Do you help off duty?

[Asysin2leads]

Honestly I think some of you have seriously missed the point. (Maybe you should consider yourselves part of the problem rather than the solution.)

If you are serving a community, you can bet your butt you have customers, and they are paying customers too. Not that you don't have patients, but not nessarily at the same time. And before you freak out, please note that the "Customer Service" ideology is being driven primarily in the Fire Service end of things, not that it doesn't carry over to EMS only agencies. But the basis of it is that you are there as a member of the community, and you are expected to serve that community. Every resident and visitor to your community is a customer especially when they aren't your patient. I feel it is totally unacceptable for an unassigned (not on a run) unit, fire or EMS, to ever pass a vehicle that has stopped in an unusual place. i.e. out of gas, stalled, fender bender, or just plain lost. You are capable of helping that person with almost any of their problems, and at least can assist to get them out of harms way if not back on their way.

Bigfire, I have to admit I've never visited Midvale, Utah. It sounds like a nice place. Apparently you have a very forgiving populace. Apparently, when you're in front of the city council answering questions about your response times "The reason we were delayed responding is because we had stopped the fire engine and/or ambulance to help with a flat tire" is an acceptable answer. I applaud your population's altruism and concern for their fellow man. Or maybe you've just never been in the situation where you have had to defend your actions on a run. Maybe you get to live in fun firemanland where kittens in trees need saving and we can use the tower ladder to trim Ms. McGurk's hedges if need be. Maybe you've never visited a friend in the hospital who was struck or injured at an accident scene. If so, congratulations, you have a great, wonderful, happy life and I hope it continues that way.

For the rest of us here in mean realityland, remember, the first rule of operation is know what you are doing. Know the risks, and know the consequences, particularly if you are off duty.

As for customer service, the way I see it, the public pays us to treat their illnesses or injuries, put out their fires, or arrest their criminals, and as much as we like to play the big burly big brother role, which we can, and help out here and there, it is not our primary responsibility and once w start putting that over our duties, ourselves and our patients and populace start to suffer.

[Bigfireguy]

I never said that stopping to assist a stranded motorist would or should delay our response. Yet you seem to assume that since I didn't spell out every type of scenario we must be skipping calls to help out. Get real!

Again I think you missed the point, or more likely you don't want to see it. Maybe you just need a long vacation.

Hopefully others that read this will get past your negativity & can understand what I was trying to say, and this will help to improve their responses both on & off duty. Obviously the point is lost on you.

Maybe that's the part you don't get. Most people are actually just trying to help, even if they don't have the training, experience, or equipment. Yes they are often more of a hindrance than a help, but that's why those of us who do have the training & experience have a responsibility to be a better example.

[STREMT11]

In the city that I work in, The FD and PD have no EMS training at all, so any time a crew is out on something, and anybody is off duty and happens onto a scene, they will stop to help.

[jsadin]

I won't stop to help unless I actually witness the accident (not the aftermath). Let's be real; unless you're actively controlling an arterial bleed, what are you doing to do without the benefit of the ambulance and its associated equipment? Hold c-spine? Wheeeeee....not.

[emt982002]

If there is no other medical help there I will stop, but if there are ambulances and of fire, first responders on scene I do not stop.

DK

[AGagnon]

This guy stopped (see link below), and that was after being at the national paramedic competition all day. As a student, I would definitely not stop unless I was in the middle of nowhere and the accident was really incredible. I think that I would rather not be a greater hazard by stopping and endangering myself, any passengers, and other drivers.

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/410907