What to do about a jerk partner?

[reaper]

How about working with a paramedic who pretends not to hear you (or maybe he cant), his patient, or dispatch?

How about sitting in an ambulance station for 16 hours, no calls, with a medic who won't speak to you, or help you with station duties?

The only effin time he hears me is when I finally get pi$$ed off enough to call him names in a low tone...

How about working with a paramedic who pretty much tells you that the only thing he wants you to do is drive?

I can't stand this guy. Our boss won't even work with him. He's old, stubborn, and his bedside manner sucks a$$.

He will not have a conversation with you or speak to you. It doesn't matter if you have a question about the call or if you're just saying "hey how ya doin?".

We only run one ambulance out of our paid station. So, two crew members... a partner who doesn't talk... 16 hours of that just plain sucks.

Our boss is always asking the other partner (which would be me 99% of the time) if the medic has done his station duties. He never does... and won't be fired because we are hurting for paramedics.

Sometimes, there really isn't any way to deal with a bad partner...

Sorry, but I had to get in on the rant.

Tell your boss to fire the guy! I come up there and be your partner!!

[snoopy911]

boy, am i glad i dont have a permanent partner. my FD runs our ALS units with one emt, and then the hospital supplys the medic. i usually never work with somebody 2 days in a row. which can be a good or bad thing. there is about 20 medics in that platoon that i work with. its not a bad thing, i like hte arrangement. if you work with a jerk one day, the next one will be better

[firedoc5]

boy, am i glad i dont have a permanent partner. my FD runs our ALS units with one emt, and then the hospital supplys the medic. i usually never work with somebody 2 days in a row. which can be a good or bad thing. there is about 20 medics in that platoon that i work with. its not a bad thing, i like hte arrangement. if you work with a jerk one day, the next one will be better

It can go both ways. Some that you work day in and day out with can be your best bud. One can start a sentence and the other can finish it for them, even outside of work. Or they can be your most hated nemesis, to where you can't wait to get home and hug your blankie.

[Richard B the EMT]

Just don't kick the dog in your frustration! (And while I am not really a cat fan, don't kick the cat either!)

[suzeg487]

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Having been in this situation before, I came to realize that a person like this usually has such low self-esteem, they feel the need to take it out on everybody they come into contact with. Unfortunately, it's hard to get "digs" in on people like this as they're too stupid to realize what you're doing, hence the saying "you can't have a battle of wits with an unarmed person".

Your partner's already doing a fabulous job of making himself look like the whack job that he is - just ignore him and he'll eventually go away. Just don't feed into it - it's so totally NOT worth it.

Good luck!

[prettyone]

Sounds like that person needs to find a new line of work!

How dare that person treat others like that. And the bedside manner being bad to?

OMG! That is not good for pt to take!

[ALERT Medic]

Your agency should have a Corporate Compliance policy. Look into it. What this guy is doing is grounds for termination and potential legal action on your part. He is creating a hostile work environment. Most employers don't tolerate things like this, no matter what the staffing crunch is like. You must document every encounter. And by documenting, I don't mean using a little note pad like a diary. I mean a formal write up to your supervisor/director.

If your company does employ a corporate compliance policy, you should be able to make an anonymous grievance.

All joking aside, this is serious. Quit putting up with it and do something about it.

I know if I had an employee come to me with something like that, I'd yank his ass off the truck and pull him into the directors office with me and you. This kind of behavior is unacceptable by any standard.

Good luck! It's going to be tough.

[emschic69]

I truly feel your pain. I'm a very new EMT myself and have had to deal with people like your new partner. Kill them with kindness, and always smile at them, totally confuses them and makes them wonder. when deep down you want to tear there head right off there shoulders. Keep

[ALERT Medic]

I truly feel your pain. I'm a very new EMT myself and have had to deal with people like your new partner. Kill them with kindness, and always smile at them, totally confuses them and makes them wonder. when deep down you want to tear there head right off there shoulders. Keep

See, I don't understand this mindset. I'm all for being nice to someone but I think the OP has done all he/she can do to be nice. This person has to be stopped. Simple as that. Being nice isn't the way to go about it. It needs to be reported and documented. Maybe even a formal grievance should be done.

This kind of thought process is just what keeps people like this partner in the job. Nobody reports it and they just smile and carry on. What a bunch of hogwash. If that's your way of handling the problem, you'll never last long in EMS. You have to say something.

Do you seriously use this approach to dealing with a problem partner? If so, you're not doing anyone any good by not reporting things like this. I'm all for dealing with the person directly but in this case it's apparent that the direct approach doesn't work...time to move to the next level and report it formally.

[Just Plain Ruff]

treating them with kindness and being nice only goes so far.

this mantra is spouted off in our government schools all in the guise of political correctness and the belief that if there are no winners there are no losers. Do you want to go thru life with that mindset?

If you do, then you deserve everything you get because there are winners and there are losers. Most people are by definition "Losers" not the derigatory term Loser but we lose more times than we win.

In every contest, phase of life there are people who win and then those who lose.

football - one winner one loser

politics - one winner one loser

spelling bee - one winner many losers

poker - one winner many losers

car wrecks - one person comes out ahead, that does not make them a winner but if they are hurt less then sure they were the winner

court cases - one winner one loser

I see it on the sports field for my son, they don't keep score, they don't say who won or lost. They say "great game" or "you did a great job" no matter how sucky they really are.

My son has been on the losing end of sports and games we play at home and he understands that he cannot win all the time but when he does it gives him a feeling of accomplishment. When he loses and he knows he played his hardest he knows that he lost anyway and he's a pretty good sport about it.

AS for the killing the partner with kindness, that partner is not about to understand that approach. The partner is already too set in his ways to see anything other than his own situation. If you "kill him with kindness" he will not go away. He will continue and make your life worse. I've been there I know. I followed that mantra and then I grew up.

Report this guy and let it go from there. He will not go away no matter how kind you are to him.