Bickering led to shutdown of Minneola Fire Department

More details have emerged about a dispute that erupted between a paramedic and a fire lieutenant during medical calls, spurring City Manager Sam Oppelaar to shut down the Fire Department for two days last week.

[N Arnold]

How petty can you get when some one is hurting and somebodys house might be burning down. Both should be fired, Im sure there are more compenemt people out there waiting for a new job and we dont need this kind of Childish crap going on to have to pay for.

[registered voter]

lake county was less expensive better trained
ive lived here for 19years and this fd is garbage
creating it was the dumbest thing one could do.
congrats to sam for doing the right thing.
fire these guys for lack of skills and professionalism

THANKYOU SAM FOR DOING A GREAT JOB!

[Procurator]

Keystone Fire Department needs to be closed and county to make the calls.

[joe]

It's time for someone to step-up !

[Minneola Mini]

STOP! The tail from wagging the dog. This is worse than stupid. We deserve professionals not self servers of Union fame. Time has come, its over now. You can stop this just as fast as you shut it down the other day. Shut it down and sell the equipment, you gona need the money to get through the depression.

[Woody]

Who huh huh heh heh.

[Greg]

The councilwoman is wrong. Dorbrowski doesn't need any help to look bad. He does a great job of being an idiot...all by himself.
He doesn't have a clue about managing a small fire dept. and the city manager doesn't either. Had the Lt. been educated in PM protocol on a scene, he wouldn't have made such a stupid decison. And..what kind of moron would want a PM to abandon a pt to set up a landing zone? Sounds like a bit of inflated ego.
The investigation should have been done by the fire chief or designee, action taken, and the city manager advised of the incident...at least that's how it's done in real cities.

[teeje63]

With so many out of work and needing jobs, fire these children who cannot play nice together, and those who are obviously on some sort of power trip. Hire someone who cares about and needs a job.

[Delusionole]

Is there a refund for the 48 hour closure?

[Jackel]

The bottom line is that Minneola Fire Department from the beginning has been a big joke and always will be a big joke...Get a real department in there to do the job...Lake County Fire Department..better service less money!!

[fedup]

Sette, a former firefighter with Orange County was trouble there also. Lazy and mouthy.

[loof]

What a mess! I can not believe a City Manager closed down the FD over a few ego filled events kinda make you wonder if it is needed at all). Fire the LT and the City Manager. Give the Fire Chief a class in leadership and Policy creation!... Better yet close the whole place and let the County take over the EMS care and safety of the Citizens.

[RN JD]

fedup wrote:

Sette, a former firefighter with Orange County was trouble there also. Lazy and mouthy.

Who is Sette ? I work Orange County. De he get fired from the county? Bunch of ass wipes. Im getting tired of the pricks. Fire Service is going down the drain.

[Dave]

Way too many egos working here. This appears to be a newly formed department that is learning as it goes. I'm just a dummy EMT B/C. One of my crewmembers would not ORDER me or their Lt. to bag a pt. They would ask, tell whatever you want to call it. We would jump on the bag as a team member, because rarely is something more important then breathing. We know the PM is in charge of Pt care, but the officer is in charge of the total scene I.E. safety, LZ, logistics. Why did Sette complain to another Lt and the City Manager???? He should have gone to the Chief. The Chief could have easily handled this and not shut a department for two days. If you were the Chief, how would you feel about Sette now? This could have been handled by the Chief, Lt and crew behind closed doors. Then some training. I feel something else caused this other then Sette ORDERING the Lt. to do Pt care.

The second incident was payback from the Lt for the first incident. Imature.

[Mark]

Dave wrote:

Way too many egos working here. This appears to be a newly formed department that is learning as it goes. I'm just a dummy EMT B/C. One of my crewmembers would not ORDER me or their Lt. to bag a pt. They would ask, tell whatever you want to call it. We would jump on the bag as a team member, because rarely is something more important then breathing. We know the PM is in charge of Pt care, but the officer is in charge of the total scene I.E. safety, LZ, logistics. Why did Sette complain to another Lt and the City Manager???? He should have gone to the Chief. The Chief could have easily handled this and not shut a department for two days. If you were the Chief, how would you feel about Sette now? This could have been handled by the Chief, Lt and crew behind closed doors. Then some training. I feel something else caused this other then Sette ORDERING the Lt. to do Pt care.
The second incident was payback from the Lt for the first incident. Imature.

During my time as an officer/EMT with OFD, I had many PM "order" me to grab a bag, set up an IV, etc. Usually, it's more urgency than ego but I can see how these morons could construe it as an order just as I can see a PM on a small crew like this one, getting a big head and barking out commands.
We had a protocol and as you said, each crew member grabbed whatever was necessary to help the pt. In my case, I was really, really good at "clipboard". I mean, someone has to write down the info.(I've actually done my share of the rest but after 26 years, I got very fond of 'clipboard' duty.
These guys should never have reacted at all while with a pt. If a PM barked an order, the Lt. should have helped out and later had a discussion with the PM about protocol. Arguing, admonishments, or any other out of ordinary discussions take place at the firehouse, not on the scene, but...these guys don't have enough calls or common sense to know that.
Stay safe.

[Randall J Moye Jr]

The winners of the dumb *** award will be shared by the city manager and the Mayor of Minneola.

The idea behind the ALS Fire Service is to save lives! I also believe the chief is the head of the Fire Dept. and should handle all issues with the Fire Dept.

[Jake]

As a student entering the fire service I have actually decided to use this in a research project I am writing. I think it shows a clear lack of leadership to allow this kind of thing to happen. While the city manager does have the power to suspend service, I think it's up to the fire chief to make sure that doesn't happen. The city manager and the mayor both attribute part of the reason for the closure to lack of communication. Maybe they need to take a hard look and communication from the deoartment to the city manager's office. Micromanaging on the city manager's part isnt going to resolve this situation.