daedalus
Forum Deputy Chief
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Its not a career.
The new guy shows up at station for his first shift. He is excited, and after the usual greetings comes the inevitable question; "So what do you plan on really doing as a EMT/Paramedic".
This is the culture at DaedalusPrivateAmbulanceComapny where I work. When things are just wrong, like running an ill-equipped rig, not having the tools or even knowledge to handle patient care, a lack of medical terminology, a complete lack of even a passing concern about learning real medicine or patient assessment, and a culture of who cares nothing about patients; no body gives a sh*t.
"I plan on going to the fire department"
Thats the usual response to the inevitable question. Its a 4/5 response. Sometimes we will have someone, like myself, who mentions physician's assistant or RN. We even have an EMT who was accepted to John Hopkins Medical School. Very cool.
Among the problems I see the biggest: Making up vital signs. Its a regular thing. One sentence narratives. No one bothers with them. No knowledge of terminology or pharmacology. Hey daedalus, what does STEMI mean? Culture where you will be made fun of at the station if you actually think your patient was having a real emergency.
Why does EMS have to be a stepping stone? Why do my EMTs have to DEPEND COMPLETELY on the fire departments for real ALS? Why can the new guys be actually excited to start their first day of their CAREER? How come we cannot be medical professionals. This culture extends to local area hospitals, where because of our attitude towards patient care, nurses will not even give report to us, because they know most just do not care. They would rather look through paperwork or ask the patient themselves than listen to our history. We are a taxi and are treated like one.
Wake up people. What do we want, a stepping stone, or a profession?
This is not meant to read like a blog, but is a start of a discussion.
The new guy shows up at station for his first shift. He is excited, and after the usual greetings comes the inevitable question; "So what do you plan on really doing as a EMT/Paramedic".
This is the culture at DaedalusPrivateAmbulanceComapny where I work. When things are just wrong, like running an ill-equipped rig, not having the tools or even knowledge to handle patient care, a lack of medical terminology, a complete lack of even a passing concern about learning real medicine or patient assessment, and a culture of who cares nothing about patients; no body gives a sh*t.
"I plan on going to the fire department"
Thats the usual response to the inevitable question. Its a 4/5 response. Sometimes we will have someone, like myself, who mentions physician's assistant or RN. We even have an EMT who was accepted to John Hopkins Medical School. Very cool.
Among the problems I see the biggest: Making up vital signs. Its a regular thing. One sentence narratives. No one bothers with them. No knowledge of terminology or pharmacology. Hey daedalus, what does STEMI mean? Culture where you will be made fun of at the station if you actually think your patient was having a real emergency.
Why does EMS have to be a stepping stone? Why do my EMTs have to DEPEND COMPLETELY on the fire departments for real ALS? Why can the new guys be actually excited to start their first day of their CAREER? How come we cannot be medical professionals. This culture extends to local area hospitals, where because of our attitude towards patient care, nurses will not even give report to us, because they know most just do not care. They would rather look through paperwork or ask the patient themselves than listen to our history. We are a taxi and are treated like one.
Wake up people. What do we want, a stepping stone, or a profession?
This is not meant to read like a blog, but is a start of a discussion.
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