EMS Arrogance

[spenac]

Some folks say that I'm egotistical.

Hell I don't even know what that means.

I guess it has something to do with

the way that I fill out

my skin tight blue jeans.

But, back to Mr. Larry... if "giving back" to your community is your true motivation, what stopped you? So they didn't like you at the volly corps? What stopped you from volunteering to drive a school bus? What about cleaning offices at city hall? Cutting the grass at the courthouse? Picking up trash at the parks? Putting away books at the library? Visiting people in nursing homes? Did it ever occur to you to "give back" in any other way than being an EMT? If I were that motivated to "give back" to my community, I wouldn't sleep until I found a way to do it. Perhaps you were motivated by less altruistic reasons?

Wow another post going the way of old country songs.

Don't expect a response, he's got his 3 posts for chat. Your right if the volly ems don't want him, he could help in other areas.

[john_boston]

That was a fantastic article, MadAxe. Depressing but every word of it was true.

Interesting to read that Mobile Intensive Care Units staffed by nurses were fairly common in the 1980's.

[fyrplug92]

Arrogance vs. Confidence

After fifteen years in ems, last ten as medic, and currently in ems mgmt, I have seen my fair share of arrogance. Confidence is definitely necessary to provide proper care; however, there is a fine line to be drawn before reaching arrogance. Most of those that I have encountered have not been able to see the line before crossing it. No one shows them. It begins in medic school, certificate or degree. The idea that you are responsible for more as a medic sets in, but it does not prove that you are responsible. As the new medic is released into the field for training, and I hope they're trained after school, the senior medic sets the example. The experience and expertise of the senior medic should dictate the attitude to be displayed by the newbee.

As far as the continued dispute over public vs. private, etc., the ems hierarchy is responsible for this. It will continue until there are no differences to be made. (i.e. who is mandated to the state's requirements and subject to inspection, and who is not.) Does being affiliated with a municipal dept entitle them to be exempt from state standards?

I have seen a lot of bashing back and forth of public vs. private. I have been on both sides of the fence. Neither one is any better than the other. The only differences are those they answer to.

If a poor dept, unable to staff squads, cannot provide for their people, and they happen to seek help from a private service to meet their needs, so be it. Ultimately the patient has received what was needed at the time. Yes, all are trained the same, initially. However, public services tend to be more capable of handling trauma or any other problem requiring more than two people. The privates tend to be more capable of handling what they can with what they have (masters of improvisation) to achieve comparable results (mostly geriatric medical emergencies with no verbal input). Does being affiliated with a private service mean that you are less capable or knowledgeable?

Take a career emt/medic from a public service and place them in the privates, with no previous experience in it. What would the outcome be?

Take a career emt/medic from a private service and place them in the public service, with no previous experience in it. What would the outcome be?

Disasterous either way, regardless of the scale. :-k

[AnthonyM83]

Man-power shouldn't be an issue here. FD would be there to provide man-power to privates, anyway. In some cases there would be a delay, but I imagine not often if they're dispatched concurrently to traumas/full arrests etc.

[captainstandup]

Not only should manpower be one of the issues here, IT IS, the issue here. This isn't only true in terms of warm bodies to fill open shifts, but should actually be competent educated, professional, articulate warm bodies with at least rudimentary clinical judgment and skills.

A question for AnthontM83. Why should volunteer first responders respond for free to do the heavy dirty work for a money grubbing private ambulance company?

Not to hijack the thread or anything of the sort, but practically speaking how can a community expect or demand the highest quality of prehospital care from folks that must focus on their primary job and merely serve in EMS as a hobby, for lack of a better way of describing it?

Pay attention to the next five prehospital folks. The most arrogant will likely fit into one of three categories. The first category includes those providers that I refer to as mutts. The ones that never pick up a book or attend classes beyond the minimum,

The second category are providers, educated and uneducated that failed to learn humility and grace as a child. The most arrogant we have are the flight medics in a local hospital system nearby. with few exceptions these folks are often critical of EMS, unkind to each other and certainly to their colleagues. These folks have one of the most sought after jobs in EMS and in return they give back crap.

Finally many of the most arrogant and uncooperative are often covering up incompetence and absence of skill.

[AnthonyM83]

I think I misunderstood the use of "man-power". Here we use that to refer to number of people on-scene....(I was saying if privates ran EMS and there a 400lb patient or an MVA with multiple patients, FD would be available to respond, since it's sometimes argued that the ambulance crew of two isn't enough)....but you mean actual staffing issues. Sorry, misunderstood what was meant by the term.