Emotional person becoming an EMT

J

joelemtny

Forum Ride Along
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hi Everyone,

Can an emotional person become an EMT?
 
Absolutely. I think as long as you can cope with the fact that life goes on and you have done your best than you should not feel too upset. Also you have to realize their is life oyutside EMS, take vacation, hangout with friends. And if somehting is really really bothering you than talk to some one. Girlfriend, Wife, Boss, Partner that was on that call.
 
I'm not sure what you are asking. We all have emotions. But, if you are emotionally very sensitive, it might be difficult to learn how to control your emotional reaction to incidents. As an emergency worker, you will be exposed to many intensely emotional incidents. Most of us learn how to maintain a professional demeaner in the midst of it. Most of us are able to leave the calls at work in most cases. I guess the deciding factor is not 'do you feel the emotions' but what do those emotions do to you and are you able to deal with them in a way that will still allow you to do your job.

Like all jobs, the people in EMS run the full spectrum of different personalities. Some handle certain aspects of the job better than others. I know one medic who is pretty 'touchy-feely' and likes to visit his pts in the hospital after they are admitted. Personally I find that a bit extreme for me, but he's been doing this in a civic department for over 20 years and it seems to work for him.

Personally, if a job was going to send me into fits of depression, weeping, kicking the dog, or other uncontrollable displays of emotion, I'd find other work. There are calls that get to me, and in the years I've been doing this, I have probably felt every emotion possible, Sadness/Grief, Anger, Joy, Panic, Relief, Stress, Tension, Fear, and probably a few I missed. There have been calls that stuck with me and experiences that will always be raw spots in my psyche. But, so far, the positive outweighs the negative for me.

I hope this helps.
 
Every one has emotions. As a medic, you have the scope to practise them.
 
like Bossy, said, not sure what exactly you are asking...

but a better question is, why would an unemotional person become an EMT?

i think we would all agree that for good patient care, emotions are an important part of what we do...
 
^^^^^

Emotion is definetly an important part of what we do...I know that when I've been on an emotional scene, I have been able to maintain a professional attitude and provide patient care. It was only later that I hit a bit of a low spot....but was able to realize that life was moving on, and I better be on that bus when it leaves.

-Matt
 
As others have stated, being an emotional person has no bearing on whether or not you can become an EMT.

The only problem lies in whether or not you are controlled by your emotions. That's when you can run into frustrations, but not prevent you in any way, shape, form, or fashion.
 
skyemt said:
like Bossy, said, not sure what exactly you are asking...

but a better question is, why would an unemotional person become an EMT?

i think we would all agree that for good patient care, emotions are an important part of what we do...
Click to expand...


This is a very good point. A cold, insensitive person would do poorly in EMS. To be a truly good EMT/medic, you have to CARE. If you don't genuinely care about people, you won't last long in the field.

On the other hand, you have to be able to contain your emotions. If you're treating a patient who is in bad shape, it is definitely NOT in their best interest to have an emotional train-wreck who is crying as their care provider. You cannot lash out and yell at a patient who is being a jerk to you. You can feel anger, sadness, grief, fear, etc while working in EMS, but you cannot show it while you are working.

It's a fine balance. You can't be overly sensitive, and you can't be insensitive.

I've dealt with depressing calls and cried my eyes out for hours over them. But I did not show this grief while on the call. I did my crying at home, and I vented my emotions out to my team.

That's the good thing about EMS. You get really close to the people you work with and 99% of them will be unbelievably supportive.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i think the point we are all trying to make is:

an emotional person can be a very good EMT... and emotionally unstable person, likely can not...
 
If you have a passion, there is no reason why not. You will not know unless you dont try.
 
if your going to mentally break down during stressful situations, then No you won't last long. If you can't stand the sight of death, blood, vomit, etc.. then it might not be the best choice.

If your emotion is related more towards empathy, then thats appropriate feelings to the situations you will face.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top