Identity

[mycrofft]

If you want to play LinkedIn. Otherwise, there's a very simple way for determining the worth of a poster's contributions: look at the content. There's a reason Advanced Medical Discussions is doing reasonably well, and it's not because of verification. It's because anyone who posts the crap you see in the other forums in there will get their s:censored:t slapped. With evidence. dbo789 hit on the idea before I did.


Optional. I'm not a person. I'm an identity. Such is the Internet.

That's going to be determined on a case-by-case basis. It's also up to the community, not policy.

Yes to the above. If employers can't vet new hires, how are EMTLIFE going to vet members?

If someone is a problem, ban them. If there is some way, say, of discovering their ISP or IP address and then putting the kibosh, then fine.

Otherwise: self-policing and reporting

"Kill The Beast!!"

 

[Veneficus]

Pseudoanonimity here is really to protect past and present employers from my sometimes brutally honest opinions.

More of a plausible deniability for them than for me.

I have worked with at least 1 person on this forum and anyone wanting to come visit and see is more than welcome.

Also, see my published works...

But I would like to think the quality of post stands on its own merit. I have been aformer member of forums where only senior members were socially permitted to post.

It doesn't make much of a forum in my opinion and I stopped frequenting them.

Other than that, my credentials are pretty much out there for anyone to see.

 

[Chimpie]

Excellent point. I like the way you think. If the information is genuine who cares if the messenger isn't.

I think one of the reasons our community is special is because our members are genuine. There are several of us that have met others, hung out, had beers, heck, some have even had relationships with others from here.

When someone is found to be not-so-genuine, it's usually a big shock and feelings are hurt.

 

[sir.shocksalot]

I'm not entirely opposed to a system similar to the student doctors forum. If people go through a verification process an icon is displayed on their profile showing they are a physician or veteran or whatever. Actually I think it would be cool to have a similar system. I would only be okay with it if it were voluntary and there was no limitations on non-verified posters.

As others have said, the content of posts usually speaks to the qualifications of the poster.

 

[jlw]

If it were voluntary and the information obtained thru verification was kept confidential and not logged then I don't see a problem with it, it would be neat to have a little icon or something signifying you as EMT-B, Paramedic, etc.

 

[Veneficus]

If it were voluntary and the information obtained thru verification was kept confidential and not logged then I don't see a problem with it, it would be neat to have a little icon or something signifying you as EMT-B, Paramedic, etc.

I do not like this idea.

I think it intimidates people or gives implied credit to their positions.

It also adds way too many pre or post nominals.

 

[bahnrokt]

Id be fine useing my EMT cert as my signature here if it was only visable to other verified members. My only fear with not staying anonymous is if a PT learns my name on a call and uses it to Google their way to this site.

Say for example I go out on a bad call tonight and I have questions if I followed the right path of care. So I post the call up on this site, no hippa violations but enough detail is given so that anyone that was at the call would recognise my story.

4 days later the pt gets a copy of our pcr and googles my name or emt # which leads them to this site and they find my post about them. In the post they have exactly what I did and a detailed critique of everything I did wrong.

 

[Chimpie]

If it were voluntary and the information obtained thru verification was kept confidential and not logged then I don't see a problem with it, it would be neat to have a little icon or something signifying you as EMT-B, Paramedic, etc.

It would have to be little. The last thing we want is icons/graphics making this site gaudy.

Id be fine useing my EMT cert as my signature here if it was only visable to other verified members. My only fear with not staying anonymous is if a PT learns my name on a call and uses it to Google their way to this site.

Say for example I go out on a bad call tonight and I have questions if I followed the right path of care. So I post the call up on this site, no hippa violations but enough detail is given so that anyone that was at the call would recognise my story.

4 days later the pt gets a copy of our pcr and googles my name or emt # which leads them to this site and they find my post about them. In the post they have exactly what I did and a detailed critique of everything I did wrong.

From an admin point of view, I would prefer that any and all information submitted be kept out of the public eye.

 

[Veneficus]

From an admin point of view, I would prefer that any and all information submitted be kept out of the public eye.

From the perspective of practicality...

What benefit does verification give to the site or anyone on it?

How much of a headache is it going to create?

From my perspective, I can see no benefit other than ostricizing the occasional misrepresenter, which they usually do to themselves sooner or later anyway.

It will bring about massive headaches in what is accepted, who has copies of it, responsibilities of privacy and storage, and potentially a source of info in litigation.

Why fix something on this forum that isn't broken?

 

[Chimpie]

From the perspective of practicality...

What benefit does verification give to the site or anyone on it?

That's why Jon created this thread. The idea has been brought up a couple of times by members over the years. We've decided to bring the topic in front of the entire membership to get their opinions.

How much of a headache is it going to create?

It will definitely take some time to come up with procedures and policies, mostly for the CL team, not the individual member.

From my perspective, I can see no benefit other than ostricizing the occasional misrepresenter, which they usually do to themselves sooner or later anyway.

It will bring about massive headaches in what is accepted, who has copies of it, responsibilities of privacy and storage, and potentially a source of info in litigation. <snip>

That's exactly the type of feedback we're looking for. Thank you.

 

[Tigger]

As others have said, I guess I am not seeing what a verification process will do to benefit the site compared to how much trouble it will be for the CLs. It is really not difficult to determine if individual posts are full of crap or misinformation, and the membership does not let such posts fly. If a poster misrepresents himself I guess it's not a big deal to me, eventually we all find of and that person finds themselves found out and quietly leaves. I don't know if a verification process would have caught some of the more elaborate fakes we've had here either.

 

[DrParasite]

If you require me to submit my real name, training level, and agency of employment, as well as proof of the above stuff, than I'm out. Quite honestly, my career and my livelyhood are more important than EMTlife, and the last thing I need is someone printing out one of my posts that posts someone in not too good of light, running to my employer and trying to get me fired, despite it being 100% right.

Even if it's just to the CLs.... Lets say I piss BigTallBaldGuy off, call him Bald or Tall of whatever, and he is soooo mad that he wants to get even, and since he has my info, decides to contact someone he knows at my job and that person doesn't like me, so they try to get me in trouble using the info that BTBG provides. I've had people try to get me in trouble for speaking the truth, despite it not being what they wanted to hear. It's not worth it for me, it's not a risk I am willing to take.

I DON'T want my information public. If I did, I would put it out there. I pride myself in my anonymity. With the exception of 2 people on this board, no one knows who I am (and one of those people knows who I am, but doesn't know that DrP is the person he has been communicating with on FB). no one knows my real name. and no one knows where I work (although some have sneaking suspicions). And quite honestly, while there are people I wouldn't mind meeting in real life, at a bar, they might still only get my first name. It helps protect me from the malicious people who would do me harm because I don't always agree with the herd.

The training heading is voluntary. Veneficus has his GED, and I know CPR. Others put everything they do, some of which is true, and some that I'm sure isn't. If a troll comes and posts crap, usually they will be called out on it by the rest of the community. If someone wants to say they are a paramedic, or an MD, or a medical director, or the CEO of a company (whatever), if their posts back it up, great. if they are full of crap, oh well, it's the internet, and everything you read on the internet must be true. see this video for further proof of this:[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmx4twCK3_I[/YOUTUBE]

 

[bigbaldguy]

Even if it's just to the CLs.... Lets say I piss BigTallBaldGuy off, call him Bald or Tall of whatever, and he is soooo mad that he wants to get even, and since he has my info, decides to contact someone he knows at my job and that person doesn't like me, so they try to get me in trouble using the info that BTBG provides.

Man it's like you're inside my head!

In all seriousness though this is a valid concern. It comes down to who watches the watchers.

 

[Veneficus]

Man it's like you're inside my head!

In all seriousness though this is a valid concern. It comes down to who watches the watchers.

could somebody just tell me why anyone needs watched?

 

[Aprz]

I like the thought of being verified, but I agree with others. It's a unnecessary title that causes separation, probably used to discredit what somebody unverified is saying, "I'm an EMT, what about you? I don't listen to people who can't prove they are an EMT", and the potential of that information being leaked. I don't think a verification system would be useful or beneficial to the website.

 

[ffemt8978]

Poll attached to this thread.

 

[medic417]

I'm voting no. Doesn't benefit anyone and could harm peoples careers.

 

[Jon]

That's why Jon created this thread. The idea has been brought up a couple of times by members over the years. We've decided to bring the topic in front of the entire membership to get their opinions.

Exactly. And I am truly thankful that so many people are contributing.

I think one of the reasons our community is special is because our members are genuine. There are several of us that have met others, hung out, had beers, heck, some have even had relationships with others from here.

When someone is found to be not-so-genuine, it's usually a big shock and feelings are hurt.

I've done all of the above. I have felt that pain. I'm not convinced that this is an answer or not... but I think that having this dialogue now is important for us, as a community. I don't want to see us do something to drive members away, but I also would like to ensure that we aren't driving members away for other reasons.


Thanks everyone, and keep up the great discussion!

 

[ShannahQuilts]

Interestingly, trying to answer the "bravest patient" thread made up my mind for me. I could not put enough detail into my story to make it interesting, without making it pretty obvious who the patient was, to any relative of his who might be on the site.

Considering that when I "treated" him, my most recent first aid training had been about 35 years previous, I have no doubt my entire interaction with him was mistakes end to end.

Now I'm wishing I hadn't chosen a username that many people in my city recognize, because I feel I have to be careful what I say. If I am basically anonymous, and still worried about being recognized, I think I have to vote "no" to verification. I think it will make those of us who are honest, but unverified, looked at differently from those who are willing to be verified, even though we might have good reasons for wanting to be totally anonymous.

 

[CANDawg]

I don't know, I'm hesitant to vote in the poll, since it is not quite clear yet what we're voting on. There's been a lot of different ideas and ways this could work thrown about, ranging from a simple certification verification to full blown Name, Company, and mother's maiden name being posted below your avatar.

Some of the ideas I support, some I don't. Until I have a clearer idea what a "Yes" vote actually means, I'm abstaining.