Stop the bashing!

[gaelicfirefighter]

Listen folks.

We all joined this site for various reasons. I think mostly due to the fact that we are all professionals and we thought this might be a good way to increase or maintain this level of professionalism. This is good.

We are all in the same boat. We all basically do the same job one way or another. We serve and protect the people that live in our city, country or state.

We should help eachother resolve the problems we are having. I consider people on this site I have never met a type of friend. Friends help eachother. If you are having a problem with your local fs& r or ems divisions, throw them out on here in a positive manner. Give us the story or scenario and I for one will always be here to throw out ideas on how to resolve this problem.

Live is too short to just sit back and bitch and not do anything. And I don go for the "we have tried and it's not working". Keep trying. For you and those who come after you.

Maybe I live in a different world. I truly believe MOST people want to do a good job, learn and get better at what they do.

I can tell the medics on here who bash ff's and emt's are well intentioned and are very knowledgeable. I say this because if inadequacies bother them that much, they have to care a lot. They have to love what they do. I have also posted questions on here and the outpouring of helpful and constructive information and advice I have received has been incredible. For the most part!

There are thousands of ways to "skin a cat". As a group of highly educated individuals who are often under appreciated, lets stick together and help eachother out.

It has really worked for me.

[firedoc5]

I agree with you, GFF. Sometimes it does get a bit too negative and the name calling is uncalled for. You do need to be somewhat thick skinned, but sometimes it is uncalled for.

[Scaramedic]

Well there is always Firehouse Forums where you will see brilliant statements like this.

Bottom line is this: I don't need an EMT card to know when someone is F'ed up and needs a helicopter, or BLS, or ALS care. I don't need an EMT card to know how to open an airway, stop bleeding, or prevent shock. Hell I don't even need an EMT card to start a line. All I need is the knowledge and the practice. State certified EMT is nothing more than another way for the state to generate revenue and justify some pencil pushing schmucks job.

So, while I maintain my EMT-I license, I don't think it's vital, but I do think it has merit. I'm also a little more helpful on EMS runs where we're backing up the ambo for unconscious or codes. I've started IV's, sunk a ET and defibbed plenty of times, even though most of the time I just hold the radio and look pretty.

[AZCEP]

Sometimes helping someone means telling them the things they don't want to hear. A true friend won't blow sunshine up your @$$ when they know you are wrong, or misinformed.

That is the truly great thing about many of the EMS forums. Opinions are everywhere, and some actually make good sense when you take the time to figure them out. Having thoughts typed out makes it easier to review the matter, anytime you want to.

[jsadin]

Completely off topic here, but AZCEP I gotta ask....is that Ted Kaczynski in your avatar?

[MedicNorth]

Gaelic - last night I read some post responses, and left the site feeling exactly like you do about this. I logged on tonight with the intention of posting a thread that covers the same issue. I thank you for starting it for me.

There are many people on here who are experienced veterans, with tons of knowledge. There are any people here who know nothing about the job, and are interested in finding out more, and every level in between. This is the reason EMTcity exists - to provide a place where knowledge and experience can be shared.

I joined in 2005. I took my knocks from the "old Guard" and stuck sround because I knew what I wanted, and was ready to stand up for my position. I looked at the people throwing stones at me, and thought that this was a combination of experience, frustration, and passion for a job that few people have the heart or guts for.

I have changed my mind some. Yes, there are people here who fit that mold. There are also people here who will look at anyone who comes in tentatively, asks a question that they feel should have an obvious answer, or says something they disagree with, and cheerfully blast them to bits.

Sadly, there appear to be people here who reply to certain kinds of post negatively simply because they can. I don't hate Firefighters simply because they have FF in front of their name. I don't hate EMTs simply because they have not finished their training and become medics yet, or even because they have decided that they won't go any further. I don't hate Volunteers who are providing a service - the fault is not with them, but with the municipalties they live in that are too cheap or too poor to provide professional full-time EMS.

Don't get me wrong - I am not a fan of ignorance. I detest incompetence. I will argue until I am blue in the face to convince people that my point of view is the correct one, at least until they convince me theirs is better. What pisses me off is this automatic assumption that blasting someone, belittling them, and generally being abusive is an efficient way of improving the profession, or the site.

There are people who can take it and come out stronger. There are many more who simply never come back, and I think that is a shame. City has over 19000 registered members, but I would be willing to bet that less than 500 are active - can we figure why? Some have moved on, some have been abused so badly as newbies that they never came back.

Is it time for us to maybe take away the knee-jerk ego reactions? Is it time for us to start welcoming people, opening our minds and actually doing some helping, instead of crapping on people and saying that they couldn't take it here ,so they wouldn't make it in the real world? Come on, guys - passion is NOT the same as arrogance!

[SC MedicMike]

What pisses me off is this automatic assumption that blasting someone, belittling them, and generally being abusive is an efficient way of improving the profession, or the site.

If we don't regard each other as serious professionals, how can we hope for the same from the public at large? This is an excellent thread and I am thankful to it's major contributors.

[DwayneEMTP]

Man, you know what I love about your post MedicNorth? I can pretty much see you thought process throughout.

You didn't say "be nice", you said "be logical."

You didn't say "Leave people alone", you say "be logical and productive while you teach them."

Pretty cool. I do think sometimes a heavy hand will help some, but you're right, after you've been here a few days it can become second nature to assume the things we've discussed often should be common sense to others.

I like Gaelic a lot, though I think he's a bit off in the ditch here. But his heart seems right, and he's started a much needed discussion, so kudos to him.

You know MN, you Canadians are Ok, sometimes....Knowing that is going to make it even that much harder when we have to invade you some day.... :wink:

Dwayne

[unknown]

I haven't posted very much here of late nor have I commented much or visited the chat room.

Mostly in part of what this thread is addressing.

Which brings to my mind something I want to say but thats for another post all it's own...........

Too much negativity goes on here and it's always the SAME people. EVERY time I post the SAME people with jump on my wagon and weigh me down. I just got tired of the biased crap. Every level of care has its place. And yes that stated above by MedicNorth is most certainly correct.

the fault is not with them, but with the municipalties they live in that are too cheap or too poor to provide professional full-time EMS.

Like a paramedic is going to run on calls for Free or for a small nominal fee offered per call?

I didn't think so.

[rat115]

Gealic and North...Good comments.

I agree that there is often too much negativity. There are more constructive ways to point out short-comings and problems than bashing and name calling. That's why I don't post often even though I see a number of threads that I'd like to respond to. I'm also careful in chat about who's there because of how certain people act.

I'd like to challenge the ones who are so negative. Would you say what you do on here to a coworker face to face? Would you say things the way you do to your supervisors, medical directors, ect? Would you talk to your own family the way you do to the people on here?

We all have the post that we have the knee-jerk reaction of "Duh!" The nice thing about forums and chat is that you can re-read what you've typed and edit out extreme negativity and judgmentalness before you post it.......IF you want to.