Pacific Northwest

[Bryce]

I'd love more info about Seattle's Medic One program.  Are the AID units BLS? Medic Units ALS? Are they staffed with FFs, or EMS only folks?  And, any chance for some interior shots of those buggies?

 

To add to what Dave posted above, it's part of King County EMS, which is a countywide EMS program.  It's very different than systems elsewhere, including Pierce County, where I live.  In King County there are 5 ALS providers: Seattle Fire, Bellevue Fire, Redmond Fire, Shoreline Fire, and King County Medic One.  Seattle obviously covers Seattle.  Bellevue covers Bellevue and everything eastward to the county line.  Redmond covers Redmond, Kirkland, Woodinville, and all points east of those areas.  Shoreline covers Shoreline, Northshore, and Bothell.  King County covers all of South King County.  All ALS providers other than King County use firefighter paramedics.  King County uses 3rd service paramedics, but they are IAFF members.  BLS services are provided by the various fire departments in the county.  

 

There are very, very few paramedic units in King County.  Seattle has 7 medic units for a city of about 84 square miles and 600,000+ people.  The entire county has something like 25 medic units for 2.5 million people.  The philosophy is send medic units to serious calls and serious calls only.  You can see a recruitment video for KC Medic One here that will probably give you a good idea of the philosophy and culture:  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZwmBU8_Fs0

 

Depending on where you are in the county, you could be served by a fire department or district that still does BLS transports.  Most places have moved away from that, and use private ambulance companies for BLS transports.  There are no private ambulance paramedics in King County.  Any private ambulance that is designated advanced life support has a registered nurse, not a paramedic, and they pretty much only do interfacility transports.  You cannot lateral into the paramedic system in King County.  Every paramedic goes through their training program.  

 

The system has rightfully become a model.  There is a huge percentage of people here who have been trained in CPR, so the cardiac arrest save rate is very high in comparison to other places.  The system is funded by a countywide property tax levy of 33.5 cents per $1000 assessed valuation, which means a $300,000 house pays $100.50 a year in property taxes to fund the system.  The last levy passed with an 85% yes vote in November of 2013.