Help is On The Way

Imagine for a moment, you feel a little pressure in your chest. You think it will go away. But the pressure is now pain and you wish the elephant would get off your chest. The little elephant has invited mom and dad elephant to join him on your chest. Your left arm and your jaw are really hurting now.

Your significant other, calls 911. The dispatcher says help is on the way.
The fire engine arrives.
"Where is the ambulance?"
"We don't have a driver for it."
"When is the medic unit coming?"
"Oh, the medic unit was transferred to another station. But they should be there in 20 minutes!"
But you need not worry. You'll probably be dead long before that. Brain cells start to die after four minutes.

Prince Georges County is hurting for money. All departments are hurting for money. And all departments have to make budget decisions. The Prince Georges County Department of Fire and EMS has decided that when paid medics and firefighters are on furlough or need to use sick leave, the department will not bring in extra staff to man the equipment.

The department also claims that service will not be compromised. Does the Fire and EMS department have a Crystal ball to know where and when a fire or an accident is going to occur? If a department has two to three paid staff from 7Am to 3PM who drive and man the ambulance and engine, how are those units going to respond when there are no drivers?

In just a couple of minutes, a little fire can become a very large fire. If your house is on fire during the day, the fire department may or may not arrive in time. If your house is on fire at night and you are lucky enough to live near a volunteer department, you will have more of a fighting chance for them to save your home!

If you are having a heart attack during the day, good luck! If the medics arrive in time to keep you from becoming a vegetable, count yourself lucky that no one was on sick leave or furlough.

I feel that cutting the budget of the Fire and EMS department is wrong. Lives and properties are going to be lost. The county must give back the casino and bingo nights at the volunteer firehouses. The county must make sure that the fire departments have safe and reliable equipment to fight fires and save lives.

The Prince Georges County fire department says that this year alone, they are $500,000 over budget in overtime.

Just wait until Prince Georges County is sued for loss of life or property. That $500,000 will be like a drop in the bucket compared to the lawsuits.

The next time you call 911 and the operator says that help is on the way, ask if the operator will put that guarantee in writing!