Is the FLY Car program still operating?

Engines only respond to most Segments 1-3, which includes, Cardiac, Choking, Drowning, Unconscious, Multiple Seizures, Jumper Down, Severe Injury's, Snake Bites, Burns, Electrocution, Major Injury's, Obstetrics and Ped Struck.
There are more calls coded as cardiacs, unconscious, and major injuries than you'd expect.
 
The fly cars are successful if for no other reason that they ensure a dual dispatch with BLS, freeing up ALS for more actual ALS runs if and when the run is determined to be BLS.
The real answer is give EMS, EMTs and Paramedics More Money so they stay. Also, more money will attract more people to join FDNY EMS. What is needed is more ambulances both BLS and ALS. A fly car that can't transport patients is not the answer. The idea sending FDNY Ladder companies will not fix the problem of delayed EMS responses. Do people trapped in a fire want to wait to be rescued because the Ladder Company or Engine Company, for that matter, because the 1st due Engine or Ladder is on an EMS run? FD unit should only respond to certain very critical EMS incidents, such as Major Trama, actual Cardiac Arrests, and incidents involving entrapment, collapses and serious M.V.A.s. The EMS dispatchers can be utilized to identify only those incidents where FD response is truly needed. This will mean changes in both policy and laws to improve the situation.
In addition to the FDNY I also worked as a Paramedic for a short time. Captain Bob Rainey FDNT Engine 26 retired.
 
The fly cars are successful if for no other reason that they ensure a dual dispatch with BLS, freeing up ALS for more actual ALS runs if and when the run is determined to be BLS.
So the BLS is being assigned at the same time as or in very close proximity to the time the ALS Fly car is being assigned ?

Are you guys waiting on transportation often ? I can recall that in the late 80’s and again in the mid 90’s we weren’t getting simultaneously dispatched with a BLS unit. That sometimes meant waiting for transportation with critical patients or at street jobs with non ALS patients and large unruly crowds. Neither situation was beneficial to either the patient nor us!

I think one can safely conclude that If the City runs 100% of its units (including the Voluntaries) for full tours and if the ER turnaround time is kept to a reasonable number AND units stop with the “unavailable” routine then for the most part with some exceptions like significant weather or some other anomaly the system runs and things are good.

Now if someone could only make that happen.
 
So the BLS is being assigned at the same time as or in very close proximity to the time the ALS Fly car is being assigned ?

Are you guys waiting on transportation often ? I can recall that in the late 80’s and again in the mid 90’s we weren’t getting simultaneously dispatched with a BLS unit. That sometimes meant waiting for transportation with critical patients or at street jobs with non ALS patients and large unruly crowds. Neither situation was beneficial to either the patient nor us!

I think one can safely conclude that If the City runs 100% of its units (including the Voluntaries) for full tours and if the ER turnaround time is kept to a reasonable number AND units stop with the “unavailable” routine then for the most part with some exceptions like significant weather or some other anomaly the system runs and things are good.

Now if someone could only make that happen.
A BLS is always assigned with a PRU, if none is available another ALS will be assigned. If another ALS is assigned and they're close enough we will be preempted off. If the other ALS is further we'll do the patient assessment and hand off.

Occasionally we'll have to wait for transport, but with one outlier exception which had more to do with the BLS than the program, we've never been stuck with a critical patient.
 
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