Combining the services

[kat]

I think Ambo's should stay separate as well... While they often come to our jobs, call numbers would spiral out of control if the "Volunteer Emergency Service" was being responded to everything bar law enforcement...

The ambos are vollies in a large amount of towns anyway so could be combined in one service in that specialised role???

[TillerMan]

Yes, good do sort of like america where the firies are ambo's aswell.

[corocfs]

I think Ambo's should stay separate as well... While they often come to our jobs, call numbers would spiral out of control if the "Volunteer Emergency Service" was being responded to everything bar law enforcement...

The ambos are vollies in a large amount of towns anyway so could be combined in one service in that specialised role???

but then there would be two ambulance services in the one state... defeating the purpose..

there is however a CFS brigade that is a first responder (pseudo-ambulance??) Salt creek (region 3)... due to the lack of ambulance cover in the area, the brigade respond WITH sa ambulance for all medical emergencies... however i think the only first aid equioment they carry is a basic kit..

[JamesGar]

Think they've got a bit more than just the standard first aid kit. I believe they are set to carry oxygen, are trained in basic airway management and have an AED (Automatic Electric Defibrillator). I also believe most of the trained personel who are involved at Salt Creek also crew the ambulance at Meningie and have the full SAAS Certificate IV in Basic Emergency Care.

[kat]

No need for two ambo services :-)

I was Salt Creek's GTO until our Brigade changed Groups two days ago :-(

I may be uninformed (maybe you know more Adam) but I doubt very much their crews have the Cert IV (although they train with Ambos every two weeks) and I am 99.9% sure they do not have defib. And I am not aware of any Salt Creek CFS members who crew the Meningie ambulance (it is 60km away). Maybe James you know someone down that way and can confirm otherwise? I will be talking to their BTO in the next few days so I will ask also :-)

The way their Captain explained it to me was that they attended low priority incidents, performed basic first aid and determined if ambulance necessary.

Salt Creek has Kingston and Meningie within a reasonable distance. There would definately be many more fire stations that had ambos much further away.

Some US models involve paramedics attending as part of the fire service and the "ambulance" is basically a transport company.

[corocfs]

aaah kk, makes a lot of sense to carry an AED..
i dont know if the promotions site is the be asll and end all of info... btu doesnt sayu they carry anthing at all...

edit: and there doesnt seem to be any info anywhere...

[rescue5271]

I will ask some people what role salt creek have and will let you all know,but I did a AIIMS course not long ago and am sure that they said they did basic first aid and did carry o2 and where getting a defib unit, but I will find out

[Wagon 1]

No station in the CFS has AED's, only place is the STC at Brukunga.

[bajdas]

Hopefully the SAFECOM will remove some more duplication in admin, training & facilities for all services.

I have joined this website yesterday (22/11/2005) and am a SES volunteer in metro Adelaide. I have not fully read history of each forum yet.

But majority of the postings seem to be that the CFS history of Brigade management would be adopted. I could be wrong & would interested in reading comments.

From a volunteer Unit or Brigade management level, would CFS brigades be happy to give up some of their history in the way they operate. For example, in SES the Unit Managers are appointed, in CFS the brigade votes.

This is one example of the differences in heritage that would need to be resolved in any combination.

Personally, I believe the three SAFECOM organisations are too different to merge fully. I believe this was tried many years ago and failed.

Would a CFS brigade that merged with a SES Unit at volunteer management level accept that the ex-SES Unit Manager was appointed in charge of the new volunteer organisation ?

How would the amount of training each organisations volunteer members be assisted if we combined ? I am struggling to keep my six SES certificate qualifications valid and expand to new knowledge areas as is.

My suggestion would be to embrace the differences and continue the process to share facilities and recognise each organisations unique abilities via SAFECOM.

My thoughts & opinions only.

Andrew Mac

[mengcfs]

You are right Kat,
Salt Creek do not have a semi auto defib machine, they do carry oxygen and they do have more than a basic first aid kit. They don't have the Cert IV and are not part of the SAAS crew that respond from Meningie. They are all CFS vollies.
Adam.

[rescue5271]

You are correct adam,They have a very large first aid box's at the store that has more gear that what you would find in standard first aid box. The guys have not done any training with the ambos of late but there are plans to do this again soon,They have a brigade member who is a ambo and she is always able to help with there 02 update as well as first aid training. There are plans down the track for them to do CERT 5 and this covers auto defibs..

[Robert-Robert34]

It would be good to see Kalangadoo CFS trained in SAAS Emergency Medical Care/Treatment, so if an emergency such as a major RCR or medical emergency occurs within Kalangadoo township and both Penola & Nangwarry SAAS crews are somewhere else the brigade members such as myself can respond and give treatment whilst waiting for IC paramedics from Millicent or Mount Gambier to arrive

Oh yeah does anyone know if i can do CERT IV in Basic Emergency Care at Mount Gambier Tafe or do i need to become a SAAS volunteer

[rescue5271]

Robert both penola/nang are after more volunteer ambos but once again you have to be in the area,as for cert5 I dont think the Mount is offering it but you can do it throu UNSA from flinders or adelaide uni.Once again your area has good coverage with SAAS vols/staff,sure your brigade can do more training in first aid but you will find that you need to get the group and region to back your application for the brigade to be a SAAS responder unit...