 1994 and 2003 and failed to qualify both times. But yet after the ordinance was re-written, and a different council seated,he could qualify.
And NO it would not be okay if they were a volunteer service, they DON’T qualify under the rigid standards of REMSA.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I have to apolgize for an inaccuracy…I now see they have 1-8 minutes possible response time from thier base location.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:31 am
Get it straight!!REMSA guidelines are for RM and let me tell you, RM employee’s never see the board unless you have done wrong on a call and then you only see one person from the board and that is WRONG!!And NO it is not one of the DR’s!!Med-Star had to meet the REMSA list for ALL their ambulance’s and the protocol’s that REMSA set ALL needed to be met as well, so where do get your comments? Cause they are not facts!!It appears you don’t go to the mtgs either and the only side you know it RM. As for response time they are only 1-8 mins that is only in the city of SF not Brandon. The times to get to Brandon were much longet than that like 18. This was brought up at the mtgs. You need to look at the BIG picture not just RM BS
October 14th, 2007 at 9:54 am
#59 Current medic (Jay).. Could you please just get the picture Huron and Aberdeen did not want you and neither does Brandon. Its just time to put the ambulance issue behind you and maybe think about starting a business that you are more qualified to operate like a car wash or something.
Just think about it Jay, if you do get the Brandon Contract, would you feel right about it? because you know that most people dont approve of your company. You will never compare to RM there is no way.. You are like a K-Mart trying to compete with Walmart.
October 14th, 2007 at 10:37 am
More like Dollar General trying to compete with Macy’s…
October 14th, 2007 at 11:36 am
Current medic,
OMG. You don’t even make any sense.
You are saying employee’s never see the board unless they’ve done something wrong?? Are you for real? THAT’S THE WHOLE POINT OF AN OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE.
You know what? This poster isn’t worth my time, it’s tragic. People of Brandon, just re-read current medics rants, and misstruths and ask yourself…is this really the kind of medic I want tending to my family?
October 14th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Just wait and see the truth shall come it is obvious you people are not in EMS of any kind or have not been there long. If you have such crap to say or questions call someone that has the true answers like Jay himself get balls to confront the issues ot just keep complaining on this blog that goes no where. #61 we’ll soon see where you’ll be shopping!!
October 14th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
What’s wrong with you people?
October 14th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
We the people of Brandon voted on this issue of allowing another ambulance to come here. What’s the problem??
October 14th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
People thought they voted on a competent ambulance service…Not MED-STAR
October 14th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
There is no evidence to say that one paramedic on scene vs two has any outcomes in patient care.
One medic just drives anyway. So having two paramedics on the truck makes no difference. It only lets one medic do less work on a call.
In fact, when you have two paramedics on an ambulance, the research shows that they spend more time on scene when they should be transporting.
So, while it’s nice for crews to have two paramedics on a truck, patients don’t benefit.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
#66 We voted on opening the doors for any service. How do we know that Med-Star is not the right one? They had good recomendations from the VA and Sioux Valley social workers. Lets give them a chance.
October 14th, 2007 at 8:34 pm
#67 I would be interested in knowing where you are coming up with your statistics. You either know nothing about pre-hospital care, or you are — like so many others — trying desperately to confuse the issue.
Stabilizing a seriously sick or injured patient requires more than just loading them and leaving the scene. Intubation, IV starts, rhythm analysis, med administration, needle decompressions, et cetera, are just a few of the ALS skills needed. When this type of care is left to just one paramedic, the scene time is going to be significantly increased, OR the patient isn’t going to get the care that is really needed to properly stabilize them. Also, it is not at all uncommon for an ALS crew to ask a police officer or other qualified first responder to drive the ambulance.
If you were fully versed with ALS operations, you would know that with each call, one paramedic takes the lead, and the other is the ‘doer.’ If the scene time truly is extended with two paramedics, it is because a second IV is started for someone with life threatening fluid loss. Or, more time is taken to ensure proper tube placement, i.e. capnography. The list could go on and on as to why two paramedics are onscene a few minutes longer, and ALL of those reasons have to do with NOT delivering a dead patient to the ER.
Again, I would love to know where you are getting your information. I sincerely hope that you are not a member of an ALS service. Even more…I hope you are not just tossing these statements out there as a means to distort an already distorted issue.
For those that are being so aggressive about promoting a different ALS service for Brandon, you still have not answered the three basic concerns:
1. Will there be a medical director with priviledges at the SF hospitals?
2. Will there be an ALS level response for multiple calls?
3. What will be the experience level of the paramedics?
You can trash RM all you want. You can trash those that are writing in opposition to this ambulance ordinance all you want. But you STILL have not offered SOUND SOLUTIONS to the true concerns that people have with this issue.
October 14th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
#66 Was that stated No Med-Star? What makes you think they are not competent? Do you know these people and their knowledge?
October 14th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Current medic…what do you mean by “just wait and see? The truth will come?” What kind of rhetoric is that? You said, “Have the ‘balls’ to confront the issue? Ask Jay himself” Ask him what? Many people have been asking for months now and we still have no answers.
You claim to be a current medic by your title, yet with all of your posts you sound very uninformed. In fact, in my opinion, you sound like an angry Med-Star employee, or someone that DIDN’T get hired by RM, i.e an axe to grind. My opinion only.
Your tone is starting to sound very threatening. What if someone DID confront Jay, or the city council? What’s going happen then? Fisticuffs? Retribution of some kind? What if this ordinance does come to pass and Med-Star is the appointed service? Will they NOT show up or give the same service to those that might have ‘had the balls’ to confront him?
If you really are a medic, you might want to tone it down a bit. You are doing more harm to Med-Star than anyone by writing such antagonistic, boorish comments.
October 15th, 2007 at 5:20 am
Can anybody tell me how the Brandon Fire Department feels about this issue?
October 15th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Officially they will tell you they will work with any service…personally only 1 fire dept person is employed by Med-Star and supports them
October 15th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Jay, here is a scenerio for you. There is a Code-3 car accident, 4 people involved all needing medical care. You arrive with one or two rigs and all other rigs are on transfer calls. The third patient is transfered by care-flight, who do you call to transfer your fourth patient? and what is there response time?
October 15th, 2007 at 7:35 am
#71I worked for RM for 7 years Jay has told anyone through the mtgs that he would answer questions about his service at anytime.
#72 Brandon Fire has done training alon side Med-Star and have invited them to many events they are supportive on what ever happens.
#73 I know who you are talking about and he does not work for Med-Star. He is in charge of the Fire Dept.
#74 If there are 2 rigs there 1 rig takes 2 pts and the other takes 1
October 15th, 2007 at 7:52 am
Have any of you that are so against Med Star called and voiced your concerns to Jay? I bet you haven’t. Back when we had the public vote to bring in an ambulance service, I stopped by to ask Jay some questions. He was nothing but courteous, professinal and informative. (and no, I am not a Med Star employee or Jay’s relative…just a concerned citizen who wanted some questions answered) I feel we need to do what the public wanted to be done, hire an ambulance company. If any of you have concerns, why are you not contacting Jay and voicing your concerns? When I did, he was very informative. He has since told me not one person from “the other side” has EVER called and spoke to him. There are a lot of grudge holders out there who do not want both sides of the issue told. Lets move on people, we voted to do this and lets get it done. Give Med star a chance. I know after meeting him and his staff and seeing his rigs I would be very comfortable having him take me or a family member to the hospital.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:01 am
Jay, the real question was who would you call for mutual aid and how long would it take for them to get to the scene. and for #76 move on and give them a chance? please, we are not talking about something little these are peoples lives that are at risk. What if they are as bad as it seems? then what do you we do? I bet you will be on this blog complaining that MedStar sucks and we need a new ambulance service. Why take the chance they have so many strikes against them already. We are not smarter then the committee, the committee basically laughed at Med-Start, TRUST THE DR’S on this one. I have no beef against anyone in this town, I just moved here not long ago. So as an outsider looking in, I say why take the chance…
October 15th, 2007 at 8:04 am
#75…Please, FRED T is not in charge of the fire department. He is a reg firemen/EMT that should have been dismissed from the Dept when he handed out that letter. Fred thinks he is god on the dept but he is nothing. The Fire Dept would still have the best Fire Chief in the state of South Dakota if it wasnt for Fred.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:14 am
#68 resident,
Where did they have a good recomendation from Sioux Valley social workers??????? Answer truthfully now.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:47 am
#76, Very good post.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:48 am
#76- All I will say to you is that you have not educated yourself on this subject. Did YOU read the report the oversight committee gave the council? Did you read the report from the first committee in 2004? Are you more qualified than a panel of physicians?
What people refuse to accept here is that this decision shouldn’t be made on an emotional level, it needs to be made on an intellectual level.
Who told you that it’s all grudge holding??? Jay himself?? That’s his MO, nobodys likes me, boo hoo. He’s been saying that for 15 years and the excuse has worn out it’s welcome.
You say you met him and his staff (and saw his rigs) did you see them in action? Starting an IV, intubating, interpreting a rhythm strip? NOTHING BUT THAT MATTERS. Use your head not your heart.
I refuse to take a chance on a service that has a poor track record. I think it’s perfectly acceptable to take chances on other sorts of business BUT NOT MY FAMILIES HEALTHCARE. It’s too risky, but if you’re comfortable, great. I hope it works out for your families sake.
October 15th, 2007 at 8:55 am
current medic,
so you’ve obviously gone up against the REMSA board since you seem to know that you only see them when you’re in trouble.
The FD publicly accepts any service, they have to. Privetly is a whole ‘nuther story.
Another lie. You say he doesn’t work for Medstar. Since when then???? He himself admitted he worked there.
If one ambulance takes 2 patients then 1 paramedic is taking care of 2 critical patients? Nice.
Answer the question about your mutual aid “partner” And make sure the one you list is UNDER WRITTEN CONTRACT.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:04 am
#82 On flight I have taken 2 pt’s from an MVA that could not wait for ground transport. Guess that makes my skills better than yours!!And if there was someone else that could come in short amt of time then call then for help but if not use your own skills!!
#76 now there is someone who wants to know what is going on and went to the source, like the rest that want to know but only complain on this blog!!
October 15th, 2007 at 10:14 am
#83 Current Medic, would you like a cookie for your efforts.
I have figured out how I can avoid your joke of a service, I will refuse my service to Med-Star and just have some local EMT’S take me to the hospital in my personal car. Then, you guys wont get paid for the call, wont make no money and have to shut down. Wait a minute, you already cant afford to pay your employees, so it shouldnt take long for you to go under.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:46 am
*82 If you know so much about Med-Star then you should know he has not worked there for at least a year. My belief is you know nothing about being a medic maybe you are a want a be that knows little about EMS or just what you have been reading.
October 15th, 2007 at 10:49 am
Current Medic, if you want us to believe in your statements, why dont you man-up and tell us your name and then maybe with will be more open with you. If you are Jay then you have bad business ethics, you should be using your name and not down grading other companies. But after what I have heard about your company there is no business ethics in the whole station
October 15th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Same goes for you whatever….maybe you should let us know who you are too!!
Not a gambler….you are so wrong when you say I have not educated myself. I was “on the fence” before all this started and after educating myself (remember, I’m the one who went to Med-Star to tour the facilities and talk to Jay…have you done the same? I doubt it!!) I came to the conclusion that faster response times are my and my families top priority. Have you seen the paramedics for Med Star in action? How do you know that they can’t do a great job? At the last council meeting I attended about the ambulance issue (were you there??) Jay had all his paramedics that have 5 or more years expierence stand up. I believe 4 of the six did that. They take the same tests that your beloved RM guys take. I would say that your the one who is uneducated on the issue. You need to research both sides before coming to a conclusion. I did that, did you????
October 15th, 2007 at 12:17 pm
#87 I think that you have done your home work and there are alot of uneducated people out there on this issue and they just can’t let the past go and move on or gather the facts. I also believe that some of these entries are made by the same person just different name. Why don’t they come forth and say who they are? This will be a good topic for tonight at the mtg. I also believe that whom ever is making these entries has worked for Jay in the past and has a personal issue with him and his company!!
October 15th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
I could put on a pretty good show to if I was trying to get someone to vote for me or take my side on an issue. I was at the Meeting; I was at one time an EMT in another community and no longer practice since moving to the Sioux Falls area. #87 answer this for me then, are you more educated then the Dr’s on the committee? Because they suggested NO to the board. So your little tour of Med-Star convinced you over what Dr’s stated? Sounds like you are dumb enough to work for Med-Star!!
October 15th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Funny…Fred is listed on the application as working for Jay
October 15th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
#26 & #75
You have been beating your chest about how much experience you have but you have not mentioned why you were fired from RM and that you are driving over an hour to work in Sioux City because you lost your job here. Isnt it true that you hate RM because you were fired. Be carefull about telling half truths, they are as painfull as truths can be. My point is that the public deserves to be informed about issues like this and when they are informed by people who think they know it all, and who are bias because of past experiences (being fired) that tends to cloud the issues. Face some facts, the only medics working for Med star are the people that have to, ie fired from other places. Is that who you want coming to your house to care for your loved ones.
PS current medic, I do have a little experience, maybe not as much as you, I have flown for 2 major flight programs and the only service I worked for was primary 9-1-1. And I was never fired from any of them.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Regarding my post #79 that “resident” didn’t answer.
There was NO recomendation from Sioux Valley social workers on the report.
So why don’t you SHARE where you got that information?????????
Just as I thought, you’re not going to tell the truth about that either.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Whatever….I was at that meeting and I don’t recall the word NO coming out of anyone on the boards mouth. Were you there? Did you hear something I didn’t? No, I do not think I have more “expertise” than the panel did. I think they did a good job on the report. Except for the fact that they never talked to the company that they were researching. Doesn’t make sense to me why they wouldn’t do that, but I feel they did a good job overall. I still feel after reading the report (and yes, by the way,I can read, I’m not as dumb as you think I am) that having our own ambulance service is the right choice for this city. I will not respond anymore to this blog because I am tired of mean, spiteful, people belittling others. I won’t go there. Good luck to Med Star tonight at the meeting.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:51 pm
#91 I think you are lost we shall see how the card play out tonight. 2MAJOR flight programs whatever NOT!!
October 15th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
# 91 you have no point other than bashing people!
October 15th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
The vote will be 5-1 in favor of Medstar. For the simple fact that the council had their mind made up a year ago and the boys are stickin’ together. Thanks in advance councilman Mostek for your no vote, you’ve been the only realistic one thus far.
October 15th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I also feel the cards are against common sense and a fact finding committee picked by the council.
So Congrats to currentmedic and the medstar/city council team, now they approve Med-joke for operations tomorrow. You all have played the half truth game to a tee and trumped it with the emotions.
Lets see how long before Jay is at the city council asking for money to fund a 24/7 service? Remember his transport service can fund the operation.
October 15th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
I still haven’t seen any contracts with anyone for backup service.
911 communications say they must be on file.
October 15th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Jay says they are automatic - no written contracts necessary
October 15th, 2007 at 6:01 pm
To BS– You called it! How sad that the boys felt “stickin’ together” was more important than the safety and well-being of our citizens. If Jay really has such a “passion” (his word) for helping the citizens of Brandon, why couldn’t he at least have found a medical director with trauma experience? I don’t know the answer to that question, but my fear is that he couldn’t find one who was willing. For that reason, I would want our volunteer firefighters to care for my children in an emergency.
October 15th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
Also, thanks to Councilman Mostek for asking the other councilmembers to consider possible conflict of interst issues and excuse themselves from voting, if necessary. This was a wonderful idea. The only flaw in that plan is the need for those councilmembers to follow their conscience, which is impossible if they do not have one. I don’t dispute that legally, there was probably no reason not to vote, but what about morally?
October 15th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Or how about the fact that Rubin’s nephew is an employee of Medstars??
Smells like a skunk, usually is a skunk.
October 15th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
I have been hearing since January, directly from Jay and others with ‘close ties’ to Med-Star, that Med-Star would be ‘taking 911 calls any day now’…even before a public vote was taken. In Jay’s exact words, “this is a no-brainer, a done deal, in the bag.”
This ‘deal’ was decided on a long time ago, and it would seem nothing is going to keep Med-Star from getting this contract.
No amount of common sense, facts, recommendations (or lack thereof), is going to stop this backroom deal. The city of Brandon is not big enough to support a service. The one and only service that has applied for a license in Brandon comes up woefully short (medical director, second ALS units, experienced medics) in having the creditials to operate here, or anywhere else, for that matter. When questioned about this, Jay and the city council will not address these issues. Yet….it would seem Brandon is going to get Med-Star…against all reason…no matter how many lives are at stake…no matter how much opposition is raised.
So be it. Just remember how important it is to get out and vote next time the council member that represents your district is up for re-election.
October 16th, 2007 at 8:14 am
I would first of all like to thank councilman Mostek for standing up for what he believes, no matter what the good ol’ boys think. It could not have been more apparent how the vote was going to go last night at the council meeting. It was almost like the whole thing was staged, a rehearsal was done before they even sat down. Shame on you Mr. Rubin to sit up there and not have a conscience. If you don’t have a legal conflict of interest, you certainly have a moral and ethical conflict. And it is apparent our new council member has had his arm twisted by the rest. Mr. Kloster I wonder how long you thought about this before voting. The simple fact is, in my opinion, the ordinance is poorly written. The council wrote this ordinance for Med-Star, not for the citizens of Brandon and what is in their best interest. Mr. Karber you said it yourself at the last council meeting, “I made a mistake”. Well instead of correcting those mistakes and writing an ordinance to serve the citizens, 5 of you on the council went ahead and got your “buddy” into the city. There is no doubt that Jay Masur and his staff are compassionate about caring for people, all people in public service are. The big question is, do they have the tools to complete the most important task, caring for somebody’s life. I guess we will see how the next year goes..I only hope it doesn’t cost someone’s life to see how it goes…Thanks again Dan for standing up for what is right…
October 16th, 2007 at 8:44 am
Like the old saying goes “Well there goes the neighborhood”
Well Jay congrats I guess you got the contract, now you better put your quality of service where your mouth is…You tried in Huron and Aberdeen and failed, better not be Brandon to.. THREE STRIKES YOUR OUT buddy
October 16th, 2007 at 9:14 am
If there was ever a motivation to wear your seatbelts, work out everyday, and eat your fruits and vegetables to keep healthy this is it! Anything to keep Jay and his crew from my door!
October 16th, 2007 at 9:21 am
AMEN LUTHERGIRL!!! Tryon gym is going to have to expand with all its new memberships that are going to be rolling in!!
October 16th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Drive yourself to the Husets Parking lot and call 911 - it is outside of city limits. It was safe for alderman Karber to drive himself to the hospital.
October 16th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Ok on keloland.com health page the article states that med-star will charge anywhere from $300-900 per call and it also states that Metro dispatched RM 192 times to Brandon. It says that they will have 12 paramedics and 11 EMT on Staff.
192 calls x $900.00 = $172,000
12 paramedics salary $20,000=$240,000
11 EMTs salary $15,000 = $165,000
$405,000 Salary Expenses
Income: $172,000
Plus, all the other expenses on his rigs. Tell me how he can afford to run in this town.
October 16th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Most of his calls are Nursing Home and VA transports which are sure money from the VA, Medicare and Medicaid, probably $200 - $300 a call depending on how far they need to transport. He probably makes about 400K per year with those runs. Although since he manages a laundromat on the side, I don’t think he’s rolling in the cash when you consider the cost of his insurance, building rent, utilities, etc. He’s going to lose big bucks on 911 calls, but don’t worry, our honorable councilmen won&#