12th busiest ambulance service in the country

[Clipper]

www.wktv.com/content/news/Uticas-Ambulance-Service-Among-The-Busiest-In-The-Country-525709921.html

Kudos to the Utica Fire Department and their excellence in providing emergency medical services to the community. I remember that there was a major conflict as to whether the city should be in the ambulance business. Obviously the service provided by the Utica FD has proven to be a worthwhile endeavor and a godsend to many whose lives have been saved. 12th busiest in the nation is quite a distinction when one looks at the size of the other cities on the list. Utica is also lucky to have a fire department that requires EVERY firefighter to undergo EMT training. I should be comforting to know that anytime that any fire department crew responds to any incident there are qualified EMT's or paramedics on board and the entire crew qualified to render emergency aid.

[kit]

I live in a HUD subsidized building with 94 apartments that's restricted to senior citizens and younger handicapped folks. Occasionally someone needs an emergency vehicle for one reason or another. 99% of those times it's the UFD Rescue vehicle that responds. The folks who man it are EMTs and do a great job in assessing a person's situation and in transporting them to the hospital. If a private ambulance is called, which is rare, it's usually just for transportation and not due to an emergency.

I do wonder, however, why there are usually 5 or 6 personnel present when only a couple of them are required, and why a huge fire truck always accompanies them and parks out on the street. Is this a requirement, and if so I wonder why?

[Deleted]

Kit I think it s so they can justify the price they charge for service. Much more expensive than Kunkle.

[kit]

I've never used an ambulance, PB, so I didn't know what they charge. I guess it's the same with ambulances as with most everything else... the bottom line. Follow the money. If there were a fire I'd certainly expect to see a fire truck, but when someone calls for a personal emergency situation, why send a fire truck as well as the rescue vehicle? And why so many personnel? The Green God of the Almighty Buck explains it.

But this begs the question of why, if Utica makes so much money, are there still so many pot holes in Utica's roads?

[Clipper]

Actually the reason for sending a fire engine is that often the engine company is closer and has a faster response time. The practice goes back to well before the city had it's own ambulance, but the justification still holds true. Kathy's mom was in extremely bad health prior to her passing away. On Several occasions she required emergency treatment and transport. We lived on Herkimer Road near Keyes Road. We ALWAYS, without question, saw an engine company arrive and stabilize her and have her ready to load into Kunkel's ambulance quite some time before the ambulance would arrive. Usually the engine came out of the N Utica station next to Humphrey Gardens, but on several occasions, the engine company responded from Central Fire Station downtown on Bleeker St.

People in Utica need to be especially grateful that you city requires all the firefighters to be dually qualified as EMTs and paramedics as well as firefighters. I am sure that innumerable lives have been saved by the fire departments quick response. Hard to bitch about the number of people on scene or the price paid if bottom line, YOUR LIFE IS SAVED by those people.

[clarencebunsen]

Probably safest to have more than needed rather than not enough.

[Deleted]

Guy in the other building who I see every now and then on the Bus used the Cities Ambulance service and he said they wanted over $800. He told them to eat the money since he could not and would not pay. I would do the same. Apparently they have many who cannot afford to pay them. I noticed that now the City ambulance comes all the time and I never see Kunkle. They used to show up whenever the City ambulance was involved.

[Deleted]

This is in response to Kit mentioning pot holes. That pot hole repair machine is being used somewhere in the City BUT I was shocked to see the roads in North Utica in the Braircliff and Cedarbrook Crescent area. Those roads were good and repaved 4 years ago.

[Clipper]

Was the person with the $800 ambulance bill on medicare? Just like doctors and hospitals, they probably bill high in order to get the actual amount they get for the service after medicare pays only a percentage. Secondary insurance then pays if a person has it, and what is left over quite often is not even billed to the individual. I often get the statements from medicare that show what they paid, what my secondary insurance paid, and a line that says "you may be billed." I have yet to be billed. I pay $200 a month for a Plan F from United Healthcare through AARP. There is zero copays and they pay whatever medicare doesn't. The only drawback I have with my plan is that it doesn't cover prescriptions.