• chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    You know how we make houses safer from fire? Fire Code and the IBC. Know how who enforces Fire Code? Fire Marshall.

    And it’s not only fires that require emergency vehicle access. If an ambulance is called to your house, the FD needs to know they can actually get it there.

    And what if there’s a utility outage and an excavator and crane are necessary? What if the street needs repair and a concrete truck has to get access? There’s all kinds of reasons large vehicles need to access homes.

    And none of that makes the streets less-safe. It increases visibility and gives more maneuvering room in an emergency.

    • pearsaltchocolatebar
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      1 month ago

      I don’t think the FD is responsible for the ambulance getting there. They are often the first responders because the locations are more distributed than ambulance dispatch.

      • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Paramedics generally work for the fire department, and ambulances are dispatched from fire stations. The driver on the ambulance is often just a regular fire department chauffer who drew the short straw and is working ambulance duty that shift.

        • pearsaltchocolatebar
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          1 month ago

          I guess it’s different depending on location. Here the ambulances are private companies and the FD has nothing to do with them

          • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            There are private ambulance companies, but those usually aren’t the ones that respond to a 911 calls.

            In most areas, private ambulance companies either handle non-emergency medical transport or have contracts with places like nursing homes where they’re needed often enough that they can offer a less-expensive ride.

      • resonate6279@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        It depends.

        A lot of FDs run the ambulance, a lot don’t.

        In my area ambulance is seperate from fire, but fire crew responds to lift assists and certain other calls where we may need a driver or another set of hands for CPR. Some departments respond with a pickup/brush rig, and other respond with the full engine, just depends on manning.

        St Louis City is one FD I am aware of that runs their own ambulance.