Volunteer EMT-B's

[dkay72027]

I began visiting this forum to obtain information. There is rarely any new information, just the same old bashing of volunteers and EMT-B’s and I’s. Sometimes, they are insulted, not for their ideas, but for their grammar or spelling.

I am not a writer, and I do not have a degree in English, so my post may not be perfect, but I hope it will be easily read.

I am one of those pesky volunteers. I do not do it for personal acclaim. I avoid recognition, if at all possible. I don’t enjoy the adrenaline rush. (That is one of the reasons I do not do this for a living.) I do this because I feel everyone should give back to their community in whatever way they are capable. I also volunteer in other ways – trash pickup, cash donations without tax deductions, free tutoring, etc. I also do ems because there is a need and I am able. I am intelligent enough for the education required, I do not get sick, I can deal with the psychological issues and my paying job is flexible.

I have seen on this site repeatedly that the ems field is the only medical field where services are given away free. What about "Doctors Without Borders"? That is a volunteer medical organization. In my county, there is a free clinic. Local doctors, dentists, nurses, etc. volunteer their services for the good of the community.

I am an EMT-B. I am not a failed paramedic or nursing student. I have no doubt I could make it through a paramedic program of any type. I do not choose to be a paramedic.

I have a great respect for most paramedics. My choice is no reflection on whether or not they are necessary. They definitely are a necessary part of pre-hospital care. But, so are basics and intermediates. We all have are roles.

When reading some of the other posts, I get the impression that only the most highly trained personnel are needed. Anyone else is a “whacker.” Well, by that line of reasoning, why not have two trauma surgeons manning the ambulance? The cost outweighs the benefit. I do not request an electrical engineer to change a light bulb. I also do not see the need to have every member of a construction crew have an architecture degree. There are levels to every field, and all the levels are valid and vital.

I am not bashing paramedics. They are very important. The service I am affiliated with is non-transport and the ambulance service is mixed – one paramedic, one basic. I am thrilled when they arrive on scene. But, they are also happy to see us. We have given them information while they are enroute, so they have an idea of what to expect. We have them packaged and ready to go on most scenes (some require paramedic expertise.) We have a helicopter on flying stand-by, if necessary. When the paramedic arrives, he/she is in charge. But, he/she has back-up for whatever is needed.

We keep current on CEU’s and make sure the first responders are well trained. We keep current on local protocols. We do our best.

There are lots of volunteer EMT’s just like me. We are not perfect; we have our jerks and adrenaline junkies. But paramedics are not perfect either.

[Just Plain Ruff]

for your 2nd Bravo. Nicely thought out and the like.

I am afraid that the can of worms you opened here may not be all you wanted it to be.

You will get those on here who hate volunteers with a passion. There responses will be typical

Those who do not particularly like vollies but tolerate them and then

those who like vollies.

I fall into a I don't really care either way.

Good luck.

[spenac]

I agree with Ruff, good 2nd post.

Yes I do think the day of the EMS volly is over. There is nothing similar to the 2 weeks to a month spent with doctors w/o borders and volly EMS. You are taking jobs away that could feed familys. And you contribute to the low wages found in my chosen profession.

I do know of many very talented and educated vollys, basics and paramedics. I actually started as one of them. But in budget hearings at my first paid EMS job guess what got thrown into our faces when we asked for a raise? Thats right why pay you when the guys right up the highway do it for free. So I and my family have suffered because of those that chose to give it away free.

Why do the vollys really do something that would benefit a whole lot more people. Go paid and then donate your entire checks to charity. You actually would do more good in a months time than an entire lifetime in volunteer EMS.

[Dustdevil]

I have seen on this site repeatedly that the ems field is the only medical field where services are given away free. What about "Doctors Without Borders"? That is a volunteer medical organization.

Hi dkay,

That is actually the only part of your post that I have any problem with. It's a ridiculously invalid analogy that I would expect a person of your obvious intelligence and maturity to recognise. Doctors Without Borders are doctors. They are professionals who make a good living with their education and skills. They give back to humanity in a very altruistic and respectable manner. They are not burger flippers who go play hero after hours, in a field they are not professionals in, just because it looks exciting to play with the sirens. Pro Bono work like that, in the field you make a professional living in, is one thing. Going and doing someone else's profession for free, when it does not affect your own ability to earn a living, is quite a different thing. Also, they go do occasional specialty clinics in areas that do not, have not, and probably never will see a system of professional healthcare. Then they leave. They do not establish a long-term system in place that enables the locals to never provide anything of their own. Those are major differences.

And if you wonder why volunteers get a bad image, don't try to put the blame on us. They are the creators of that image. See New Jersey Volunteer EMS Video for all the evidence you need. You see, we are not painting these people unfairly. We're just calling a spade a spade. You say those people do not represent you? Well, unless you publicly speak out against them, and work to have other volunteers do the same, I say they do represent you. If that image is not to your liking, it is for you and other volunteers to change it. Asking us to ignore it is not the answer.

You are absolutely correct. EMT-Bs and volunteers do have a place within the EMS system. And it sounds as if your community clearly recognises what that role is. Indeed, there are extremely small and rural communities that cannot support full-time, professional, transporting EMS within their borders. No doubt about that. And first responders are a crucial link within such a system. But far too many large, urban, overtaxed communities in NY, NJ, PA, and MD (among others), that can afford the best possible care and coverage, simply choose not to because of a tradition of whackerism. Those are the communities that we are specifically criticising.

But really, don't you, your family, friends, and neighbours deserve better? If you are truly committed to doing what's best for your community, would not you prefer them to receive full-time, professionally provided, transporting ALS EMS in a faster time frame than simply having basic responders to inadequately fill that time gap? What if all the money each community in the county was spending to support their volunteer systems was pooled to expand the ALS transporting service? Do you think they might be able to add another unit or two? Quite possible. Why not look into that?

I recall a political hopeful or two in the past who ran for office on the promise that, if elected, they would work to abolish the position altogether, as it was an expensive and counterproductive waste of resources. That is the most honourable of all political aspirations. And, if adopted by many EMS volunteers across the country, it would go a long way to improve their image, as well as finally meeting their goal of "helping people".

[WolfmanHarris]

You may find that the line between hating the sin and the sinner (so to speak) gets blurred in the area of volunteer EMS.

I doubt there's anyone out there so deadset in their distaste for volunteer EMS that they'd reject the very notion that there can be individual providers who are not only professional and dedicated but committed to their own education. These providers do not, however make up the entirety of volunteer EMS (or paid for that matter) and volunteers as a group feed of their own attitude of "I'm a volunteer." As they feed of these, what may have been very good individual providers have become a group that opposes standards and education increases and thus hold EMS in the United States back.

Often it's a lack of the big picture that causes this in conjunction with fear of the worst case scenario. For example, if I run a small volunteer EMS service in a small community my funding may be limited, my population small and close-knit and my potential volunteer base small my priorities are going to be filtered through that. Now if I'm the Director/Chief of that service my priorities for EMS are going to be filtered through that perspective. I'm going to want to ensure that EMS does not change in a way that my service can't keep up and I'm going to resist that sorts of change worried I may lose my service. If I'm the Mayor/County Council for this small service I'm going to worry about the cost of subsidizing increased costs of training/equipment and how much it might affect my tax base as currently my municipality gets EMS for next to nothing and our tax base is limited to begin with. Both of these perspectives have valid concerns, but they lack the long view and while looking out for their community, they're doing it a disservice.

This is where the "worst case scenario" problem comes in. The threat hanging in the background over any volunteer EMS organization is, if we're not here volunteering than the community won't be served. Where does this comes from? There can be multiple sources, but I'd place significant responsibility on the laps of the two hypothetical individuals I mentioned above. As the person usually asking for the money and the person controlling the purse strings, the Chief and Mayor get used to the mantra of "there's no money in the budget." Well if there's no money in the budget for a new stair chair, radio, or monitor, than how could there possibly be the budget for a paid, professional service? The volunteers get used to doing it for free and buy into the idea that if they didn't do it, than no one would and the community wouldn't be serviced.

Of course we forget just how wonderful a thing necessity is.

So yes, while volunteers get hit hard by many on this forum on others, if you're the professional, competent, committed EMT you say you are than don't take it personally. And if they insist that you should demand pay for your work and that you should be part of a professional service than take that as a compliment, because it means that they think what you do is worthy of it and so are you. You won't convince them (or me) that volunteer EMS is necessary or a positive influence on EMS as a whole, but that doesn't mean you can't be, or that you should stop trying.

Cheers,

- Matt

[spenac]

Indeed, there are extremely small and rural communities that cannot support full-time, professional, transporting EMS within their borders.

I will have to disagree Dust. If all communitys no matter how small got their prioritys right they could find funds to form if not their own EMS a partnership with another community so that they would always have paid ambulance available. My current primary service keeps an ambulance in a town that had less than 20 transports last year.

[defib_wizard]

spenac wrote

[quoteWhy do the vollys really do something that would benefit a whole lot more people. Go paid and then donate your entire checks to charity. You actually would do more good in a months time than an entire lifetime in volunteer EMS.

]

I agree:

Or go drive seniors to their doctor appointments, or read to children. Become a big brother or sister. Adopt a highway, clean up a neighborhood. There is a lot of things you could do to " give back".

If you truly want to save lives; organize and sponsor a local blood drive. Hand out clean needles or condoms. Better yet go forth and demand that your local ems become a paid agency where there is 24 hour 365 day a year coverage for your community. If all you have is a bls agency then demand als, and try to assist in the training and funding for it. That is how you volunteer and make a difference.

[Timmy]

I agree with everything that has been said here.

I know this is irrelevant but in Australia (in most states) we have full time, paid ALS paramedics who hold a 3 year degree. We do have BLS volunteers (with medications endorsement) based in extremely rural areas were it is not finically viable to have a full time paramedic due to only having a hand full of call outs a year, they are co responded with the closest paramedic truck.

You guys have quiet a substantially greater population than us. I don’t see why America doesn’t deserve the same level of care?

[Dustdevil]

If all communitys no matter how small got their prioritys right they could find funds to form if not their own EMS a partnership with another community so that they would always have paid ambulance available. My current primary service keeps an ambulance in a town that had less than 20 transports last year.

I agree. But a partnership with another community does not constitute a full-time service within your borders, which was the specific point I was making. I addressed your solution later by mentioning pooling funds centrally to add more ambulances.

[spenac]

I agree. But a partnership with another community does not constitute a full-time service within your borders, which was the specific point I was making. I addressed your solution later by mentioning pooling funds centrally to add more ambulances.

So sorry master, grasshopper attempted to jump to far. :shock: