WANTYNU

What amazes me most about the EMS profession is the total isolation from the rest of the medical field. Yet, ….

RNs and RRTs have greatly expanded their roles. …. This are well educated RNs/RRT who have an entensive set of protocols to work with as established by a medical director.

…..Also inside every progressive (and even those that aren't) hospital, RNs/RRTs can have impressive protocols to where calling a physician is not necessary. Yes, some are diagnosis driven … If you actually look at the Paramedic protocols, many of them are generic. They can be applied to many different situations. Inside the hospital, we do use different information to guide the protocols. ….. RRTs (and RNs) don't wait for a physician to intubate or give meds in a code or respiratory failure situation. ….

In CVICUs/CCUs/MSICUs/NICUs/PICUs there are extensive protocols for almost any situation that arises even when we don't have "definitive" diagnoses. Yes, there are emergencies in the hospital also. A doctor is still the only professional that can make a medical diagnosis. Paramedics and other professionals make a working diagnosis for their own scope of practice. ….The professionals, RNs and RRTs, on these teams have extensive education, training and skills that are truly impressive. They definitely do not fit under the "palliative care" blanket statement. .....

If you do not truly know another profession's capabilities, don't stereotype all the professionals within that profession. If you do make blanket statements about some other profession then don't get upset when the same is done to your own profession.

WANTYNU, please don't take offense to my statements. Your comments gave me fuel for a little rant that also goes along with a couple of other recent threads on the forum.

Vent, first don’t worry about me, I have had far worse beatings on this site, then a little ranting from an experienced point of view.

Second I have done and continue to do CC transports, so I don’t consider myself all that isolated from what happens on the floors (as opposed to the ED, which admittedly many EMS providers never get past).

You and I may have advanced training and degrees, but I looked back and this was a discussion of education for paramedics compared to other disciplines, and I still maintain a 2 year degree is, a 2 year degree, and even suggest that a medics 2 year may be superior to that of a basic intro LPN, because the latter’s education basis is palliative care.

I make no argument that there are individuals that are better trained and have more authority than their counterparts with the same title, take the Nurse PRACTITIONER who can write limited scripts as an example, but again the foundation of their training evolved from a different route of medicine then say a PA (who has the same script writing privileges).

The unfortunate part of this discussion is in the noted limitations of “Paramedicine” as a career (btw which is not an “official” designation in Emergency Medicine).

I work in a busy urban environment, at a very progressive hospital; I admittedly do not possess the viewpoint of what the majority of this country’s EMS face and deal with, case in point a one Doctor ER…

As always IMHO.

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

Uncomprehending when they have heard, they are like the deaf. The saying describes them: though present they are absent.

Heraclitus

Don't be so hard Dust, through open forum, enlightenment can be achieved.

-w

So it would seem based on recent discussions here is top 3 for what is holding back EMS.

1. Money

2. Education

3. Nobody can even agree to disagree

Spenac first thank you for starting this thread, it is so important to put this issue on the table and open it up.

I see it in a slightly different order with one more item:

1. Nobody can even agree to disagree

2. Education

3. Money

4. ACTIVE / INVOLVED GOVERNMENT Representation

All items are important, but in my view, one leads to improve the next.

Thanks again for starting a GREAT thread!

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

Wow a brain surgeon, kind of. :wink:

Yea, it was in the early 80’s, worked in a lab that experimented on primates mostly, (I WISH I only entered data...) I’m not proud of it, pretty much the reason I didn’t push on to med school. Did help create a special drill that saved a guys life, still not worth what went on in the labs. After all that, funny where I am now.

Payment for sins of the past.

-w

hint to WANTYNU, I believe Vent is very familiar with degrees and college, university requirements. She holds a degree in EMS as well graduate degree in cardiopulmonary studies, so in comparison to knowledge of educational systems, I believe she holds quite a bit of knowledge.

R/r 911

So you mean the year I spent as a neurosurgical assistant at the Bronx VA hospital NY , my studies in undergraduate medical science, with subsequent Bachelors Degree and advanced Degree in computer science were wasted?

Bummer.

-w

You will never find I don’t argue …

Of course I did a sterling job of demonstrating my education with that sentence…

-w

Hobbits, where are the Hobbits, you can't have ground trembling earthquakes and middle earth without hobbits....

-w

This would be more medic level questions, not pre-medic entrance exam.

Don’t get hung up on the specifics, just because they name certain drugs, the questions don’t ask for effect or are the choices correct, they’re really only math questions. You stated you were looking for word questions, not pure math (6/2=3).

Take another look, they not as hard as they seem, and you are testing for aptitude, after all, the purpose of a word problem is to see if the person taking the exam can pick out the relevant information.

-w

Wow, OK, well then first you should know I read and like your posts, I always find them educated and well informed, however I’m not sure what you’re saying here, it seems except for a couple of statements, we basically agree, and where we don’t, you’re entitled to you opinion as I am mine.

For nursing, the equivalent of a 2 year degree is required. For the paramedic, it is not. Except for a couple of states where the 2 year paramedic degree is required, there is usually the certificate option for the paramedic in the colleges. This also allows the colleges to be competitive in attracting students in areas that have many medic mills.

I think we’re in agreement here, as I’m not talking about what is not, but what is, as in you can compare one two year associates degree with another, in both quality and substance.

This is about the only statement you’ve made that I find potentially insulting, so I blame myself for reading it wrong, I’m not sure what you saying here, are you saying College is easy?

Do you have a degree?

Are you making the assumption that all studies are equal?

The average semester is composed of 4 or 5 subjects carrying between 12 and 16 credits, 21 credits was 7 subjects not all didactic. Still a student spends 20 -30 hours a week in the classroom.

My medic program was 20 hours didactic, 16 to 32 clinical per week not counting extra time spent in the ED and OR practicing skills. Add to that a full time 40 hour job, and that’s a minimum of an 80 hour week, every week, for 10 months.

In truth the easiest part was the patient care.

Again, I think we agree here.

Yes I have, and these are customized per patient, by the treating doctor, they are not based on a RN or RT diagnosis , as I stated earlier, only the doctor can make a diagnosis in a hospital. However Paramedics are required to do so, outside the hospital (this is a crucial difference).

I don’t argue this point, as we are limited to our treatment by our standing orders, as it should be, as we are not doctors, however, the variance in what we can do county to county much less State to State is an issue that needs resolution.

So I don’t see a disagreement here.

Again, I think we agree here. I’m only saying the insight we bring into the hospital with the patient is often overlooked, as the connection is not made that we first see the patient as they are, in a neat well cared for environment or filthy and unkempt or noncompliant with a treatment regime, was the trauma thrown, of safely buckled in with no glass breakage nor deployed airbags?

We can complete the picture, if asked, that does affect patient care.

No, I'm afraid you completely misunderstood me, just as Mike was misunderstood. My point was to clarify that misunderstanding, but apparently I failed.

Our place is EMS. EMS is not nursing or Respiratory Therapy any more than it is firefighting. … I am saying that it is OUR domain on the ambulance, but not in the hospital. I am saying that we have no business asserting that commonly heard idiocy of, "well, I'm a paramedic, so I should be allowed to work as an ER nurse because I know more than them!" And similarly, we have no business trying to establish a clinical practitioner level for paramedicine when two other professions already serve that function much better than we could ever hope to.

By saying we should know our place, I was only attempting to clarify what Mike said, using his terminology. Perhaps I would have been clearer if I had changed the terminology and said we need to know our purpose, not our place. And the purpose of EMS is EMS. …

I hope that is clearer, because I really don't think that we disagree.

Ya know, you never fail to surprise me, just when I think you couldn’t be more wrong, I see you couldn’t be more right.

I think you and I are getting hung up on this “Practitioner” wording, as you noted, I also look at the ambulance (may I say Pre hospital setting) as our domain, we need to own it, it is ours and ours alone.

When I say Practitioner I am only trying to raise the descriptive language to that of other fields, as I feel strongly we are a specialty in and of itself.

If my statements were viewed to imply that we start providing non emergency care, let me clarify that home palliative treatment should be left to the visiting nurse services. As for the folks that want to work in the ED, let them take tech or nursing classes, or go to medical school… for me the less time I’m in the ED the better! (did you know there are SICK people in there?)!

Thank you for your post.

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

Considering that, it is positively ludicrous that so many wankers sit around and have a toss over establishing an "Advanced Paramedic Practitioner" level to rival PAs and NPs. Give me a break! Without a foundation, we will never build to that height. … Every job we take that is not EMS, dilutes our purpose and our strength. It dilutes our public image, because it muddies the waters. The more jobs we try and take, the less sure society is of what we do.

I fully agree with you. We do need to know our place. Our place is on the ambulance. … Until we put down the crack pipe and commit ourselves to concentrating one hundred percent on our prime mission -- EMS -- we are going nowhere. And if we insist on alienating the other health professions by trying to encroach upon their territories, we will never have their support, which we desperately need. THAT is what "knowing our place" means.

We should know our place… ??!?

I usually like your posts, but you missed the side of the barn with this one.

So by your language since I sometimes transport people on a vent, I should have a RT with me, drips, a Doc, or RN, plus there is no need for EMS on tactical teams, USAR or SAR teams, DAT teams, Airports, Transit, or any where there isn’t a transport.

Where is our place? Just on a Bus, then bring back the MVO.

Of all people, you’re a self stated professed history buff, you tell me in the past when the statement “Know you place” is a good thing?

The folks that should “put down the crack pipe” are not the ones talking about establishing a new “level” of practice (requiring a degreed education), it’s the ones who are essentially saying sit-down, shut-up and like what you’re served.

I thought of a lot of ways to respond to this post, and have rewritten it a number of times, to take as much of the rancor out of it as possible, as I said I respect your opinion, but feel very strongly you missed the mark on this one.

On a side note, you have been the author of some the most insightful, thoughtful and intelligent (if not prolific) posts on this sight. But as of late you have taken on a decidedly acidic and negative tone.

You once said you respected my opinion, so please don’t take offence, but nearly 8000 post in 30 months? That works out to nearly 10 a day, every day with no breaks, ever.

I’ve been to Texas a number of times; it’s a beautiful state, put things in perspective get outside and get some sun.

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

You're kidding, right? This is the Canadian EMS discussion forum.

Just lucky, I guess.

One question? So WHAT! Who cares, it's not like we're smuggling illegal aliens across the Texas border....

Incognitogirl, you don’t have to apologize.

-w

I am looking for suggestions on types of problems, there are currently no word problems but I was thinking about adding them in, as part of doing medication calcs is picking and choosing what information you need for that problem.

Give these a try:

1. Ordered: Trilafon 24 mg po bid.

Available: Trilafon concentrate labeled 16 mg/5 ml.

How many ml will you administer?

2. Ordered: SoluMedrol 100 mg IM q8h

Available: Vial 1 ml in size labeled 125 mg SoluMedrol/3 ml

How many ml will you administer?

What size syringe is best to administer this dose?

3. Ordered: Ampicillin 400 mg IM q6h

Available: Vial with powder. Label reads: For IM injection, add 3.5 ml diluent (read accompaning circular). Resulting solution contains 250 mg Ampicillin per ml. Use solution within one hour.

How many ml will you administer?

4. The physician orders Lasix 20 mg IV stat for a child weighing 34 lbs. The pediatric handbook states that 1 mg/kg is a safe initial dose. Should you give this dose?

5. A child with a BSA of 0.32 M2 has an order for 25 mg of a drug with an average adult dose of 60 mg. Calculate the child's dosage. Is the physician's order correct?

6. Ordered: Infuse 2 L of Lactated Ringers solution in 24 hours. The administration set has 12 gtts/ml. How many gtts/min will you administer the IV?

7. Ordered: D5W 50 ml with 20 mEq KCl to infuse at 8 mEq KCL/hr per IV pump. How many ml of solution will you administer per hour?

8. Ordered: Gentamycin 100 mg/100ml IVPB q8h. The IV handbook states that it should be given over 90 min. What rate will you set on your IV pump?

9. Ordered: Nafcillin 900 mg IVPB q6h for a 27 kg child. Available: Dry powder in 1 g vials. Admin.. set: 60 gtts/ml. The vial states to reconstitute with 3.4 ml diluent to produce 1g/4 ml with concentration of 250 mg/ml. The medication book recommends giving a concentration of 100 mg/ml, duration of infusion 10-20 minutes.

How many milliliters of the reconstituted medication will you draw up for each dose?

10. How much fluid will you need to add to the medication drawn up in question 9 to achieve the recommended concentration?

11. What rate (gtts/min) will you infuse the medication in question 9?

Good luck!

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

Oh, I forgot the RT's. They wear green.

That’s just to hide the infected phlegm.... :tard:

-w

New York, New York.

So nice you have to say it twice.

-w

I find myself asking why we can't just get along?

Because debate and discussion, with the recognition that the other party has a point is something adults do.

I believe I have said this before, but of course it comes down to money. However I believe the right medic and EMT-B can make a great team and partners just as a doctor and a nurse, Nurse and CNA, Nurse and RT, cashier and sacker. It isn't called a team for nothing. Even when you have two paramedics that crew together I believe that they swap out the calls and one fills the EMT spot and the other as the Paramedic.

In the systems with paramedic only how is the pay and finical condition of the company compare to regular ALS service? Just curious. I would thing that we can't charge the patient more for two paramedics rather than one but we still have to pay both at the paramedic level. How often are two paramedics needed for a patient, and why can this not be filled by responding another medic or supervisor? I understand why we do not have many paramedic only rigs. This may just be a side note but I thought I would throw it out their. Too many Chiefs not enough Indians.

Money is always a factor, but (in a perfect world) it should not be when concerning patient’s treatment.

In a case of Paramedics, the adage “Two is better than one” is true. The reasoning is simple, because Paramedic DIAGNOSE a patient’s condition, and then TREAT it, this is invasive, and if done wrong can have detrimental outcomes. When in a hospital environment you often see two or more doctors confer on a diagnosis, before they start a treatment regime.

Why deny this same benefit to the patient in the field?

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

I think my last post needs some clarification; I did NOT mean a name (title) is important as in “Call me Paramedic SIR!” (However ask a Doctor if their title is important…).

I meant that our identification is as a SERVICE that provides prehospital emergency medical care and not just a taxi with lights is what is important.

Paid vs Volunteer is a separate subject, but is important to the folks that make a living as providers, (as I’ve stated in previous posts).

Personally I think we should all be called Medic’s, as that would be easier for the public to understand.

As for what level of service we as individuals can provide, that is up to us to identify and understand.

-w

I would like to offer my opinion... given my nearly 30 years of EMS experience that includes volunteer, paid, EMT, Paramedic, Instructor, hospital based, helicopter, chiefs etc etc. I have developed a bit of an opinion like most other type "A's in the business....

... EMS personnel must understand where they stand in their own shop before they try to compare themselves or get parity with nurses etc. EMTs with 120 hours of education must stop asking for equal pay to a nurse, police officer, or FT Fire Fighter. Paramedics must follow that lead as well.

EMS as an industry should develop its own pay scales and industry standards. One simply cannot compare 120 hours of class to 4000 hours of class ...

Lessen the negativity (as mentioned above) and increased self regulation with clearly defined missions, educational requirements, and standardized certifications or licensing.

We must stop EMTs from thinking they are paramedics or nurses and we must stop paramedics from thinking they are nurses or physicians. We are who we are and we must accept it. ... And yes... we may have to suffer the pain of knowing that the minimum may be a BA/BS for a paramedic who wants to "practice". We must accept that there will be areas that are served by volunteers. Though I do agree that we should not EVER lessen our standards just because they dont get paid.... after all it was their choice.

I apologize to anyone I may have offended... that is definately not my intent. This topic will be a hot one for many many years.

Nursing in most states is a 2 year program; and there are many 2 year Associate degree paramedic programs with more following.

My program was 1800 hrs, (the equivalent time of two years in college) with that said I also have a four year degree, and truth be told, the Medic was harder, as it was more intensive then when I carried 21 credits in advanced science (Bio, chem., etc), as that was over in 5 months, and I had time to drink beer, while my medic program was 10 months, of 4 days a week of class (not to mention clinical rotations) and I worked as an EMT full time.

But I stray:

I agree this field is in the same disorganized position nursing was 30 years ago, I disagree “we should know our place” and we will never be positioned to demand the same salary as other patient care services.

Hippocratic medicine has long put doctors at the top, this is changing, nursing has come a long way, but is still taught under a completely different system then Doctors, palliative care verses definitive treatment. Unless by obtaining an advance degree (more hours but still working under a doctor’s license) a nurse cannot even give an aspirin in the hospital without a Dr’s OK, there are no “standing protocols” for nurses.

A PA’s training is more like what a Dr goes through, yet it is still 2 years in length. I have long thought this (nursing / medic) was a bad comparison in the first place.

Better is the respiratory therapist, (many examples on this thread, no need to repeat them).

I’ll give you there is a point with the basic EMS curriculum, but I don’t think you find a EMT-B comparing themselves to doctors on this thread (which would be missing the point as well), as most of the posts have been suggesting raising the education standards anyway.

30 years in EMS is an admirable sacrifice, however with all due respect your view is skewed. About 20 years ago, hospitals (because they were failing on a business level), began to hire business people to run them, these folks had a different view point, and the statement “because we’ve always done it that way”, no longer held water. Hospitals have since changed and so have the metrics we measure them by.

I put forth the same is needed in the prehospital field, and change is brewing, but as of yet, it is not organized.

As it is today, Paramedicine has changed from the Johnny and Roy days of calling for a blood pressure, and popping the green vile for the blue patient, to the requirement and practice of real clinical diagnostic skills. The ability to make a judgment on one’s own and effect a treatment for an unassisted diagnosis is required and expected.

Every day we come one step closer to becoming true practitioners, the amount of education required for the advanced Paramedic specialties is enormous, that our pay has not caught up with the responsibility is just a factor of recognition, and a growing symptom for the need for change in how we're viewed as a branch of medicine.

In medical school, they teach prospective doctors what nurses do, they don’t even mention paramedics.

It’s far and away time we were given mention.

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

PS. Still a GREAT first post! Please stay with us. -w

As for me being a "Black Cloud", please remember that I have been "in the game" over 34 years, 23 alone with a Volunteer Ambulance Corps, overlapping with 5 private non-911 ambulance services, and 23 years 911 municipal EMS.

4 plane crashes (only described 3 of them here), an invasion of illegal immigrants swimming ashore from a tramp steamer, numerous house or apartment fires, assisting at 2 births (both girls), submersions, drownings, shootings, deaths...I actually have no idea how many calls I have been on, what types, how many hours I racked up at the VAC, how much overtime, voluntary or mandated, that I've gotten, miles totaled up on how many ambulances.

Figure it this way: When New York City gets nuked, my ghost will be manning an ambulance, somewhere on "the other side"!

Yup, I guess when you condense it all, it adds up to a whole bunch of teeth jarring in the back of a moving bus meeting potholes.

Somethings got better, some remaind the same and some got worse, but the big apple no matter how you slice it, will continue to dish it out, long after you and I have left it's streets.

I guess even if everyone left, the city would have stories to tell.

-w

ambulance driver....who cares the ones who matter know that truth!

sometimes i like driving more than dealing with people

Because coni, some folks here rely on their jobs to feed their family, and (hopefully) pay their mortgage, and in most cases for far less than their counterparts in PD and FD do.

What is in a name?

Will Shakespeare wrote: in Romeo and Juliet "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". - (Act II, Scene II)…

Ambulance driver does not begin to touch the description of what we do, and what we need to accomplish in order to have the privilege to do so.

Names are very important, especially when the public has neither understanding nor perception of who we are and what we do.

I won’t delve into American history on what a “Name” can do, one just needs to look at recent movements focused at doing away with certain “Names”, for evidence that more than just a few people think a “Name” produces a stereotype, which in turn can be very damaging to the people it is associated with.

There is a very old saying, ‘Perception is EVERYTHING…”

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

P.S.:

Just how much or how little education do you need to save lives? Way to offend about 40 people on your 4th post. Excellent job.

The answer: obviously none…. Just push the stuff with the purple cap when your patient is blue…

Grananimals for ambulance drivers…

-w

While not well, I know a few members of NYPD Harbor. By the GWB, from the NJ side, is that handled by Fort Lee PD, or another agency?

Rich, so do I which is why I made the statement…. However, I should have clarified when I stated “fight over” as not over possession, more like a game of “hot potato”, that IMHO seems to be why the DOA’s end up at the Dyckman dock (NY side, regardless of the side of the bridge they jump from…) as the NJ folks don’t take possession very often….

-w

… I'm talking a full on, nationwide, awareness campaign. A media blitz. TV commercials, magazines articles, newspapers, internet, billboards,etc. And get some famous people involved. The Hollywood types love "pet" causes and often need our help. Start contacting all of those who have been helped by EMS and get them on board. Sounds expensive? It will be. But just like anything else, it takes money to make money.

This is the point in my previous post when I stated “How much is it worth to you”. When you ask why is this not happing?

Look in the mirror; we are responsible for our fate, as it obvious no one else knows or cares.

I could say put pressure on management, but once in the driver’s seat, your priorities change, including keeping costs down, an inexpensive replaceable work force is key to that mission.

Although we may think our skills and knowledge came hard earned, the public does not know and therefore cannot understand. If you have a patch on your arm, stethoscope around your neck, and drive an ambulance, you are just the same as the next crew, regardless if it says volunteer or paid, EMT or Paramedic, it’s one day or 10 years old.

So again I ask, how much is it worth to you?

In addition to the degree program I proposed a few posts back, I would like to include another mandatory 3 hour class. It would include:

1. the history of EMS

2. an overview of healthcare professions

3. how medical legislation works

4. how to stay informed about medical legislation that affects EMS rather than the glaring general headline makers

5. how funding and benefits are lobbied for and by whom, why and for who

6. local, state and federal taxation structure and funding for municipal, county and private

7. how medicare and private insurances provide reimbursement

8. how national medical organizations fit into the various professions

9. what role unions actually play in professional healthcare

10. the dilemmas, of both the insured and uninsured, to accessing the U.S. healthcare systems

My EMT class had items one and two…

The rest you’ll find in just about any economics 101 course at a local college, ahh talking about that degree thing again, this costs money and time which until there is a publicly perceived need for EMS practitioners to have a college degree, will not be required or funded.

IMHO

As Always,

Be safe.

WANTYNU

P.S.:

A public education programme geared towards separating EMS from "public safety"...

Dust, for most things EMS I usually am in agreement with you, however I don’t understand your point here. I feel professional EMS is part of the public safety “response group” that any municipality should have available for its citizens, in the same light as PD or fire.

In your view why are we not part of public safety?

-w

Sorry about the double, the system crashed...

No pun intended?

Man you are a black cloud! I'm glad I'm just "hanging in the happy heights", things are way too busy in your neck of the woods! (had a guy do a nose dive over the clifts by 153 and Bradhurst Ave today) not my job, but I figure you might have heard about it.

Semi related to that we get jumper ups all the time at the George Washington Bridge, sometimes they turn into Jumper downs... if they don't land on the rocks, it's interesting to watch NY and NJ harbor fight over them.

last one that did hit the rocks (about 150 feet and held together), the tour before mine had and one of the BLS cut this guys down jacket off... I couldn't understand where the stray feathers came from and why I was sneezing the whole next tour, until the earlier crew called to let us know.

-w

So here we are again, with the old question, why buy the cow when free milk is all around?

A universal theme seems to be, get rid of the volunteers, a nice idea, but I’m sure you’d get more than a little protest. (Not only the volleys, but the towns being serviced by them).

More than a few of us have heard the saying; a city is willing to pay more to remove their trash, than take your loved one to the hospital.

It was an interesting earlier post saying that city’s essentially had better ALS care with less need for it then our rural counterparts, I tend to agree, I worry about my family in the “burbs” all the time because I know they are served (?) by an all volunteer group, so as far as response time, level, and experience it’s catch as catch can, not acceptable in my eyes.

I recently had a discussion with a friend that lives in a very expensive and exclusive county, and they were surprised to learn that a homeless person on the street in my neck of the woods would receive better and faster care, after all, they pay a LOT of taxes…

Again back to an earlier statement, to make changes will require educating the public, when folks find out what their tax dollars are actually buying, I think the problem will correct itself.

The problem is Public announcements require money, and lots of it.

So going back to my previous post, if an organization, whose sole purpose, or mission statement, was to run public information ads, and later on lobby local government, so the PUBLIC finally understands what they’re NOT paying for, and how much that non investment is ACTUALLY costing them was formed.

What is that worth to you?

How much would you be willing to give out of your hard earned paycheck to educate the public and raise the standards of your fellow EMS professionals?

Folks, forgive me, we can talk all we like about changing the standards under which we work, but at its end this argument will all come down to money.

IMHO

As always,

Be Safe,

WANTYNU

[/font:9aaa0ad5dd] Our service has been in the press but not for good reasons. There were recent allegations of scene misconduct and now that is all we are remembered for. But other wise we get a mention on the paper if we transport on a vehicle accident.

An excellent reminder that how we act as individuals affects the reputation of us all, if we want to be treated and paid as professionals, we must act accordingly.

I was the Director at the time in a service vastly smaller than NYC EMS. In any event, there is no professional organization that permits rank in file employees to speak to the media at will. The very basis of ICS requires an organized flow of information that has at least been approved by by the IC. …

Before you infer that those on the ground should be allowed to speak without the benefit of knowledge consider the impact when things are poorly received or the news isn't good. It seems everyone wants the spotlight when they can assume the role of hero but only the administrators are worthy of the spotlight when things are bad.

You cannot possibly hope to engage in recklessly releasing information without the associated responsibility. Fortunately it wasn't a democratic process and voting on adhering to the policies wasn't an option.

I understand you were the “big fish in a small pond”, so your responsibilities while not being on the same scale as a large municipality, covered as broad a reach. Speaking to the media is never easy, large or small, as they are looking “for the scoop of the day” and will hang you on the inflection of a word much less the word itself.

Keep in mind though, you are not the only one on this board that carried (or carries) the mantle of responsibility for others.

This thread is intended to be a fun means of swapping stories and experiences with jobs that made the media. It covers all ground from well known jobs and misquotations, to just getting the whole story upside-down.

As Always,

Be Safe

WANTYNU

Just wait until you are an administrator! For five years it seemed as though I spent more time with the media than with my family or the folks that worked for me. Now I simply go to work, do my job and go home. "Living large and loving life again" I suppose...........

I'm from NYC, the only folks that speak to the media are FD chiefs, regardless of the job.

Besides, the point is not to hear from the folks talking about a job they were TOLD about...

It is to hear from the people who ACTUALLY got their hands (o.k. gloves) dirty...

-w