Who should be responding to 911 calls? This is a topic recently discussed in an article on MSNBC titled “Firefighters face new threat: private 911 service.”

In a growing nationwide trend, private ambulance service providers are marketing to cash-strapped cities to take over services historically provided by the local jurisdictions’ fire departments. And emergency ambulance calls make up a large portion of the calls to which firefighters respond.

While the two groups are already working together in many instances, experts have varying views and opinions on whether for-profit providers put the public – and the jobs of the public servants hired to protect the public – at risk.

Not surprisingly, the MSNBC story reports that unions such as the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) have concerns about private EMS companies responding to calls. The IAFF sent out a bulletin to its members warning them of a specific private ambulance company’s alleged efforts to target municipalities in which budget deficits are well-known and the fire department’s resources are shrinking.

So, what’s your experience? Are private 911 service providers a presence in your community? And by outsourcing these services to a private company, are municipalities putting the public at risk?