Which would you rather have?

[EMTRyan232]

Okay so my sister is a medic for a county service where i live and she will tell me stories of partners she has had from the night before. She would say that she would rather have a really good EMT-b rather than a lazy EMT-I. So I am putting it out to the forum and see what you all think?

 

[Shishkabob]

I've always preferred Intermediate/Paramedic trucks over dual-P or B/P...


However, if it comes down to "really good" vs "really bad", it's a no brainer...

 

[tcripp]

Not sure your definiation of "lazy". Is that patient care or help around the station?

Regardless of the level of your partner, I agree that it does come down to "really good" vs "really bad" being an easy choice.

 

[NomadicMedic]

At my 911 service, almost all of the trucks are P/I. Basics are slowly being phased out. The service pays for ILS classes and we expect to have all of our basics transitioned to intermediate by the end of 2011. Those who choose not to go through ILS or can't pass the course will be terminated.

At the IFT service we have a mix of basics and intermediates. Most of the basics are not assigned to ALS rigs unless we are short staffed.

As for my personal preference?

I'd obviously rather have a good partner over a lazy one, but all things equal, I'll rather work with a good Intermediate than a good basic. I appreciate the extra set of "advanced" hands, and our P/I crews work really well together. Most of the EMT-B fire fighters that respond on 911 calls are only used to carry stuff and do compressions.

 

[lampnyter]

Lets phrase is this way. Would you rather have a partner who was good ALS (EMT-I) but was horrible at BLS skills or a partner who was great at BLS skills.

 

[18G]

There is only one Paramedic on shift at my station so I have no choice but I think it would be nice to have a Paramedic partner for the extra input and consult with ALS level assessment and treatments.

As long as the partner is good in the field I could really care less how they are on station. I'm not their supervisor.

 

[hocomedic]

i prefer to have a partner that has the same training as me because if they have more advanced training, then the two of us aren't on the same page.

 

[JPINFV]

Lets phrase is this way. Would you rather have a partner who was good ALS (EMT-I) but was horrible at BLS skills or a partner who was great at BLS skills.

A paramedic is terrible with EMT level interventions is a bad paramedic, period. This, however, has nothing to do with EMTs vs paramedics as there are plenty of EMTs who are terrible at EMT level interventions.

[insert boilerplate rant about ALS vs BLS and the stupidity of those terms here]

 

[firetender]

Not quite sure of the utility of identifying a preference from other than real circumstances. It's always a matter of working with what is really there. In this case, YOU have the responsibility to utilize your partner properly; don't pawn it off on him/her. That could include compensating for a particular weakness. If it serves your patient, that's what you need to do.