New AMR medic rig covering El Cajon

[Rescue51 44]

I believe that was AMR 436 (if I recall when I saw #).  There was a patient down on 2nd Street just north of Broadway in the old San Miguel 19's first-in.  What is interesting is 436 I thought was covering out of station 6's (which I saw it rolling code out of the other night).  The area today where this pic is from, would have been M8's first-in for ALS, then either M9's or Lakeside M3's.  Don't know if all the other rigs were committed so 436 rolled from 6's.  It will be interesting to see how fast El Cajon phases out their medic rigs and AMR ramps-up.  And interesting to see if AMR could get contracts with the other surrounding areas. 

[lkseng3 14]

AMR M436 is dispatched by Heartland.  AMR supplies the rig and the personnel that staff it.  And you are correct it does run out of Station 6.  I believe that call it was on, M8 was already on another call so with M436 in the system, it was pulled as the closet Medic.  The CSA 69 Medic units (2,3,4,5) don't run into El Cajon unless all of the El Cajon boxes (6 (436),8,9) are already committed on calls in the city.  Most of the time if a CSA Medic unit is running into the City and an El Cajon Medic unit becomes available, they will cancel the CSA Medic and respond to the call in the City.

[Rescue51 44]

Thanks 'lkseng3', you always provide good information!   Do you know if AMR M436 is staffed by a paramedic and EMT or 2 medics?   Does AMR M6 supplement the current M6 from El Cajon, or planned to replace it?   I see Santee's M4 often in the City of El Cajon rolling code.  The El Cajon boxes get overwhelmed, often in afternoons.  The entire system is on overload as the off-load delays are increasing at our area hospitals too, besides increased usage of 911 activation for too often BLS or less calls (lots of 5150 stuff).    Since El Cajon has a high residency of assisted care facilities, I am thinking the City of El Cajon should mandate, with county/state help, that each care facility keep a contract directly with both BLS/ALS private companies, and access those resources versus the full 911 activation with T6 responding out on these with high frequency (when E6 is busy). 

[619Emergencys 36]

I don't mean to butt into yours and lkseng3's conversation here but as far as I know AMR 436 has already replaced Medic 6,  I live in 6s service area and haven't seen it in about 2-3 weeks so i'm guessing it was replaced right away, also T6 is out for maintenance again and I don't believe E206 is being ran out of the station right now. Brush 8 has been running a lot medical calls recently and is actually the first out of station 8 with E8 being the second out, maybe not having E206 in service is the reason for Brush 8 running calls. In the last week SMG E7213 & E7211 were pulled into El Cajon for medicals and just today an AMR unit had to be called in from a distance because there were no medics available . El Cajon will definitely have to do something with the increasing number of medical calls they get and I think the idea you gave would be perfect because living just down the block from one of these assisted care facilities I see the FD multiple times a week at the location.

[mesabill 18]

I noticed on PulsePoint that Aid 6 is still being used. I also notice no calls showing E206, is Br8 running instead of 206 and if so out of 6 or 8

[lkseng3 14]

I'm kinda surprised why E206 isn't in service. El Cajon has plenty of Reserve Engines available at 9's the last time I was there.  I know they have been running with the Brush out of 8's but haven't heard the reason. Figured it was because E206 was out of service.  

 

619Emergencys I think you mean San Miguel E7611 from Mt. Helix that is responding into El Cajon.  I have heard them running into El Cajon a little bit more.  And I second the talk about the care facilities.  Those facilities are care facilities so you would think that the people who reside there would be receiving CARE.  But that's not the case.  And I do believe that there should be BLS rigs there that would transport those patients to the hospital given that there is not a need for ALS. 

 

AMR M436 has 2 medics. All AMR Medic rigs have 2 medics on board.

[Rescue51 44]

Thank you '619Emergencys' for the contribution/input/info.  Again thanks to 'lkseng3' and 'Mesabill'...always good stuff you write.  Yes, I have been hearing B8 running calls, and was sure if the crew for E8 was cross-staffing or if B8 had a crew in addition to E8.  I saw E206 the KME running code last week and figured that was the crew that otherwise would be on T6.  I've had El Cajon captains/engineers tell T6 is getting run into the ground because of the high volume of MedAids.  I also think it has something to do with the weight on the front suspension.  I believe they disabled the All-Steer capacity on the rig some years ago.  Many a$$isted care facilities are in this for PROFIT. Sad!  I would never warehouse a loved one there. 

 

I know Heartland Fire & Rescue is not going to foot the bill on a new rescue rig, but the rapid response rig concept, like San Diego Fire & Rescue is now using, makes good sense instead of depreciating the Pierce trucks (T6 and La Mesa T11) on medical runs. 

 

Good thing with AMR covering El Cajon is they have the resources to bring in additional medic rigs, though sometime at a distance.  I wonder if they are gonna pull in any of the La Mesa, San Miguel area, or Lemon Grove rigs into the Cajon Zone, or if that violates the agreements AMR has with those cities/agencies. 

 

El Cajon and Rancho San Diego has a very high Arabic speaking population (the bulk are Chaldeans who also speak in the native Aramaic).  Heartland dispatch might benefit from having some English/Arabic/Aramaic speakers since many 911 calls come into Heartland and the dispatchers cannot interpret the type emergency, if any, and often a full posse is dispatched when it turns out to be BLS or less type call.  Obviously call taker triage needs to be happening and a country-wide problem with all ethnic groups is the abuse of 911 and the frequent flyers using boxes for taxis.