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Don't you EVER ask for a discount. EVER. If it's freely given, you may accept, circumstances depending (thanks for your story Squinty). To ask, or to be offended because one previously given is not extended, is churlish in the extreme, and reflects poorly on our profession. Just what is it that makes you so god damn special that somewhere you ate is OBLIGED to give away part of their profits to you? We get prodeals through my SAR team. If they stop being offered, which companies occasionally do, we don't say a word except thanks for the previous years of prodeals. Do we *ever* go into a shop and ask for discounts? Absolutely not. That's actually grounds for dismissal from the team. In the rare instance that something is offered to us, we ask that the business make a tax deductible donation instead (which I know has happened). That way, it benefits the whole team and not just one or two of us who happened to be in uniform. Man, this kind of stuff REALLY chaps my ass. It's so stupid. Really. Just don't do it. Wendy CO EMT-B

We will have a spirited debate another day, guaranteed. Thanks. I understand venting, ranting, and raving happens. Though my vent, rant, and raving was taken way too far. But luckly the crew here in the City are very forgiving and understanding.

Yeah, I should have been more clear about that. I was talking about a radio report such as, (True call), "When questioned as to the reason for EMS activation pt states that she needs her prescription refilled and that her husband refused to drive her to the pharmacy. Pt has no other complaints at this time, no significant issues discovered by medic." Hospital responds, "Copy Dwayne, we'll meet you in triage." When we rolled up on this call an apparently well female ran up to the side of the ambulance, very indignant, and pounded on the side with her fist complaining about our response time. Now, please understand that has this women been symptomatic, in any way, even if I believed that the symptoms came from PO narc withdrawals for her chronic 'bad back', that I would have considered this a valid call and moved forward like any other call. This woman was simply spoiled, fighting with her husband, wanted to get baked on Vicodin and intended to show him that she would have her way with or without him. (No license due to DUIs) I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that this is a common practice..I've seen several thousand patients now yet I believe I've done the 'triage hell' maybe three or four times. Another was for a spoiled, rich, 'overdose' chick. Her parents were going crazy, she had her moms narc prescription that she was pouring out of the pill bottle into her mouth and chewing! I grabbed the bottle and immediately smelled M&Ms, looked in the bottle and found it to be full of M&Ms that she was using to freak her parents out with. She claims that she ate all of the narcs that morning (12hrs past), but had gotten some more!, and had 'just' put the candy in there a second ago! Screaming the whole time that "I'm really going to die! that's drugs, not candy!" I actually love psych calls, I love the mentally infirm. This was neither. She was just a spoiled little bitch. 40 minute transport time, no symptoms at any time during the transport...so I made the triage hell call...grin. EMS is what it is folks until we change it. Punishing patients, treating them poorly, forcefully refusing them...that's just bad form. Leave that kind of behavior to the wankers. Dwayne

And there it is in a nutshell. This is how the bills get paid. No BS patients = unemployed EMTs. Consider them customers. On the flip side, I have been miffed at times for missing interesting calls while tending to some crybaby, but you have to get used to that. You can't pick your calls. I have helped guide a few to triage hell myself. That usually stops them from trying again. You'd just better be damn sure you know what you're doing. You will never have any credibility again if you pull that stunt and you're wrong. Plus you'll have to live with yourself after. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think one of the most important things I had when I started off was a list of all the area ER codes. When I started it seemed as though everyone just assumed I knew the codes and were frustrated when I asked. We have 5 ER's that we go to and every one has a different code. When I started I carried all sorts of things...Now I carry trauma shears, a field guide, and pens. I find that pretty much does the trick for me.

I sort of agree with you guys. I normally wouldn't have asked but I only brought in $10 (I figured the discount when I was counting my money in my rig). My bill was initially over that, so it was either get my discount or not pay. Plus, that wasn't even figuring the tip (which I wouldn't have been able to provide). I can understand drawing the line at giving the police a discount. There's a benefit to having a police officer inside your location (who in their right mind is going to rob you?). EMS and Fire is a slippery slope. As Dwayne said, why not teachers? Why not priests? Why not any other type of employee? Almost everybody works, so why not give a "worker's discount"? The answer is because it's advantageous to have uniformed first responders in your restaurant.

God Damn it SD, every time I get your negative count down by giving you positive points on posts where you don't sound completely insane you go and do some shit like this. Why in the world would you believe that you have more of a right to a discount than, say, the mechanic, or preacher, or teacher sitting next to you? After all, the odds are that any one of them likely worked harder and/or did more in their day to change the world than you did, right? My guess is that you come from a Fire background so that you have that bullshit sense of entitlement because you're a 'hero'...Nonsense. In fact, this has volly fireman stamped all over it. This isn't terribly surprising given your previous posts of 'being at the top of your game', of 'being an EMS Pioneer', despite ignoring everyone's attempts to get you to show us what exactly you've pioneered, and all of the stuff you carry on your belt. No matter how badly you want reality to match the nonsense displayed by your TV hero, it's never going to manifest brother. Why do you deserve more of a discount than anyone else? Dwayne

I had a pulm edema pt once that I was sure was going to code enroute. I had the family call his hometown doc and have his DNR faxed to my Med Control. I then called my med control and told him what he should expect via fax. He called me back 5min later and instructed me not to work the pt if he does code as the DNR had arrived. Pretty outta the box if you ask me. This happened in Calgary too. A Police dog was administered Morphine. Awesome story, and the Medics had no reprecussions.

Yep, Í`m with the others on that one. I wouldn`t have asked for a discount either. Generally, but that`s only my opinion, you can only ask for something that you have the right for. I mean, in a kind of demanding way - sure, you can ask for anything, wether that`s intelligent or tactfull is written on another paper. In that case...Nah! To Topic: In our hospitals cantine we get staffs discount (same as nurses, doctors,etc.). As well as in some other hospitals. There are two or three hospitals in our state that give you a meal for free if you brought a patient (nurses and staff can eat there for free too) - obviously, transports to these facilities are highly popular. The Subways in the near bigger town has a discount for EMTs as well as Joey`s (German pizza franchise) and some other food delivery services (but not only for EMS but also for hospitals, the police, some other municipal officials -> mainly groups of people who often purchase -> therefore, to make them happy is a good business strategy ).

Wow, I have gotten a few discounted coffees while on duty, have gotten a few take-n-bake pizzas on duty, and gone to the local theme park on "heros weekend" with free admission. But seriously! To talk to a manager because you didn't get you discount is utter BS. We had a thread not long ago about professional courtesy and what it was but wow man, I rarely am suprised by the selfishness of human nature, but to pull a stunt like that is unforgiveable. I certainly hope that your local "discount program" ends soon because of entitlement issues. Fireman1037

Throw out your Littman II and purchase a Littman III. What are we living in? The olden days? A good TASER will take you far. Don't go cheap and just get a stun gun, invest in an X2 TASER that can shoot out prongs. OC is a must. Make sure it's at least 2 million SHU, no whimpy stuff. Some sort of Shotgun capable of firing breaching rounds is a must... in those cases you need to bust down a door. Benelli makes a nice shotgun that acts as a triple threat (buckshot, breaching slugs, and bean bags). A tactical flashlight that can attach to the end of your shotgun. An asp collapsible baton. A Kevlar vest with trama plates. Your own Motorola radio with a tactical headset. If you are missing any of that stuff you are clearly not somebody I'd want responding to my emergency. <end of sarcasm> Make fun of me all you want guys; I'm prepared. But, don't feel like you need to carry a lot on you. Your bus will be,nine times out of ten, nearby enough that you can grab whatever you need out of it. I have most of my patients come to the back of my vehicle anyway while I'm examining them.

So, in my little cosey little rural area, the small town diners like to give us first responders breaks on our bills. Typically police, fire, and EMS get some type of break when they come and eat in their uniform. The local, family owned, doughnut shop gives us free doughnuts if we come in our uniforms. Coffee is also "on the house" sometimes. I guess this may be why police officers are associated with doughnuts, because they're also always hanging out there. Another family owned diner gives us a generous break when we eat at their place (around a third off). Some chain restaurants also give us breaks. Denny's gives us their employee discount, so does Burger King. However, today when I went into Denny's I didn't get my discount. My bill came and I noticed it was full price. I ordered a chicken fried steak, eggs, pancakes, and coffee, and I was being charged full price! I told the waitress (who was new), and she said that we had to pay full price (I knew from prior experience taking to the owner that we got the employee discount). I asked to talk to a manager, and she came out and apologized and gave us the discount. So this sparked my curiosity: what places give you free or discounted stuff?