Medic Attempts Suicide...Lose job or no?

[MedicAsh]

I am going to wait for a few more replies then I will tell you my take on the situation

[Dustdevil]

She attempted to quit without notice.

Quitting without notice is against policy.

She's fired.

[p3medic]

She attempted to quit without notice.

Quitting without notice is against policy.

She's fired.

Well that would be one way to get around it.

[medic_texas]

Adding to my above post. She is a threat to herself, her patients, and her co-workers in the state she is in. That does not mean she can't come out of it and lead a normal and productive life.

I used to work with someone who is in that exact same situation. She is working again after some time off to heal and recuperate. I have no problems with that.. But the state should be notified in case of a relapse and/or other issues that pose safety concerns.

[DwayneEMTP]

...The only thing I'm going to say is that whether or not bi-polar plays a part in a debate, it should be judged on a case to case basis.

Yeah, regardless of this single behavioral incident, this woman has a history. How long that history is, and the type of baseline behavior it shows should absolutely play into what happens here. A single incident does not a life make. And the fact that she chose to hurt herself instead of others does not, in my mind, make her a danger to her patients. Of course it doesn't preclude it, but her life's path shouldn't be automatically, radically changed on the knee jerk reaction of "if she'll hurt herself, she'll hurt anyone!"

There have been times in my life where I hit a crisis point for which I had no tools to cope. I've done things I'm not terribly proud of in those times, but if we're willing, and the appropriate help is available, then we grow past them, develop the tools, and move forward.

Becksdad is a basic that posts here on occasion. He has told this story here elsewhere, so I'm comfortable repeating it. He was prescribed a medication, for what I can't remember, that had a very low incidence of causing seizures. He took it in the hospital, where it was prescribed, and had a seizure while delivering his next patient to the hospital!

In Florida, as elsewhere perhaps, if you have a seizure you are banned from EMS patient care or ambulance operations for a minimum of 5 years. He had no previous history of seizures, (and he's late 50's I think), the prescribing Doc went to bat for him, but still, no more EMS. He didn't take any more of the med, and hence, no more seizures.

(The hospital where he often delivered patients snarfed him up within a couple of days and he's now very happy working there.)

He and I have become very close friends over the years (We met after having a knock down drag out argument at the City) so I know for a fact that he is VERY smart, compassionate, and committed to making sure he was a sterling example of EMS and patient care.

But EMS only saw the seizure.

People make mistakes. At times Karma thinks it’s funny to bury it’s boot in your ass. People get sideways and sometimes need help finding the road again. At the very least we owe anyone the chance to stand on their past behavior and performance before deciding to separate them from their hard earned career.

Dwayne

[Ridryder 911]

We have had to deal with this type of situations. I will require that they have a release just alike any other medical condition describing and stating from a licensed physician that they are able to return to work and that stressful environment. I have not yet seen one return without some length of time and then very few.

Personally, I believe we should be more careful and have screening processes alike LEO and other agencies on mental health alike physical health. Our job and working environment is not alike many jobs. We also tend to attract those that have a unstable psychological background.

I have had to deal with too many people that have to medicate themselves to "deal" with things. Not against mental illness, but alike a diabetic working in a candy store the stressors and working environment is not the best for those with problems.

R/r 911

[KSEMT122]

I would agree Rid, that in our profession we need to have a more stringent background process that would at the very least include some form of psych exam prior to employment. We do attract the crazies. In this situation I'll have to admit upon first reading of this I felt she should be terminated. However, I am open to the idea of her sticking around WITHOUT pay until she is deemed by a physician to be no threat to herself or others. I would say the COMPANY physician and/or Medical Director if they are not the same person would need to evaluate this person as well and sign off on any return to work. The Medical Director might not ever feel comfortable letting her operate under his license again, thus the problem takes care of itself and she is terminated through no fault of the agency. Interesting topic....

[emt322632]

Very interesting replies everyone, I love the input.

Something else to consider that I didn't think about until now. We live in a very small area, very close knit EMS community. The cat is already out of the bag as Dust said, nearly everyone knows what happened.

I wonder if she would ever be able to return to work without people pointing their fingers and talking behind her back. This type of stigma would be very hard for people to forget I would think.

[Ridryder 911]

Actually, I have found that it is really not that much of a "stigma" as one would think. I know of several medics that have "attempted" or as some have said "done something stupid". So, yes at first it is the gossip behind the back, but after a while I have found it is no more interesting or considered as bad as the one cheating or screwing around with each other.... what a profession! :oops: Most are very forgiving very fast...

R/r 911

[Dustdevil]

That is also true in my experience. Drama is so ubiquitous in EMS that even suicidal attempts don't register that high on the shock scale. Consequently, people forgive or forget pretty quickly. I've had a few co-workers attempt it in the past and move on with their careers.

I've also had a couple of co-workers actually accomplish it too. I hope they found whatever it was they were looking for.