USAFMEDIC45's Rules of Medical Care and EMS

[usafmedic45]

+1

Actually, I'd give it a minus one.

with the obvious caveat that you can not trust only one employee's opinion. There is probably an underlying reason they give you an extremely negative/positive review on a company.

Two words: Ralph Nader.

You are new here: You dont have an opinion about the company/service till youve been here 6 months. Until 6 months respond "Im happy to be here and support the company/mission however I can". Im tired of the 1 month employees that want to question and berate everything we do and are negative about where they work. And keep your mouth shut and eyes/ears open.

I can't agree with that. For personnel issues, yeah, give it time. For technical stuff, if you see a potential problem folks can and should bring it up.

A friend went to work at the local air service last year and was told the above. At first he said it was off-putting till he stopped and thought, then he realized it made perfect sense

Yeah....can't imagine that: an air ambulance that doesn't like folks who question what they do and how they do it. There's a good reason why something in the neighborhood of a dozen of my friends, acquaintances and former colleagues are dead now.

The only reason I fly with the service I do is that even as a medical crewmember, I can, have and will continue to scrub missions I don't feel comfortable with. Then again, I'm also got flight training to back my opinions up but still he actively encourages us to speak up from day 1 if something doesn't seem right.

 

[socalmedic]

Absolute and utter bull poop. I don't care if I've been someplace 10 days or 10 years, if I have a suggestion or a question about why something is done a certain way, I have every right to be given a proper answer. There's a way to question practices professionally and that needs to be adhered to, and you (generic "you") need to be open to the reason provided, but sometimes the best thing a service needs is an outside opinion.

not at JP, but more as a response to this general line of thought from less experienced providers. (JP you have the experience to question).

if you have less than 6 months, I think 1 year should be the minimum. you dont have the experience necessary to make suggestions or comments on how the company is run/does business. if you have a safety suggestion by all means say something. other than that the company ran just fine before you where there and we will continue to run just fine after you are gone. until then sit there and shut up. no body wants your $0.02 about the posting plan, or why we do what we do.

edit: this does not apply to patient care or clinical "stuff", this is an operations statement.

 

[mycrofft]

Ask first.

Asking and gettting proper answers is the best way to learn, because training programs tend to be top-heavy and self-aggrandizing. More than once I, or other newbies I've been around, have come out with good observations with fresh eyes, and even though we were put down initially, sometimes those changes would magically appear once the idea had been raised.
BUT...new folks need to have someone to ask first, then use that person.

 

[shfd739]

not at JP, but more as a response to this general line of thought from less experienced providers. (JP you have the experience to question).

if you have less than 6 months, I think 1 year should be the minimum. you dont have the experience necessary to make suggestions or comments on how the company is run/does business. if you have a safety suggestion by all means say something. other than that the company ran just fine before you where there and we will continue to run just fine after you are gone. until then sit there and shut up. no body wants your $0.02 about the posting plan, or why we do what we do.

edit: this does not apply to patient care or clinical "stuff", this is an operations statement.

This is more what I meant. There have been a few new people come thru recently that whine about operational things and are constantly negative and question the rest of us. By all means if it's clinical or safety speak up--we empower our people to speak up then and they do. Its the day to day negativity, opinions and whining that we're tired of. There is a reason we do things the way we do and they work for us. We're tired of the new ones that have little to no EMS experience questioning the reasons and after being explained still whine and moan. Interestingly the more experienced and high speed new folks love how we operate and wished they came here sooner.

The friend that went to a flight service is at a good service that doesnt take the risks Ive seen others take and allows the crew the power to deny a flight that they dont feel comfortable with; with no adverse punishment or reaction from management. The 1 year comment was along the lines of preventing the operational whining.

 

[usafmedic45]

The friend that went to a flight service is at a good service that doesnt take the risks

Which service? They all claim to not "take risks" but well....you probably know the statistics. AirEvac Lifeteam likes to claim they have the best maintenance and gear in the industry, but they have the most underpowered helicopters and the worst safety record in a field best known for killing its employees.

 

[shfd739]

Which service? They all claim to not "take risks" but well....you probably know the statistics. AirEvac Lifeteam likes to claim they have the best maintenance and gear in the industry, but they have the most underpowered helicopters and the worst safety record in a field best known for killing its employees.

I'll send you a PM of the service name. I've heard plenty of Air Evac stories and they are scary but it isn't them. I know someone that worked for them just long enough to get flight experience then moved to a better service that wasnt as likely to kill him.

 

[usafmedic45]

You know you've got a bad reputation when some of the NTSB investigators only half-jokingly refer to your service as "Death from Above".

 

[Aidey]

You know you have a problem when the NTSB knows you well enough to give you a nickname!

 

[Too Old To Work]

USAFMedic45's Rule #1 of Treatment Decision Making: "Don't just do something, stand there!"

I may have to sue you for this one. I've been using it for years and I'm pretty sure I have a copyright on it!

Don't forget the second rule of EMS. You don't want a rule named after you. Because they don't make new rules when someone does something smart.

 

[Dougy]

This made my afternoon.