[glewis80SC]

John great questions I really don't know the answers to all of them. Yes there are alternative ways to save babies but in the lower income or homeless areas like I serve the Paramedic service is often times what they use for ANY pre-natal care. It is either at the delivery day or when complications arise, we try to educate but you know how that goes.

I'm not sure what the response time difference would be when you reduce staffing, we are going through that now with "brownouts". Due to budget cuts the dept. closes apparatus at stations on a rotation and the personnel are sent to others stations to fill vacancies instead of hiring overtime. We are also on a hiring freeze, the time of infinite money is long gone. The city want us to cut another 10% off out next budget.

The LAFD has FF/PM in every station so the infrastructure is all ready there for EMS, some cities/counties do hire out private Paramedic service I don't know if that saves money or not.

Working on an ambulance is not as exciting as a fire engine but there is risk in that too, TB HIV HEP C etc. Plus the number two killer of firefighters/paramedics is traffic collisions while responding or getting hit while on scene.

Like any industry the fresh candidate will go to the "firm" with the best pay/benefits so the quality of personnel could go down i suppose or you would get a larger attrition rate due to people leaving for better paying depts.

A lot of the time we have to "educate" people on what the 911 system is set up for, it is across the board rich and poor we go out on some of the dumbest calls, but we don't prioritize like PD, plus due to law suits against us for not going the dept. send us out on everything. If it not law enforcement related we are the ones that go.