Force firemonkeys to be medics, and this is what happens...

[Dustdevil]

Because it it a stupid post on one bad employee. How many good and heart-warming stories have their been on firefighters, police, emt's and medics saving lives. Wouldn't that be more appropriate and productive?

Dude, what are you talking about? This is news. It's not about being productive. It's about reporting the facts, good, bad, or indifferent. I didn't make this up for my own fun and games. It was the top story on JEMS.com, who could never be accused of being anti-firemonkey. You probably won't ever see the story on Firehouse.com though.

If you want to bury your head in the sand and pretend like fire-based EMS is teh aw3some, writing off all the evidence to the contrary as my personal dishonest agenda, then go for it. But denial is seriously immature and unintelligent, and I have come to expect better from you in your time here.

The fact is, this guy attempted (and FAILED) to become a paramedic for one reason, and one reason only: because it was a requirement to be a firemonkey. Therefore, the system is responsible for his FAILURE, and the FAILURE of their system as a whole, and consequently, the FAILURE of EMS to ever progress as a profession.

You can't spell FAILED with out FD.

And minus 5 for the FAILED amateur psychology attempt.

[firedoc5]

The dept. I was on has done this. A couple of years after I got on full time they made it mandatory that in-coming personnel had to become Paramedics within three years. That's how long your probationary period could be. Lucky for me I was already a Paramedic before I got on. They were afraid that by going by the usual voluntary system that they would not have enough new firemen become Paramedics to have 24hr. coverage. It's still that way now. But how many couldn't do both? If someone was an outstanding Paramedic but had trouble with the fire service side or if someone was great at firefighting but couldn't pass the EMS tests or classes, they would be out of a job. I think in the long run they lose some really good personnel. Sure now they have plenty of Paramedic/ Firefighters, but when you become a Lt. they will let you drop the Paramedic, but you still have to be at least an EMT. It can be somewhat confusing when they start doing that. But I think most stay Paramedics when they make Lt. anyway.

[vivibonita]

Sure now they have plenty of Paramedic/ Firefighters, but when you become a Lt. they will let you drop the Paramedic, but you still have to be at least an EMT. It can be somewhat confusing when they start doing that. But I think most stay Paramedics when they make Lt. anyway

Well wouldn't you want to keep something you worked hard for?

Sorry but as I was reading this thread, I thought that criticism was good for a profession so it can advance/progress, and when something bad happens you want to learn from it so it won't happen again... but...

[spoil:bfb38c4572][/spoil:bfb38c4572]

[AZCEP]

Those firefighter/paramedics didn't want to be paramedics in the first place and didn't put the effort into being good at it while they were one. They did just enough to not get in trouble, but not so much as to show they were incompetent.

[firedoc5]

Well wouldn't you want to keep something you worked hard for?

Sorry but as I was reading this thread, I thought that criticism was good for a profession so it can advance/progress, and when something bad happens you want to learn from it so it won't happen again... but...

[spoil:c7243dedd8][/spoil:c7243dedd8]

That's why so many do stay as Medics. They are more or less given the option to drop it if they decide to.

[jsadin]

Giving someone the option to drop their medic once they advance kinda outlines where the priorities are, eh?

[firedoc5]

Giving someone the option to drop their medic once they advance kinda outlines where the priorities are, eh?

That's one reason why the Fire Chief at the time and I were at odds. Guess because I was a Paramedic becoming a Firefighter full time instead of a Firefighter having to become a Paramedic. He didn't like that. And there were others too, not just me. But after I won an award for "Outstanding EMT/ Paramedic" for '89-'90, he really rode my back. And I guess whenever I said that the quality of the EMS will get lower because these guys are going to learn just what they have to and not what they need to didn't go over big.

[FormerEMSLT297]

So my question is this, did he ever ride as a medic before the forgery was detected ??? How many people did he assault with ALS treatments ??? .. The article seems to allude to medic students being allowed to start IV's..... Hmmmmmm

[akflightmedic]

Yes, medic students start IVs...was not sure where you were going with this?

As far as him assaulting patients, he probably never even had to do anything remotely ALS. In a system flush with medics, 3-4 on every call minimum, he probably did as little as possible, carried bags, stretcher fetched and stayed out of the way.

This is only a dreamy assumption on my part, but I hope that is what he did....LOL

[Dustdevil]

As far as him assaulting patients, he probably never even had to do anything remotely ALS. In a system flush with medics, 3-4 on every call minimum, he probably did as little as possible, carried bags, stretcher fetched and stayed out of the way.

This is only a dreamy assumption on my part, but I hope that is what he did....LOL

LOL! Let's hope so! But I've worked with two guys in the past that turned out to be frauds (three, if you include the LVN), and all of them were in-your-face aggressive practitioners. Real know-it-all whackers who were obviously going over the top to try and walk the walk. It was ultimately their undoing.