MARS: "Mutual Aid Response System"

There once was a little pig called MARS. He was the system set up by the FDNY administrators to send jobs to and recieve requests from EMS agencies not affiliated with the Fire Department, or field requests from agencies for additional resources, including ALS, Fire, PD, HazMat, and more. Unfortunately this little pig is dead, and we're not talking about freshly killed. No, we're talking carcass hit by a bus years ago, and all that remains is a clean little skeleton that the flies have long since left.

You see, as one of two volunteer ambulance agencies headquartered in Manhattan, and the only one in service 24/7, we are relatively small. We have a group of eagar college students by day / EMT by night that staff our single ambulance. Mainly, we serve the campus: but since the university is the third largest landholder in the city, that area is relatively large. We crank a good 700 calls a year.

OK, enough shameless self-promotion -- The real problem is Big Red has a very long history of not paying attention to or establishing links with other agencies in the city. While many agencies outside of the Manhattan proper seem to have more success, within the city, there is not much support. Here are the problems with MARS:

1.) No Training -- Us college kids have never been trained in using MARS by the Fire Department. What we know is limited to what gets passed from the Seniors to the Freshmeat.

Solution: One FDNY rep could spend an hour talking about how to and when to inplement the radio system*

2.) VHF -- The Fire Department is on VHF. We're on UHF. MARS is essentially a radio based system. There is a work around where we use our cell phone to call the MARS number, but that's just ridiculous! Can you imagine calling a dispatcher on the phone only to tell them that you're 10-XX.

3.) 10-Codes. They're all different. 'Nuf Said.

4.) It's easier to call 911 -- Yes, that's right. Our current system for when a drunken 250lb. football player starts wailing on my crew. Step 1: Run! Step 2: Dial 911. Step 3: Dispatcher sends an RMP (Radio Motor Patrol -- The guys with guns!) AND another BLS unit.

5.) BLS arriveth -- #1 reason to call for help: Request ALS. #1 response from FDNY after requesting ALS for our patient through 911: BLS car.

6.) Computer Assisted Dispatch -- Yeah, we don't have it. Do you know what it costs to put one of those systems in your truck!?! Unlike the Voluntary units (for-profits), the Fire Department (the professionals), the volunteers don't make money (we don't do cost-recovery), hence we can't afford toys.

7.) CPMU has NYPD -- The other volunteer EMS unit in Manhattan is dispatched by NYPD. Their radio system works just fine: it the police system! (Might I mention how odd it seems for every other agency in the five boroughs to talk with Fire, but the Central Park Medical Unit talks with Police -- even if it is the Central Park Precinct.)

8.) Disaster Strikes! -- Please don't, hopefully it won't happen again, but the way things are going, it's bound to sooner or later. Then what?

Someone help!



*PS: Any fire folk out there: Could we borrow your training academy? We've looking for a place to do EVOC.