Is FDNY Gambling with Our SafetyPOSTED: December 22, 2009 at 4:47 pm BY: Administrator |
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Everyone’s looking for ways to cut costs these days, but the FDNY has taken it a bit too far. According to the NY Daily News, Assistant Chief of EMS John McFarland recently cancelled all tune-ups on the department’s LifePak 12 defibrillators and cardiac monitors and ordered that all expired units are to be kept in service. This policy change seems to be a misguided attempt to save a little money while the FDNY looks for a new defibrillator contract. The FDNY claims that this policy does not pose a risk to anyone, but EMTs in the department are worried that relying on out of date equipment could cost a victim’s life in an emergency.
The FDNY deserves a lot of credit for all the lives they save with their rescue work. Their firefighters, EMTs and other rescue professionals are putting their lives on the line every day to protect the residents of NYC. The FDNY website has an impressive list of recent rescues (many of which involve treating victims of sudden cardiac arrest with defibrillation). The FDNY is all about saving lives. That’s why it’s so absurd for them to cancel tune-ups on this life-saving equipment. They are welcome to set up a new contract for a different brand of defibrillator/monitor, but why do they need to cancel tune-ups on the ones they are using now?
No one trusts milk that’s past its expiration date. So how does the FDNY expect us to trust their “expired” defibrillators?
