Amenities at Call Stations

bushinspector said:
Just as soon as the bathroom and kitchen gets remodeled, I am going looking for guys like yourself that is wanting to sit around a station, get paid for every hour that you work , have a full cable hook up with movie channels, wifi, new leather recliners, (Yes, real leather) new queen size bed, rig that is only one year old, that is full of devices, and the crew is just begging for some runs to come in. Oh yes, one other thing, you can bring your spouses.......No joke....
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Working a seven day on/seven day off service we can bring spouses as well. It makes a world of difference in morale
 
Ant restrictions on girlfriends, as my spouse needs to stay home with the kids. LOL

In all seriousness...while I see how you are trying to make it better to recruit talent into a difficult area, I would drop the spouse idea. Unless this is a single medic station...bad plan.

I remember when certain spouses dropped by the station for a few hours and we could barely tolerate that. And then one partner of mine had his spouse come every shift...it gets old and tiresome.

You are introducing an entirely new dynamic which is going to lead to headaches. Partners on the ambulance can usually sort their differences or find a routine where they do not collide as much. Bringing in a spouse (male or female) who does not appreciate that dynamic, who may complain, who may incite their partner to complain...or who simply may just personality clash yet you cannot get rid of them without being an *** yourself....see where I am going?

As a business owner and long time manager...I would **** can this idea fast, before it even gets started.
 
I thought on this more and from risk management perspective, you are also introducing other potential complaints in the form of potential sexual harassment. This could be from the married couple having sex and offending the other EMS partner to possibly the EMS partner or spouse telling bad jokes to everything in between...it is just a bad idea all around. I could elaborate way more but I think I have painted a broad enough picture. This sort of arrangement would actually be a deal breaker for me if I were considering the position because I have no control over the unknown person.
 
I assumed this was a single medic station or at least had some kind of private trailer for each employee. Otherwise that spouse idea does go downhill pretty quickly.
 
bushinspector said:
Basic gym equipment is on my radar list. We have two bedrooms, but have only outfitted one of them. We have TV, good cable, Internet, and two nice recliners in the common area. What gym equipment would be the best to buy??
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A nice cheap (relative) option with small footprint and versatility: get a TRX.
trxtraining.com
 
akflightmedic said:
Ant restrictions on girlfriends, as my spouse needs to stay home with the kids. LOL

In all seriousness...while I see how you are trying to make it better to recruit talent into a difficult area, I would drop the spouse idea. Unless this is a single medic station...bad plan.

I remember when certain spouses dropped by the station for a few hours and we could barely tolerate that. And then one partner of mine had his spouse come every shift...it gets old and tiresome.

You are introducing an entirely new dynamic which is going to lead to headaches. Partners on the ambulance can usually sort their differences or find a routine where they do not collide as much. Bringing in a spouse (male or female) who does not appreciate that dynamic, who may complain, who may incite their partner to complain...or who simply may just personality clash yet you cannot get rid of them without being an *** yourself....see where I am going?

As a business owner and long time manager...I would **** can this idea fast, before it even gets started.
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No it IS a single medic station. The other member lives local and will come to the station when a call comes in. During those three to four minutes the station medic will be getting the truck out the door and waiting on the other person. Does this change your perspective on this akflightmedic?? Early on I had those same concerns, but being a single medic at the station, it may be a deal maker. My plan is to have them work 12,24, or 36 hour shifts. Still headed for trouble? Where else can the plan go wrong??
 
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chaz90 said:
I assumed this was a single medic station or at least had some kind of private trailer for each employee. Otherwise that spouse idea does go downhill pretty quickly.
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You are correct, a single station medic. I should have stated that. Does that change the situation, or am I headed for trouble???
 
While I admire you thinking outside the box, I personally would be against it. Too many HR issues could creep in and cause trouble. Not everyone has the most stable of relationships...so what if there is a domestic event while on the job? What if there is ever a narcotic discrepancy or missing items? How are you getting around the potential HIPAA violations of the non-medical provider seeing sensitive information?

Only spouses? Are you checking for marriage licenses? What if they have been domestic partners for 20 years but not married? What if they do not want to get married and just have a girlfriend and she is changed out every few weeks? Same sex partners? Not against it but what if some of the relief crews are and try to make a headache for you?

Every couple needs their downtime. I think you would be just fine getting recruits for this job without the spousal incentive.

I own several businesses and it is always about risk mitigation. You are opening the door to many managerial and HR headaches as well. This is only my opinion based on no actual data of any type...other than knowing the human condition.

If they are working 12, 24 and 36 hour shifts...why do they need the spouse?
 
akflightmedic said:
While I admire you thinking outside the box, I personally would be against it. Too many HR issues could creep in and cause trouble. Not everyone has the most stable of relationships...so what if there is a domestic event while on the job? What if there is ever a narcotic discrepancy or missing items? How are you getting around the potential HIPAA violations of the non-medical provider seeing sensitive information?

Only spouses? Are you checking for marriage licenses? What if they have been domestic partners for 20 years but not married? What if they do not want to get married and just have a girlfriend and she is changed out every few weeks? Same sex partners? Not against it but what if some of the relief crews are and try to make a headache for you?

Every couple needs their downtime. I think you would be just fine getting recruits for this job without the spousal incentive.

I own several businesses and it is always about risk mitigation. You are opening the door to many managerial and HR headaches as well. This is only my opinion based on no actual data of any type...other than knowing the human condition.

If they are working 12, 24 and 36 hour shifts...why do they need the spouse?
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Thanks for sharing your ideas and thoughts, this is why forums like this exist to keep some of us from getting ourselves into trouble. Living in rural Oklahoma we tend to not always look at the broad picture and look through rose colored glasses. Since you have posted another issue that would come up is, many of the times I will come over and cover the station during a long distance transfer takes place. (Three to four hours.) So that would put me at the station with their spouse. So let me think what could go wrong with that?????LOL Even if one is straight as a arrow, the appearance of that would not be good. Thanks, for your not so common sense, Thinking....
 
... And think about whether you want to leave the spouse at the station unaccompanied if the ambulance goes out-- that may mean access to medical equipment/supplies/controlled substances. Who would be responsible if anything went wrong/missing? What would happen if there were a walk-up medical from a neighbor who saw someone inside the station and is expecting treatment? What if the spouse was injured within the base while accompanied-- would you be liable?

I think the resounding response is that it's not a good idea.
 
Our normal setup for all stations: Gym, beds (usually your own room), pretty big TV's and also smaller ones in room, game systems, full kitchen, bathrooms with shower, couches and recliners, WIFI, pretty good amount of TV channels.
 
TV with dish, comfy recliners, wifi, good computer, fridge, microwave, coffee pot, bunkroom(s). That about cuts it from my experience. Xbox/Playstation is a plus.
 
Apple Bill said:
TV with dish, comfy recliners, wifi, good computer, fridge, microwave, coffee pot, bunkroom(s). That about cuts it from my experience. Xbox/Playstation is a plus.
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I am shocked by the responses, those few items are NOT difficult to come up with. Our goal is to make it much as a home environment as we can. Just looking for candy to attract paramedics to rural Oklahoma. Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
I work 12s and 24s in rural Oklahoma. The above is the extent of what we use. If we're actually able to sit around the station, I'm either eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom, on my phone or watching TV. One of our other stations has a gameroom that never gets used.
 
Apple Bill said:
I work 12s and 24s in rural Oklahoma. The above is the extent of what we use. If we're actually able to sit around the station, I'm either eating, sleeping, going to the bathroom, on my phone or watching TV. One of our other stations has a gameroom that nevetr gets used.
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At around 1.5 calls per day, there is a lot of sitting around to done here. That is the reason that we need things to do. And it is going to get even less for the Paramedics due to Basics taking basic calls to the city....
 
Internet, comfortable couch, basic kitchen, Starbucks centrally located within response area ...
 
Starbucks in rural Oklahoma is about as plentiful as cows in New York City.............No problem if you take a ALS transfer to Oklahoma City!!!
 
As others have said, TV, wifi, couch, bed, gym, kitchen to cook in (with microwave), kitchen table to eat at, radio base station, built in paging system with speakers in all the rooms (for those who use minitor pagers, so you can shower or pee at 3am without worrying about grabbing your radio when your not wearing pants), shower facilities, laundry facilities (if you got the money, get a washer and dryer), heat and AC and a chore list so they are responsible for cleaning (which includes providing a vacuum, mops, and cleaning supplies). If you want to be nice, a hose and bucket so they can wash the truck and their personal car.

As for allowing spouses, I'd be very leary, even for a single provider. Nothing wrong with allowing them to visit, have meals at the station, but sleeping over? it's 24 or 36 hours, not that far apart (like the 7 on / 7 off that was mentioned before), and do you really want non-employees in the station when the employee leaves for a call? Or what if the spouse is home, and your employee invites his or her booty call to spend the night?

you should ask you existing employees what they would like to have; after all, they are the ones who will be using it.
 
Bush, at the end of the day, it's not the station or the equipment that gets recruits. It's the pay, benefits and culture. Sounds like you have the right idea on culture, but you should focus your energies on pay and benefits.

Personally, if I was building Watonga EMS, I would reach out to Jonathan Farrow of Presidio, Texas and approach it from a whole different angle- how can you revolutionize EMS clinically and operationally? Depending on your medical director, community support and the hospital, you might find amazing things.

Recruiting medics from EMSA is fairly easy, but do you really want your service to be just another lifeboat from that perpetually-sinking ship, with the bad attitudes to match? I doubt it- that was the exact reason I walked away from REACT.

If I were you, I would hire me to work PRN on your marketing, hire a few people from Oklahoma City to work full-time, and integrate them into your organization in more ways than just field providers.

Example: Watonga EMS provides CEs, card courses, and partners with a community college or votech to provode students with significantly-reduced or free tuition to school.
 
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