trbtacmedic

After reading these post I have found several valid points for both sides of this debate. I do feel we need to take a more proactive role in our individual communities and districts in the general heath and well being of those we serve as well as educate the public as to our capabilities. There have been several times I have had Doctor's and Nurse's who were surprised that I could start an I.V. or give narcotics to my patient's that I picked up from the I.C.U. Are we an extension of the Physician Yes we are and I feel that this should not change. But we take more rick out in the field then most physicians or nurses are willing to take. How many nurse's or physician's are out there on a daily basis risking getting assaulted by patients attacked by fluffy the family dog or cat or getting ran over by a car that some rubber necker is driving. We are also being utilized in areas that are non traditional roles for E.M.S. such as Tactical, Haz-Mat and other high risk enviroments.

Dust devil you are entitled to your opinion but where is your argument proving your point? Do you feel thet we are are health care workers only? How are we being held back by the attitude of being public safety?

Thanks for the reply p3medic. We are exspected to give care no matter what the situation is. We are also viewed as never really being off duty. I work in my home town and it is a small rural community. I was standing in line to order food ( I was off duty) at a local fast food restaurant for 15 minutes. When a young man whos mother I had taken care of wanted to talk and ask me questions so rather then be rude or seem mean I stepped aside and politely talked with him across the counter for five minutes while the large group behind me got their orders and got larger. After we were done I waited in line another 20 minutes to make my order and to get my food. I know fire departments and law enforcement are the same way. They are never really off duty.

I have never seen so many ambulances in one place.

All right I am writing this to see how many of you feel the same as I do. EMS is young in terms of how long it has been around and I always hear how we are lumped into the fire service or law enforcement and treated like the Bas*erd child of both. My attitude is that we are the health care arm of public safety? We respond and work closely with both law enforcement and fire departments but we are the ones who do patient care out in the street. Many fire and law agencies don't want that as their primary responsibility. At the national and often state levels we are not seen as members of the public safety community. The state I live in EMS personal were not going to get anything after 9/11. Our state department of EMS had to fight tooth and nail to get us equipment that the fire departments and law enforcement were getting from Sema and Fema. Even after that we got just a small fraction compared to what the other public safety branches and hospitals received. At the national level from what I understand the Department of Homeland Security has communication or representatives from law enforcement and the fire service but do not talk with any one who is strictly EMS. They tend to lump us in with the fire service whos primary concern is not patient care but fire suppression. If we are lumped in with law enforcement their primary concern is enforcement of the laws and catching the bad guys. So to me we need to be viewed and recognized as our own uniformed service in public safety. Not DOT or Health care. We are public safety workers who are trained in health care. So their is my rambling argument made on the fly. I am also a Police Officer and I have been a Volunteer Firefighter in the past. I am a Paramedic with over 10 years in the business under my belt. So lets hear your opinions and arguments on this.