EMS and Media relations

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Devin Greaney

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I am an EMT/IV and doing a paper for paramedic class on communicating with the public. Have any of you had dealings with the media, good or bad, that would shed any light on EMS's relations with the press?

Thanks

Devin Greaney
Memphis TN
 
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Start off with HIPPA. We can't speak about patients. Any report on any call we do, we must remain silent. Police and fire get to hold press conferences on the same exact calls.

Hospitals have time to get patient permission in select cases with good news otherwise they remain silent. Rarely do we have that opportunity.

Cops and fire get media time everytime they deliver a baby. We are expected to deal with this with the same privacy of every call and we should. I have no aspiration to hold a press conference for doing our job.
 
One of my course units covered relations with the media and cases pretty much go to the media person who will refer us to the concerned reporters/media outlets and we can decide if we choose to talk with them. Pretty much we can say what we found, that we got there with in X number of minutes and some sort of message if the incident was preventable but we have to keep with in confidentiality guidelines both derived from organisational policy and from the law.
 
Can anything that is announced over the radio be repeated as it is on public airwaves?

So, if we get toned out for a 27 y/o male with a gsw @ such and such an address, could we give that information?

Where I live, I doubt there has EVER been a press release. Just curious. Good questions.
 
mcdonl said:
Can anything that is announced over the radio be repeated as it is on public airwaves?
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The radio is public airwaves

So, if we get toned out for a 27 y/o male with a gsw @ such and such an address, could we give that information?
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That information can be heard by anyone with a scanner. After a call is over, if they do no tknow this infomration, no you can not release it. HIPPA.

Where I live, I doubt there has EVER been a press release. Just curious. Good questions.[/QUOTE]
No where in the United States will any EMS agency provide a press release. HIPPA.
 
If you go to FDNYs website they sometimes have things about EMTs and Medics.

I remember seeing something about them detecting a CO leak, and one about a save they had
 
Devin Greaney said:
I am an EMT/IV and doing a paper for paramedic class on communicating with the public. Have any of you had dealings with the media, good or bad, that would shed any light on EMS's relations with the press?

Thanks

Devin Greaney
Memphis TN
Click to expand...

Here in TN, most services will tell you to avoid them all together, but if you simply cannot do this, just tell them, "I'm sorry, it is against the law for me to disseminate any information regarding my patient."

If it is a mass casualty event where the NIMS structure is activated, there is usually someone there in charge of handling public relations. Direct the individual to speak with them.
 
mcdonl said:
Can anything that is announced over the radio be repeated as it is on public airwaves?

So, if we get toned out for a 27 y/o male with a gsw @ such and such an address, could we give that information?

Where I live, I doubt there has EVER been a press release. Just curious. Good questions.
Click to expand...

Some areas are moving to a digital radio system where civilian scanners no longer can pick up any of the radio traffic, so you can't assume anything is public information.
 
Aidey said:
Some areas are moving to a digital radio system where civilian scanners no longer can pick up any of the radio traffic, so you can't assume anything is public information.
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When I worked bonnaroo , they advised us to use terms like 'sick patron' because the news crews would eavesdrop on our communications
 
medicRob said:
When I worked bonnaroo , they advised us to use terms like 'sick patron' because the news crews would eavesdrop on our communications
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Like I said, some areas. Everywhere else people with scanners can still evesdrop.
 
Cultivate the Press

Sooner or later, the poop'll hit the scoop and go flying in your EMS neighborhood. The Press will jump down your throats.

How about a preemptive strike?

I'm serious here. If you're not generating stories of the work you do, not cultivating local news outlets, not making contacts with specific reporters and educating them, then you're setting yourself up for a long, hard road if negative publicity surfaces. You'll end up having to expend a tremendous amount of effort defending yourself when they place the microscope on you.

If periodically, positive stories are run about the work you do (who has the ideas? YOU do!) then when that bad incident crops up, it will be seen in the context of past coverage. Working with the Press can help you minimize damage control in the future.

And as a hint to the average grunt; don't wait for your company/service to schedule a "controlled" story. Generate an angle yourself, get a reporter on board for a shift and dazzle him/her with the complexities of rendering quality service and the pressures of the work. (It never hurts to have reporters on YOUR side when squabbles crop up between medics and the services that pay them.)

Nowadays, if negative publicity arises, you can link past stories about the company/service together to provide the reader/viewer a more balanced picture immediately.

Know what you can and can't say when a microphone is thrust at your mouth, but you can also generate interest in what you do without violating any protocols.
 
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