Volunteers. Bane or Blessing?

[Veneficus]

OK, preface: This thread is not a discussion on if there should be volunteers or not. This is to be a discussion on the best uses for volunteers in the out of hospital setting. I ask the moderating team to aggressively make sure this doesn't become the "volunteers are lesser than paid professional thread."

Today, I got to study at home. A very rare occurance for me, as my daughter usually insists on helping and I have a lot to do which doesn't lend itself to being helped by a 21 month old.

Background

But in her eagerness and with the cry of "BABY!" she burried her nose into one of my embryology texts. It is has a rather eyecatching pink and purple cover with a fetus on it. She quickly thumbed through it repeating her cry everytime she saw a baby, and stared at the genetic defects page at length. (I am sure somebody is phoning child services, probably my wife.)

Anyway during one of my breaks, I fired up the web browser, and on the front page was: "90 pregnant teens, 24% of the female poplation in school outside of Memphis."

In addition to the facts of the case, there was some lady professing that the trouble with girls is they don't know how to say "no" or "wait for marriage." I am glad to see they are paying such quacks to "help."

Then I came here and saw the volunteer ambulance in NJ shut down, and spoke to a friend on what "helps" in the practice of medicine.

The point.

So I was thinking. (a dangerous pastime I know) Here is this ready core of volunteers, with at least 120 more hours of medical education than the average US citizen. Who actually devote their spare time sitting around waiting to answer the call to help from their constituency.

But what if that cry for help isn't coming from 911? What if it is not a cry, but the silent tears of the downtrodden, the lonely, the confused, those with nobody to talk to without fear of being judged or ratted on?

We see all the time the elderly who are alone and struggling, call 911, or become a healthcare "victim" in order for companionship or comfort. Could teenagers also be looking for the same?

As a community service minded volunteer, is there something that you or your agency could do to help the vulnerable at all extremis of age?

Is there a way you could get involved to positively effect peoples lives prior to them resorting to 911?

We talk all the time about the future of EMS being in a more public health role. But because of economic constraints, it seems the only realistic way to move forward is to enlist the help of those not seeking renumeration.

Is it possible that volunteers could be the unlikely heroes of advancing US EMS?

While we are on this topic, how many volunteers out there are willing to do something like this?

Could you set aside your personal beliefs and prejudices to offer objective and factual advice?

Could you find just as much satisfaction knowing your labor helped an elderly person stay in their home for their final days instead of being institutionalized?

Would you be willing to undergo training or education to that end in order to help people?

If you are a professional healthcare provider, would you be willing to donate time to it as well?

 

[usalsfyre]

So I was thinking. (a dangerous pastime I know)

Looks like your house has been invaded by Beauty and the Beast too

The problem is most of the volunteers atracted to volunteer with EMS services are not the type of people to want to do community outreach. Even if that is indeed where the need is. How many volunteers split when they realize it's not all sirens and saving lives? I've seen a lot. It's going to take a whole new recruiting tack, and the established forces are likely to be MASSIVELY resistant.

The only problem I have volunteering part of my time to do this (I'm paid obviously) is because of the crappy hours of EMS I only get limited family interaction as it is. Spending time away from the house and not getting paid for it is unfair to the people I primarily care about.

 

[wildrivermedic]

As a community service minded volunteer, is there something that you or your agency could do to help the vulnerable at all extremis of age?

As a new-ish member of a small town volunteer crew... this is very much part of our unstated mission. I would love to see it develop into a real "program" and have been looking at the Community Paramedic development with great interest. Anyone know of resources for basics and volunteers in this vein??? Any experience finding grant funding, while we're at it?

Is it possible that volunteers could be the unlikely heroes of advancing US EMS?

We have the advantage of being inextriably connected with our community... if community health is what we want to advance, then yes.

While we are on this topic, how many volunteers out there are willing to do something like this?

+1

 

[usafmedic45]

Personally, I think that with proper oversight (the same as you see with paid personnel) volunteers are a great asset. The problem in EMS is that most services have dismal quality control and quality improvement operations. This goes for both the volunteer and paid side of the profession. Neither side has any claim to being universally (or even close to uniformally) better than the other. It really has to be handled on a department by department basis and throwing salaries at the problem seldom alleviates the issues if the true factors causing the problems are not addressed.

Looks like your house has been invaded by Beauty and the Beast too

I'm glad I'm not the only one who picked up on that reference. BTW, as a point of fact, I would like to point out that I have a 5 1/2 year old daughter.

 

[Sassafras]

Looks like your house has been invaded by Beauty and the Beast too

Hey group I'm afraid I've been thinking.
A dangerous pastime
I know
But that wacky old coot's volunteering
His insanity's starting to show
Now the wheels in my head have been turning
Since I looked at that looney old man
See I promised myself my volley would be best
And right now I'm evolving a plannnnnnn.

 

[Melclin]

You guys are lame. If you were cool like me, you'd have a Tintin box set.

I think that vollies can have a broad role in the out of hospital, sort-or-healthcare setting. I see it work pretty well a couple of times a month with St John Ambulance.

Is St John Ambulance active in the US, because StJ is pretty much exactly what you're describing.

Prehospital care at events, field hospitals at larger events to a single first aider at a school fete. StJ also does community outreach for "members of the community who need support with everyday activities, are suffering from illness or are feeling isolated due to a lack of mobility". Doctors, nurses, paramedics, as well as the unemployed, lawyers and road workers. 12,631 of them to be exact, volunteering 1,341,510 hours of their time every year.

They also have cadets for those <18 - sort of like healthcare boy scouts and a great way for kids and teenagers to learn handy life skills. I don't mean just bandaging and CPR. We have 16 year old cadet who can pretty much run a first aid team, liasing with security, police and event staff, at an event with 8,000 people.

I know this sounds like StJ promotional material. StJA also has a lot of problems. Mostly with logistics and oversight (not to mention officious wankers who think they are the bosses of the world), but its getting better. Despite its failings, St Johns provides a valuable service to the community in many ways, and as a student healthcare professional (as many of us vollies are) it provides valuable clinical experience, often under the guidance of experienced HCPs.

 

[enjoynz]

I think that vollies can have a broad role in the out of hospital, sort-or-healthcare setting. I see it work pretty well a couple of times a month with St John Ambulance.

Also in New Zealand there is the 'Caring Caller Service' where St John Ambulance volunteers are given a list of either the elderly or those that living alone, by family members or friends.
The folk are rang once a day for a chat and to check they are ok.

As far as teens go...there are a number of services available like 'Life-line'.

This is not run by the ambulance service, but is supported by a network of phone volunteers that are trained to deal with suicidal folk, to those that just need someone to talk to. Also another group called ' Kids-line' for those under the age of 14 to ring.

St John also have a service here called' Friends of the Emergency Department'.
Volunteers that are there for family members that may need a bit of support, information as to where to find things within the hospital or even just a cup of tea or coffee.
There are other support services within St John and other agencies like Salvation Army that are there for all in need.

I'm not sure if that is the sort of vollies you are looking at, but we seem to have a vast amount on tap in NZ.

Enjoynz

 

[Meursault]

This turned into exactly the discussion the OP didn't want, and it did it inside of a page.

This proposal depends on two of the qualities purportedly most lacking in EMS workers and volunteers: compassion and enthusiasm for social work. These aren't trainable skills, either.

 

[abckidsmom]

I think that the services you're talking about would appeal to a segment of the professional healthcare provider population, but not necessarily the ones who are currently professional (whether paid or unpaid) EMS providers. I've been a paramedic for 13 years, an RN for 10, I have 17 years volunteer experience concurrent with 3 years in a low-volume system and 5 years on the street in a high-volume, progressive urban system. I do EMS now, in my spare time, as a volunteer because I LIKE DOING EMS. My county recently switched to a cross-trained fire/EMS system, so I'm in fire class so I can go back to working part time as a medic.

I like helping people, too, but I prefer doing it in the capacity that I have been trained in. Your suggestions look like a good task for my girl scout troop. The girls (and me, as their leader) could adopt one or two older people and really shower them with love and attention. I would look at that very differently than what I do now.

I'm an exception as a volunteer, education wise. Heck, in this country, I have more education than most medics. Honestly, I tend to agree with Brown, but I still want to get out there and work in the system, so I do what I can to educate the volunteers I work with.

 

[MrBrown]

The Johnnos here (as already pointed out) have a number of volunteer community care programs which closely align to what is being discussed here and by all measures they work very well, making a positive difference to Nanas everywhere.

It is just a bit unfortunate that the provision of a twenty first century emergency medical service seems to hve gotten lost along the way ....

 

[emt seeking first job]

I think that the services you're talking about would appeal to a segment of the professional healthcare provider population, but not necessarily the ones who are currently professional (whether paid or unpaid) EMS providers. I've been a paramedic for 13 years, an RN for 10, I have 17 years volunteer experience concurrent with 3 years in a low-volume system and 5 years on the street in a high-volume, progressive urban system. I do EMS now, in my spare time, as a volunteer because I LIKE DOING EMS. My county recently switched to a cross-trained fire/EMS system, so I'm in fire class so I can go back to working part time as a medic.

I like helping people, too, but I prefer doing it in the capacity that I have been trained in. Your suggestions look like a good task for my girl scout troop. The girls (and me, as their leader) could adopt one or two older people and really shower them with love and attention. I would look at that very differently than what I do now.

I'm an exception as a volunteer, education wise. Heck, in this country, I have more education than most medics. Honestly, I tend to agree with Brown, but I still want to get out there and work in the system, so I do what I can to educate the volunteers I work with.

We have a woman, retired medic, injured can no longer lift, an adjunct instructor at a local college. She is late 60s/early 70s.

She is very respected. When we buff calls, the paid people defer to her. She takes it upon herself to educate EMTs during calls, without preaching to go back to school, so she is very respected.

 

[Phlipper]

I think if you have volleys that are motivated to learn and who want to serve their communities it is a blessing. If you have about 50% who just want to wear a uniform and show up whenever they want or not do much when they do show - which negatively affects the other good 50% ... it's a bane. Unfortunately I see the latter at the station where I work (paid and volley). With so many EMT-Bs hitting the system I'm hoping this will change. But unless management gets off it's butt to fix operational issues and to repair the incentive system nothing's going to change until the system is so broken that they have to build an all paid staff.

 

[emt seeking first job]

I think if you have volleys that are motivated to learn and who want to serve their communities it is a blessing. If you have about 50% who just want to wear a uniform and show up whenever they want or not do much when they do show - which negatively affects the other good 50% ... it's a bane. Unfortunately I see the latter at the station where I work (paid and volley). With so many EMT-Bs hitting the system I'm hoping this will change. But unless management gets off it's butt to fix operational issues and to repair the incentive system nothing's going to change until the system is so broken that they have to build an all paid staff.

EMS is a strange animal, the training and protocols are the same regardless if paid or volunteer. It is not like comparing police to auxiliary police.

IMHO, you get the same issues in either paid or vollie services, at least in nyc.

Speaking of which, gotta run for my shift...

 

[rescue99]

Brown is quite honestly anti volunteers. While volunteers should be celebrated and rewarded for being such humane and civic minded souls for giving up thier free time to help others which is all very well and good, they are the lowest common denominator that the system will always cater for,

They operate a lower clinical competency level, have less clinical knowledge and exposure, are overly behavourist in thier clinical approach and are generally anti-education as a byproduct of thier ability to commit only limited time to Ambulance service.

As an example, our volunteer Officers are educated to about half the level of a first year student Paramedic. While they are very confident in the behaviourist psychomotor aspects of thier scope of practice they lack a solid cognitive foundation of knowledge as they simply do not have the time to commit to undertaking the level of study required to obtain it.

Volunteers come in all sorts of packages. Some may be lawyers, some cooks and some are houswives. Our systems need civic support and I applaud any citizen who seeks any level of training necessary to assist a neignbor. Brown never read a civics book? It is among the lowest level reading texts we have, as it is something taught in early elementary schools. ^_^ I expect this to be the reason why the U.S. has the most dedicated and prepared volunteer system in the world...if we can keep FEMA out of it that is! FEMA can screw up just about anything.

 

[Chimpie]

This turned into exactly the discussion the OP didn't want, and it did it inside of a page.

The off topic posts have been removed. Please stick to the topic.

 

[Seaglass]

My area already has a few volunteer groups that do that, and I'm glad they're there. I think we'd get a lot more calls resulting from pure loneliness without them.

I can only think of a few people from local volunteer departments who could do that well, though. A lot of them are staffed by individuals who just aren't very good at interacting with people. They're pretty good at staying calm in emergencies and performing simple interventions, but their bedside manner is pretty awkward.