Jumpline magazine Q1 2023 - Flipbook - Page 48
48
I was There when it Happened Continued
We came up with the following call types: any routine call,
any MVC not on an expressway or major roadway, any assault not involving a weapon and any fall not including a hip
injury. This is to the best of my recollection as I can’t find the
original ASOM.
Chief Adkinson and I pitched our idea to the committee. The
Chair was Chief Ed Neafsey, Chief of Operations. Chief
Neafsey was one of the most respected chiefs in the department. He was a former Battalion 5 Chief, and he was a “fire
guy,” not even an EMT. Our discussions about the plan were
often very heated. Everyone had an opinion, and looking
back, I’m glad there was no social media. I’m not sure if
it was Duke or someone else who offered the Nike athletic
shoe approach to “Just Do It” to Chief Neafsey. Chief Neafsey didn’t agree initially but rather said he’d look things over
and consider it. To me, that was a win! A couple of days
later, I was called into Chief Neafsey’s office. Remember,
I was a lieutenant riding Squrt 11. I think I
feared Chief Neafsey more than I feared my
dad as a kid. In the meeting with the chief,
while I know there were others there, the one
person I remember most was Chief Keyes.
Chief Keyes stated that this is the direction
we are ultimately going with MPDS and that
this plan would be a good way to ease into the
change. Chief Neafsey said that he liked the
plan and that we were going to do it, BUT he
would like for me to conduct battalion meetings to explain the plan. His division chiefs
would be briefed on his wishes and would be
there to support the plan. As I attended the
meetings, in the evening on my own time, I’m
pretty sure there were plenty of the “fire guys”
that wanted to kill me. Many were not happy. While they
tried to paint me as a “rescue guy,” the fact was that I was
bid on Squrt 11, and I too would be impacted by this change.
It would be a very hard implementation. I can’t tell you how
many times I got a call, “Just went on an engine call and it
turned out to be a cardiac arrest….” I remember I got the call
that Squrt 2 had gone on an “arm injury” which turned out
to be an amputated arm. There was plenty of opportunity
to shelve the plan, but our department owes everything to
Chief Neafsey. He demonstrated true leadership and put a
Dave Downey, Ret.
lot of faith in a lieutenant he barely knew. We had to endure
the new normal of “that’s an engine call” and “that’s a rescue
call,” some of it still around today, but we accomplished what
we intended to do which was to better distribute the calls.
After the first year, the unit impacted most by the Modified
Dispatch Plan was none other than Squrt 11, MY UNIT. The
impact was on average, 2 calls per day. Hardly a tremendous impact.
How did we get Dolphins Field Training?
When the Dolphins moved from the Orange Bowl to the
facility formally known as Joe Robbie Stadium, MDFR provided fire and rescue watch for the entire stadium, all but
the players. The contract to provide transport for the players was with Randall-Eastern (now AMR). The NFL had no
requirement for a field team, only a transport unit. After a
game in the early 90s where a visiting team player suffered
a possible spinal injury, we had a visit at Station 11 from one of the assistant trainers for
the Dolphins. He stopped by to ask about
MDFR paramedics providing care and transport for the players. He was concerned that
more could be done other than simply transport. As luck would have it, I was there, and
I was a certified athletic trainer. In fact, prior
to coming to MDFR, I worked part time as the
athletic trainer for high schools in Broward
County. I was excited as I could see MDFR
being the premier EMS provider in the eyes
of the NFL. What was I to do with this opportunity? I called who else, Tom Quinn. He was
still an EMS Captain and more importantly, a
life-long coach and football referee.
Who would Tom lean on for the details? Who else but the
recently crowned “World Champions” in the International
ALS Competition: Downey, Strickland, Gardner and Jenkins. Tom would work through the bureaucracy, including
replacing AMR as the transport service, and we would work
on the protocols, procedures and training plan. We knew
we would have to be comfortable with the equipment players utilize and looked at what enhanced care we could provide. Around the same time as the station visit, there was a
February 2023 | JUMPLINE Magazine