ValleyVote Update for 01-17-01 |
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The city council and the lack of Paramedics which is still un unsolved problem.
Today we take our annual review of where we are and how much progress our community made in 2000.
At the beginning of the year, we set out a Top 10 list of goals that we thought Greater Los Angeles should strive to attain -- items that would vastly improve neighborhoods and lead to better cities.
Focusing primarily on Los Angeles, our premise was simple: Los Angeles is not a world-class city, but it would be if leaders would take control and work a lot harder to actually improve the quality of life for everyone.
Growth needed to be better managed. Education, economic opportunity, traffic -- all needed attention if Los Angeles was to move forward.
While there was incremental progress in many areas during 2000, there was more talk than action. More attention must be paid and more movement forward must be made on virtually every goal on our list. We've given grades in terms of how we rate the progress that was -- or wasn't -- made toward each goal. They included:
1. Honest and responsive government. The election of a new county district attorney, who promises to kick down the closed doors of governmental agencies and make them stick to the law, looks like the most exciting change in Los Angeles County government in a long time. Let's hope he keeps his word. Otherwise, little progress. Overall grade: C.
2. Planning for growth. Lots of talk. Lots of court action to prevent, or at least curtail, the massive Newhall project. But little action by Los Angeles County supervisors. Grade: F.
3. Education At the beginning of the year, we had high hopes for reviving the dying Los Angeles Unified School District. But the so-called reformers on the Board of Education seem to have lost their way. When will they ever learn? Grade: F.
4. Economic development. At the beginning of the year, we noted that Los Angeles' exorbitant and unfair business taxes and City Hall's anti-business attitude chased away thousands of jobs. With the city's double-taxation policy, that's more true today than ever. Hey, City Council, it's the economy, stupid. Grade: F.
5. Traffic congestion. Gov. Gray Davis successfully passed a transportation budget that includes $2.2 billion for Los Angeles. OK, show us the money. The public's still stuck in traffic -- waiting for long-term solutions. Grade: C+.
6. Air traffic. The irony about air travel in Los Angeles is the tremendous impact it has on life on the ground. A new plan for LAX expansion finally recognizes that reality, and it targets regional airports as part of the solution. One small step for sane and sensible growth. Grade: C+.
7. Transit. This year was not kind to people dependent on public transportation when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus drivers went on strike for more than a month in a pointless and costly labor dispute. And Gov. Davis made it harder for the Valley to form its own transit zone. Can anyone in city, county or state government spell R-E-L-I-E-F? Grade: F.
8. Public safety. Crime is up. Gang activity is up. Homicides, rapes, aggravated robberies are on the rise. The Los Angeles Police Department is imploding from scandal. The city can't attract and keep enough good officers. There was one positive: the Fire Department finally fessed up to needing more paramedics and firefighters. Grade: D.
9. Power to the 'hood. The battle over neighborhoods is where local control and quality-of-life issues will get real in Los Angeles.
The city inched toward setting up neighborhood councils, but so what? No matter how hard they try to make them effective, the reality is that they are advisory and have no real authority over their own destiny. Grade: an incomplete.
10. Community life. This is the ultimate goal: Making Los Angeles a proud, sustainable community. This will happen naturally when power is shared and better solutions are found to the city's problems. Grade: ?
Please rate last year's progress yourself and think about how you can contribute.
Are these grades good enough for your city?
Coming Monday: What does the Greater Los Angeles Area needs to accomplish in the year 2001?
Re "An SOS From Los Angeles' Lifesavers," Dec. 17.
The plight of Los Angeles' paramedics can be
traced to one reason; the hiring practices of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
I recently participated in the emergency edict to
hire 100 paramedics for the LAFD. I was a 25-year veteran L.A. County paramedic
applying for the job. I was told by the captain who interviewed me that I was
the highest experienced paramedic he had ever heard about applying for the job,
and how much of a prime candidate I was. I dropped out of the hiring process
because after eight months, this "highest experienced candidate" would
have been terminated and my paramedic career would have been over because I
would have basically burned my bridges with my current employer. There were
dozens of paramedics like me who didn't bother to apply because the LAFD would
have used us for a few months, then discarded us because our appointments were
temporary, not permanent positions.
The LAFD needs to go back to its former practice and hire single-function paramedics. Single-function paramedics don't want to be firefighters. They want to be paramedics exclusively and are willing to do the job and its functions. Literally hundreds of experienced paramedics like myself are willing to man the LAFD's rescue ambulances, but the department insists on only hiring firefighters for permanent positions, not paramedics. I am not a firefighter, and I have no desire to be one. I am a paramedic, and a damn good one.
Firefighters do not want to work on the LAFD's ambulances. They want to promote up the ranks. They want to become engineers, captains, battalion chiefs and higher ranks. They know that once they are assigned to the ambulances, the critical shortage of paramedics (an LAFD problem since the 1970s) will ensure that they never see a firefighter position that will result in those highly desirable promotions.
The LAFD continues to place bandages on arterial wounds. Sorry guys, but the patient is still going to bleed to death if you don't address the real problem.
If the LAFD used an accelerated process (as in the emergency hiring of those 100 paramedics) and guaranteed a permanent, full-time position with the department, there wouldn't be a shortage of paramedics. If I haven't burned out in 25 years, I doubt I would burn out now. If paramedics like myself were hired, there wouldn't be a shortage.
It was sad to read about the plight of paramedic
Max Hengst. Max and I were partners in San Marino back in the 1970s.
With that in mind, I would like to tell the
captain who handled my application packet that as soon as he guarantees me a
full-time position with the department--instead of an eight month
temporary--I'll be back to accept.
LOUIS C. FARAH Burbank
The Los Angeles Fire Department has a problem on its hands, but one City Hall doesn’t want to acknowledge:
Not enough firefighters and a worse shortage of paramedics.
The paramedic shortage is so severe that those working face burnout and high stress levels, raising the risk that overworked paramedics could make more mistakes on care.
A recent study found that nearly 32 percent of paramedics surveyed showed stress levels of “serious concern.”
Because of staffing shortages, paramedics are required to fill shifts with as much as 100 hours of overtime a week. That’s not a healthy situation for either the paramedics or the public.
But instead of answering questions and reassuring the public that they’ve got a plan, Fire Chief William Bamattre and other top officials are refusing to publicly answer questions, apparently hoping the flames of discontent will go out by themselves.
At public relations, the Fire Department is a disaster. This is the same department that riled Angelenos a year ago with a threatening letter demanding a $13 brush clearance fee, or else. Later, they had to back down and rescind the demand.
As a department, they failed to demand the proper staffing ratios and then whined that police got all the city money and attention.
The Fire Department isn’t what it used to be, or needs to be for the future. With safer building codes and better alarm systems, the demand for fire services is not as great as it once was.
The focus now is on, and most calls are for, paramedic services.
And despite L.A.’s vast size and population, it has fewer paramedics per capita than San Diego or San Francisco.
As an oversight body, the City Council should have realized that staffing wasn’t adequate. There’s been little noise from council members over staffing shortages or how it’s impacting public safety as well as the health and welfare of paramedics and firefighters.
It’s time to ventilate a department that’s in danger of staffer burnout. Let’s hear from the fire chief. What gives?
By Jordan Smith, Staff Writer
Early data from a Los Angeles Fire Department study suggests paramedics are critically overworked and stressed, raising questions about their safety and the public’s, the Daily News has learned.
As part of an ongoing stress evaluation conducted by the Fire Department’s psychologist, nearly 32 percent of paramedics surveyed showed stress levels of "serious concern," officials said. "It’s not just about their bedside manner, but their ability to make decisions, provide services and even drive well," said Dr. Mark Eckstein, department medical director.I have very serious concerns about the impacts on the paramedics, their burnout and their ability to perform effectively."
Fire Chief William Bamattre and other top Fire Department officials declined to comment or did not return repeated calls for comment.
Robert Scott, the psychologist who administered the 200 anonymous self-evaluations this spring, said preliminary data from the incomplete study raise serious concerns. "The workload is heavy and high, causing individuals not to recuperate," Scott said. "The sample was more than adequate to represent the entire paramedic force. It gives us a sense of where we are at. "We need control groups to make sure that our concern is appropriate and accurate."
Despite the early findings, union officials said the department has not pulled paramedics out of service because the department is so short- staffed. "The problem has reached real crisis proportions," said Councilwoman Laura Chick, former chairwoman of the public safety committee.
"I’m disturbed and concerned for the people being pushed over the limit and the people whose lives depend on them. The leadership of this city, in the Fire Department and in the city’s administration, have allowed this to go on."
The study comes as the department scrambles to hire 51 more paramedics, with as many as 150 needed for a full staff. Without enough staffers, paramedics are required to fill shifts with as much as 100 hours of overtime a week. Paramedics and union officials said nearly 350 medics must be hired to reduce overtime and stress to safe levels, as well as to improve the quality of service to the public.
Officials agreed more paramedics are needed. "We had the hiring freeze and the workload got heavier while the work force got lighter," said Fire Commission President David Fleming. "It’s going to take a long time to make up for this."
Other cities, including San Francisco and San Diego, take immediate steps when they recognize that paramedics are dangerously stressed or overworked. And both cities have more paramedics per capita than Los Angeles.
"We instituted a deferral program where after a certain number of calls, we don’t send the same paramedics to nonurgent calls," said San Francisco Emergency Medical Services Chief Richard Shortall. "That way, we can be sure they get some rest."
Union officials said a similar program could be implemented here, but that the department doesn’t want to acknowledge publicly the extent of the problem. "This wasn’t just discovered yesterday. Management has known about this but there’s been no discussion of it," said Ken Buzzell, president of United Firefighters of Los Angeles City.
Paramedics who took the psychological exam said they were not surprised by the results.
"They act like they don’t know this exists. They know what it is, but they ignore it," said one paramedic, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. "The thing that hurts us the most is the arrogance and the denial. It’s a very cavalier attitude and a very bad combination."
Scott said he will continue more formalized evaluations that take into account the paramedic’s background and individual working environment.
He also said he wants to test another control group -- possibly another department that is not facing the staffing shortages of the Fire Department -- to see how stress levels compare. The study is expected to be completed within two months.
Re David W. Fleming's editorial on the Los Angeles Fire Department and its need for greater funding (Opinion, July 17). He hit the nail on the head when he phrased the question. Unless we have a police state, we will never have enough police officers to protect us. To take needed funds from the LAFD to fund the Los Angeles Police Department hurts everyone in the city.
I am fortunate that I live in Burbank where our fire and police services are always fully funded. [Both of these cities operate at a lower cost per resident that Los Angeles] Response is professional at all times -- even if you are on the wrong side of the stick, so to speak -- and it is incredibly fast. Service from professional firefighters and police officers go far beyond protecting our homes and lives. They educate us and our children in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, fire prevention, juvenile intervention, self-protection and a whole gamut of other subjects.
Yes, it's nice to have parks, fairs, street cleanup and all the special-interest groups that benefit the city. But, first and foremost, we need the vital city services of the fire and police departments.
-- Marilee D. Patterson, Burbank
It is inexcusable that the Los Angeles Fire Department allows its firefighters to put in so much overtime that it endangers their lives and lives of civilians. It is unbelievable that officials claim they don’t have enough recruits because of the long training period and overtime hours.
My husband, along with thousands of other well-qualified people who are on the waiting list of the LAFD, would gladly put in the long hours of training and overtime hours in order to be a firefighter. So why aren’t they hiring these people?
Why aren’t the 117 vacancies being filled by those people on the waiting list? This is yet another great reason for the San Fernando Valley to secede from the city of Los Angeles.
-- Sharon Person, Mission Hills
On a weekly basis, I must face the delirious doings of our infamous City Council, very small-minded people in very large jobs, who in the long run have done more damage to Los Angeles in my 30 years of living here than any other single factor as they huddle and wait for other politicians to die or meet expired terms so they can move up in a world of political sleaze.
Our streets in L.A. are only slightly above disgusting as far as repairs. Traffic is abominable. They can't even get rid of gangs that have overtaken our lives and they allow droves of illegal people, who pay no taxes, to live here, use our facilities and inundate our school system, which has been rendered helpless.
Do we mention a failed subway that will serve more roaches than humans? Do we bother to bring out in the open the fact our tax base -- (residents) who own single homes -- is fleeing the county because of what's being done to our lives with a major trash dump over the nearest hill and toilet water that will soon be in our drinking glasses?
City Council members are in-fighting individuals who fight for and against everything -- other than what the people need. Each one has her/his own sexual, political, gender or ethnic agenda that far supersedes we, the people, as a whole.
Yet we remain gutless voters who return these political atrocities to office over and over again.
Paul Vaughn, Van Nuys
AOL version 6.0 properly reads HTML mail . I would recommend it all AOL users to get the free update from AOL. It will make all your HTML mail work so you can see the formatting and highlights and use the jumps to see referenced documents.
But to fully see the update and use the jumps you need to go to the website http://www.ValleyVote.org/updates/index.html and read the update from there with all the information that AOL strips.
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