Cell phones and EMS vehicle operators.

[sirduke]

I use my phone while driving all the time and its pretty standard practice around here ... I've even had SGT's riding in the back of the ambulance as an escort write me a fake summons for talking on my cell (to a supervisor regarding a mandate) It really is a big joke around here....

We all know new york is a different animal ...

Although I agree there are risks with talking on a cell and driving I don't think its as serious and as cut and dry as you guys are make it sound ... Ive worked with supervisors who talk on the phone and smoke with a patient in the back who's on oxygen ....

Now chew me up ... spit me out .... and repeat a few dozen times ....

I love you all:)

WTF ?

We had a problem with this where I work, and a policy was enacted that forbid the use of cell phones while driving or when there was a patient present, UNLESS the medic in the back was using the cellphone to talk to Med Control.

Did it work, Hell no. Some idiots will continue no matter what until either they kill themselves or someone else, or get fired.

My current partner and I have an understanding, turn the damn thing off when we get in the truck, or leave it at the station.

I have had the lovely experience of having to listen to someone's stupid ass ringtone at max volume while we were working a code. And who ever it was calling them couldn't seem to understand they were at work and kept calling every two or three minutes.

I too, grew up in the era before cellphones and ipods and all the other electronic devices that our younger generation seems incapable of living without. People couldn't get instant access to us then, and guess what?

WE SURVIVED FINE !

Just one man's opinion.

[rock_shoes]

My service has a no cell-phone use while driving policy. It happens to be one of the policies I wholeheartedly agree with. If your service doesn't have a similar policy it needs to create one.

[spenac]

I use my phone while driving all the time and its pretty standard practice around here ... I've even had SGT's riding in the back of the ambulance as an escort write me a fake summons for talking on my cell (to a supervisor regarding a mandate) It really is a big joke around here....

We all know new york is a different animal ...

Although I agree there are risks with talking on a cell and driving I don't think its as serious and as cut and dry as you guys are make it sound ... Ive worked with supervisors who talk on the phone and smoke with a patient in the back who's on oxygen ....

Now chew me up ... spit me out .... and repeat a few dozen times ....

I love you all:)

Wow sarcasm dripped onto my computer. :shock:

[Lone Star]

I too am one from the 'time before cell phones', and yes...we survived just fine!

That being said, we already know how dangerous cell phone usage is while driving; we see it every day...

First off, for those that DO use the cell while driving, why not drop the 'It'll never happen to me!" attitude long enough to look at the FACTS about your chosen 'multitasking behavior'.

Second of all, if you're driving while I'm with a patient in the back; and you're yapping on the cell phone and causing even one 'near miss', you can bet I'm taking the truck out of service until I can get a supervisor to yank you out of the truck and put you behind a desk! If this behavior continues, you can bet I'll be going up the 'food chain' until you're fired.

My job can be hazardous enough without my partner further endangering my life by yapping on the damn phone while driving! This includes any other 'multitasking' while driving activities as well.

The driver has enough to occupy their attention with just driving defensively and keeping the truck from getting 'modified' by other vehicles! I don't need the person driving the patient and I to offer the other morons on the road any assistance in this endeavor!

If taking the problem of cell phone usage to the Operations division isn't getting any results, then by all means take it higher on the chain of command until you get results!

I personally have been known to push hard for safety, up to and including bringing OSHA into the mix. This is the only life I'm gonna get, and with what I've already been through, I want to keep it for as long as I possibly can!

This isn't some 'social club', and you weren't hired to 'round out your little black book'! You were hired to perform a speciffic job, so put the cell phone down and get to work!

If talking on the phone is so important to you, get off the rigs and become a telemarketer!

[Medic117]

Thank you all for your input. Unfortunately, no the state I am in does not have a cell phone policy except for school bus drivers. I have addressed it as high as the CEO, but never get a straight answer. I love where I work because of the medical director, but the administration refuses to address issues preventatively. I even asked them to simply give me that authority (in writing) so that it was clear that I had the right to address these issues. Instead, every time I mention something to a driver, I am hit with..."don't start with me...you're just pissed off about something and taking it out on me. I'm not going to tolerate your knit picking." At first, I kind of thought maybe I was being too tedious, but it seems I can't say anything. If I go up the chain, the chain will deal with the issue in such a way that the "chain" hangs me up as a pinata to be beat by the staff. I am looking, but the only alternative is transport companies...and that's not what I want to do. Perhaps a fire dept. will open up soon, and I'll go back into that (got out of it a few years ago to do strictly EMS.). BTW, I grew up in the era of cell phones, but where I lived they didn't work. I didn't get one until my second year of college.

The best policy I've seen, also the most reasonable was this:

Absolutely no cell phone use by either member during ANY part of a call.

While driving post-to-post, you may only use a cell phone with a hands-free device.

The paramedic has full responsibility and authority to increase the standards of driving in their unit.

[JPINFV]

Of course, regardless of driving or not, why would any cell phone use be allowed except for contacting med control or dispatch?

[Medic117]

We are a system status management system, meaning we sit in a unit for upwards of 12 hrs. a day. There is no way to contact us except for our cell phones. If you're sitting at a post for 4 hours (not common, but does happen), it would be unreasonable to tell someone you cannot use your cell phone during that 4 hours you are sitting in a parking lot of a 7-11 "waiting" for a call.

[spenac]

We are a system status management system, meaning we sit in a unit for upwards of 12 hrs. a day. There is no way to contact us except for our cell phones. If you're sitting at a post for 4 hours (not common, but does happen), it would be unreasonable to tell someone you cannot use your cell phone during that 4 hours you are sitting in a parking lot of a 7-11 "waiting" for a call.

The problem is not while sitting parked with no patient, though staging is a bad idea, but another topic. The problem is the danger it creates when in motion. Any distraction while driving or taking care of a patient is dangerous.

[JPINFV]

Of course, regardless of driving or not, why would any cell phone use be allowed except for contacting med control or dispatch?

To clarify since the post I was responding to was the last post of page one, I am talking about cell phone use while a patient is on board.

[Dustdevil]

The problem is not while sitting parked with no patient, though staging is a bad idea, but another topic. The problem is the danger it creates when in motion. Any distraction while driving or taking care of a patient is dangerous.

Exactly. I thought it was pretty clear that this topic was about vehicles in motion, and/or with patients on-board.

But even while posted, there is a certain amount of common human courtesy that should be expected from a partner. There are few things more annoying than being stuck in a vehicle for twelve hours with someone who has a goddamn cellphone glued to their face, chattering endlessly -- and usually loudly -- about inane nonsense that I have no interest in hearing. There is a reason that we are called "partners". It is a partnership. You are not alone in that vehicle, and you have to take the other person into consideration. That means judicious and limited personal use of the cellphone should be the order of the day. Sure, personal crises and emergencies arise, and things have to get done. But if you are posted, you are being paid for your complete attention to the job. And your relationship with your partner is part of that job you are being paid for. Failure to take that into courteous consideration should be grounds for discipline.

And, of course, I suppose at age 25 you are too young to remember, but when SSM came about in the mid 1980s, there were no cellphones. We managed to get through 12 hours in an ambulance without one. Nobody died because they couldn't call us at work. And no medic died of not being able to call his squeeze box while sitting on the street corner. If the cellphone has become so indispensable to you that you cannot go a few hours without it, that is a medically certifiable addiction that you really ought to get help for. Get over it.