Can't we just be....Co-workers

[Michael]

spank me you "rabbity" creature!

Hey there, careful what you wish for.

[SWM_Medic]

I was a basic for a couple of years before I became a medic. During that time I was working with a paramedic on an als unit. In my experience I feel that the complaints from the basic stems from a feeling of uselessness. Whether it's legitimate or imagined its there, and at that time I found every excuse to pick apart what my medic partner did. In reality I love my basic partners. There are times I would prefer a great basic partner to a good paramedic partner. Simply because it alleviates pt care arguments. When a basic says that I am arrogant, I simply respond "they are right". I have to be, it's just how I deal with it. If I didn't think I was the best at what I did I would never attempt those risky procedures in the field.

[mobey]

As I have been working towards out transformation, I have had many individual staff members come to my house to voice thier concerns. One fairly meek yet excellent EMT finally asked, "But aren't they going to take away all the good calls?".

When you look at the list of excuses in the original post, i wonder how many of those are made up to mask the question in bold.

[gaelicfirefighter]

Once again, here are my thoughts for what they are worth.

At the firehouse with the medics and on here with the medics, some feel EMT's are useless. I am a firefighter / EMT. I mostly work on a fire truck and I work on a BLS ambulance 6 times a quarter. So I m not a full time EMT.

But due to my large call volume on the BLS amblance I feel I can comment.

EMT's are not useless. We take alot of the heat of the ALS community. Anyone who feels EMT's are useless are either insecure or have bad EMT's working in their system.

And why intentionally try and make someone feel bad. Why put others down. Instead of being negative, dont say anything.

I work with many medics. There is an ambo in the house and our engine is ALS. Some are horrible, some are ok and some are very good. Putting a medic on a higher pedistal is inaccurate and wrong. Two totally different jobs. Its like saying who's better or smarter, a medic or a nurse. You cant. Two seperate jobs.

So be happy for us EMT's and Medics. Be supportive. Encourage others to continue or expand their education. It's that why we joined this site. To share stories, network and socialize with eachother. To motivate and push eachother. If not, I joined the wrong site.

Moderators should monitor people putting others down as much as they monitor language. Attacking someone personally is much worse than an off colored word or joke.

[JPINFV]

So the idea of a reference thread to throw at the n00bs appeals to no one save myself and Moby, huh? Friggin' AWESOME.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

Well, the thread is less than a day old...

[JakeEMTP]

So the idea of a reference thread to throw at the n00bs appeals to no one save myself and Moby, huh? Friggin' AWESOME.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

Wendy,

Since you explained it so well, I am finding it difficult to come up with something to add. :scratch: You may have single-handedly, killed the thread. j/k

Medics can be useful in other calls other than cardiac, contrary to popular belief.

In all honesty Mobey, if your co-workers are truly interested in providing the best care for their patients, I am finding it difficult to find one good reason as to why they are fighting this. Unless of course, the reason is in your post which you placed in bold type.

I think, as so well explained the our esteemed colleague from CO., the difference is in the critical thinking skills. The reasons why we do things simply cannot be comprehended by someone who has not had a higher level of education. This is not a slam on individuals, however it is a fact and a result of having tiered levels of providers. If everyone was a medic, this wouldn't be an issue.

I work in a dual medic system with a few EMT-I's in the process of completing their medic education. This type of argument doesn't exist. Frankly, I'm tired of it.

[towheadedmule]

Medics can be useful in other calls other than cardiac, contrary to popular belief.

Pain control

difficult childbirth (although I prefer a diesel bolus for this, especially when the 24 week preemie pops out on a G2P1AB0 mom with 25 second contractions at 10 minutes length!)

the CHFer/COPDer who waited to long to call and crumps (had this call about 12 hours ago)

crush syndrome (with the right protocols)

anaphylaxis

coma unknown etiology (O2/BGL/Narcan anyone)

weakness for week with diarrhea and sucking down Tums to the tune of 6-12 tablets a day.

oooh looky,,,,tall spiked t-waves in the precordial leads with absent p's in I, II, III

Pregnant lady with a hx of seizures,,,,,valium or mag,,,,valium or mag....ARGH!

all calls I have had lately

My city's PD requires a BS/BA to become an officer. Does that mean they are better cops...no. Probably more rounded. Paid better yes.

I look at ALS as a team sport, work as a team, live/die as a team. Still, there has to be a quarterback. I love working with basics. I guess the basic vs medic doesn't come up cause we are a PUM. Now Fire-base vs EMS based.......thats a different story!

R

[Dustdevil]

I guess the basic vs medic doesn't come up cause we are a PUM.

Not sure I follow your logic. If you research it, I think you'll see that most PUMs run medic-basic systems. The primary point of most PUMs is the "high performance" theory, which is to squeeze the most productivity from the fewest number of resources. To most of them, that means they'd almost rather run a truck short than to staff it with two medics, which costs them more money. If your system is running dual medics, that's awesome. But don't think for a second that this is typical of PUMs.

[Scaramedic]

Look at his location Dust, you know what PUM he is talking about. Their Basic-Medic.

[Dustdevil]

Look at his location Dust, you know what PUM he is talking about. Their Basic-Medic.

That's what I thought. That's the way it was last time I heard. So again, I don't follow his logic. What does being a PUM have to do with anything? :?