Has the time come to nationalize all public safety services in the USA?
Look at Federal Express, UPS, McDonalds, Wendys. Walmart, Bank of
America, Sprint, etc - all nationwide service providers that get the
job done.
Then look at public safety - each village has its own chief, budget,
tactics, SOPs, radios, etc. Overlap and redundancys probably account
for 25% to 50% of every dollar spent.
What can be gained by nationalizing? Large amounts of waste can be
cut. Savings can be plowed into technological improvements. Such as
GPS for every portable radio. Think of the thousands of lives that
could be saved every year by integrating boundary drops, AVL/GPS, and
CAD systems. Think of the millions in losses that can be prevented.
Just taking 5% of the savings and plowing it into research could save
billions in the long run. When was the last time that anyone studied
the potential savings from enhanced safety or prevention efforts in
the USA? When was the last time that any public safety leader from the
USA did a world tour to see what other countries were up to? When was
the last time that NIST or FEMA sponsored any useful research?
"Fire cant be pushed" - is that the new research? Has anything changed
in the USA in the last 200 years in regards to building construction
and fires? Do you think that Benjamin Franklin didnt knoiw that fire
couldnt be pushed? Of course he knew it. All he had to do was watch
his local FD in operation. Spray the water thru the window, and watch
what happens. How hard is that?
EMS is all about "best practices" and "evidence based protocols".
Evidence based? What have we been doing for the last 50 years in EMS?
Voodo based protocols?
The down side of nationalization is the loss of local adaptability.
The loss of the ability to effectively operate in the local
environment. But how much difference is there between a heart attack
in Alaska, and a heart attack in Florida? How much difference is there
between a bank robbery in Boise and one in Boston? Is the loss of
local adaptability really a big deal? How do Walmart, Fed Ex, Coke,
and Papa Ginos stay in business? Even the drug kingpins find a way to
get their products from Columbia to Podunkville in a consistent
manner.