Pagers/Responding from school?

[Jess]

Excellent topic! I'm in EMT-B class right now that takes place every Monday and Wednesday night. My class is full of a bunch of volly firefighters. One in particular drives me nuts! He brings in his hand held scanner, sets it on his desk, takes his pager off his belt, sets it on his desk as well. Mind you this guy is way out of his way to even answer a page if it went off in class but he insists on turning the volume up as high as it will go on both devices. the tones will drop, he turns it up LOUDER! He cant even respond if he needed too!! He's the biggest WHACKER i've ever seen in my life! As if all that isn't bad enough, he'll come to class wearing his uniform and outright admit to you that he is not on call that day but just wants to wear his uniform to class. I've asked this guy before if he could please turn the volume way down because its very distracting to me and the 22 others in my class, but he fails to do so. I'm not sure what he is trying to prove unless he's trying to wow the girls by acting like Billy Blazes or something. I've nothing against volly firefighters or any firefighters for that matter but this guy wins the award for being the biggest whacker. I wont even go into detail on what his personal vehicle looks like :roll:

obviously not a real license plate but was still fun to make

[JakeEMTP]

Jess, quite honestly, uber-whacker should be removed from the class by your instructor. He is obviously disruptive to the rest of you.

We can't even have our cell phones on other than on vibrate and don't even try to answer it :twisted:. To allow this type of behavior is just unprofessional.

[kyle308]

lol even if my first tresponder class if ur phone went off....your mother better be dieing :twisted:

[pacman]

Besides my paid municipal position, I also ride at a volley College EMS squad. When I first joined, I didn't mind leaving class to respond to a call. Then it went to just having the pager on ( just in case there was a second or final request for a crew), however it was becoming distraction in class. Now that I'm a senior, I've realized that I am paying top dollar to be in class. There is no reason that I should miss a class that I AM PAYING FOR, to VOLUNTEER to man a rig for the hand laceration. Even though I'm now an officer ( big whoop right? lol), I go to class, sit down, turn OFF the radio and/or pager, open my notebook, and get my money's worth in education.

The current policy is that members, if they wish, must sign a written agreement with the professor in order to answer EMS calls. The pager must be on vibrate and the student would not be penalized as long as they make up the coursework. Obviously, this wouldn't apply during exams.

[Richard B the EMT]

I quote an instructor/coordinator from a refresher I had, a long time before I became municipal-employed: "While you are in my classroom, you are employed to get refreshed in your EMT certification, not to respond to calls. Therefore, ALL Plectrons*, scanners, and 2 way radios are to be turned off NOW, or you can leave without being recertified, and I don't give class refunds".

*Plectrons were a first generation VFD/VAS used pager system, from back in the late 1960s to the late 1970s, when Plectron went out of business. Their influence was so big, pagers were known for years, even if a different brand, as a "Plectron". Long-timers like me still slip and call pagers by that name.

[CBEMT]

Don't get me wrong. I don't like it one bit. We've got enough people on the roster that nobody should be leaving class, especially our CPR-only members that aren't even EMTs yet. Fortunately, daytime call volume is extremely low so the chances of someone leaving class are also very small

It's just one of those policies that you have to live with until you're in a position to change it.

As for the guy listening to calls during class, I would have found myself another class. Clearly the instructors had no control over anything happening in that room.

However, there is also a very good chance that I would have turned the devices off for him.

[Jess]

Jess, quite honestly, uber-whacker should be removed from the class by your instructor. He is obviously disruptive to the rest of you.

We can't even have our cell phones on other than on vibrate and don't even try to answer it :twisted:. To allow this type of behavior is just unprofessional.

Well, I don't foresee this guy making it through class. We have until Oct 15th (the day we can officially start clinicals) to have at least a B average. Right now, this guy is failing the class. If he doesn't have a B by the 15th then he is out of the program as is everyone that is getting less than a B. But the whole wearing the uniform to class even though not on duty irks me just as much as the scanner/pagers going off during class. Wednesday I will be talking to the instructor about this individuals behavior. We'll see how far I get. That class is too stinking expensive for me to listen to some guys scanner go off. So, I make my final conclusion, they should not be allowed in class at ALL, high school student or college student, it doesn't matter. Your in class for a reason.

[brentoli]

But the whole wearing the uniform to class even though not on duty irks me just as much as the scanner/pagers going off during class. Wednesday I will be talking to the instructor about this individuals behavior. We'll see how far I get. That class is too stinking expensive for me to listen to some guys scanner go off so i make my final conclusion, they should not be allowed in class at ALL, high school student or college student, it doesn't matter. Your in class for a reason

Where is your class. I need to be in it. That stuff turns me on!

[Jess]

Where is your class. I need to be in it. That stuff turns me on!

You never cease to amaze me Brent. LoL

[Chief1C]

Leave school for an EMS call? They would have laughed at me if I asked to leave for that... Couldn't carry the pagers for anything, at all.

Now, if there was a large fire, they'd release 18 year old student volunteers. It only applied to those that had no tests and had driven to school, or were picked up, no carpooling. There was no manpower shortage to it, some fires just need a lot of hands, and the school released employees and students upon phoned request. I never left.