Nothing but BAD news?!?

[Canadian Caesar]

So this is what our "EMS News" section on our front page has to say about our profession...

Small town outraged over sex offender EMT - Houston Chronicle

11 Dec 2008 at 3:20pm

Ambulance attendants accused of molesting patients - The Associated Press

11 Dec 2008 at 2:10pm

Hamilton police, EMTs accused of scam - Boston Globe

12 Dec 2008 at 2:14am

State claims Hamilton cops falsified EMT training - Boston Herald

11 Dec 2008 at 8:20am

FDNY EMT Charged With Falsifying Docs - North Country Gazette

11 Dec 2008 at 9:20pm

Sexual Assault, Scams, Falsified Documentation... I am quite literally sick to my stomach...

Why the hell is this all that the news has to say about our profession? Shouldn't we all take a hint that it is time to start doing something about all this?

When you go a website of this caliber and that is ALL you see in the headlines of the news section on the front page(not a single positive one!), I don't know how any of us can sleep at night!

This site is supposed to represent and encourage the best that EMS has to offer. Instead visitors to the home page are inundated with captions from the dregs of our society.

Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the Admin for having the news on the front page. I just think we obviously need a PR boost.

Not for any feel good, showoff whacker reasons either; but because the kind of news we see right now is DAMAGING!

Being a new guy to the industry and all, I am not sure what can be done. Which is why I am trying to pick everyone's brains here.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I believe that the newsfeed is set to pull EMS stories in. Not the admins fault nor the newsreaders fault that our profession is laden with no good, back sliding, bottom feeding, troll loving, sexual assaulting, child molesting, scum bag dirt holes.

EMTCity company excluded of course.

[okmedic]

Unfortunantly this is the society we live in today. The media doesn't want to report on the ROSC we get in the truck or about the 80 y/o granny the we help up her steps. People today want the "shock" factor in their news. I agree that it is news stories like these that give our already struggling profession a bad name, but like yourself I do not know of anything that can be done about it or do I see an end to the cycle in the future.

[spenac]

Unfortunantly this is the society we live in today. The media doesn't want to report on the ROSC we get in the truck or about the 80 y/o granny the we help up her steps. People today want the "shock" factor in their news. I agree that it is news stories like these that give our already struggling profession a bad name, but like yourself I do not know of anything that can be done about it or do I see an end to the cycle in the future.

Marcus ROSC would be front page news if we could release names and footage of us working, along with them being able to interview the patient, and maybe have us and our patient hugging when we are brought together, be the feel good story, but aint happening.

With patient privacy rights it is almost impossible for us to get positive news out to the public. Giving stats w/o actual people stories to back up will barely get a back page mention in the news. That is why fire and police always get hero stories and we get zero stories. They can say I carried her out of fire and have the child saying thank you. We can not release names photos that identify etc so media only gets to report storys that sell like we are all scum though we're not. Whose the public going to believe? I am sure it is not us.

[firedoc5]

It's just another example of people like "dirty laundry". And the good that is done is taken for granted and not cared about.

[crotchitymedic1986]

No, its indicative of our society today. Why should EMS be any different than any other industry ? As a young lad, I remember my grandfather driving 20 miles to the closest grocery store to return the $2.00 the cashier had mistakenly given him in change (they didnt count it out in front of you back in those days, he didnt realize it until he got home). How many of us would do that today ? When you violate policy at work or make a mistake, is your first reaction to admit your error or is it to try to cover up your error ? Do you follow all policies at work, or just the important ones (always use a backer ?). Do you always do the right thing, or just do the right thing when someone is looking ?

[firedoc5]

All this reminds me of the movie "Mother, Jugs, & Speed".

[rat115]

The negative stories stink. Unfortunately, there are always a couple of bad apples in the barrel and they're the one's that get found out. I can attest to the fact that the news agencies LOOK for the stories that are going to give them the most hype and best ratings. I worked for a Gannett paper for 5 years and have seen it numberous times.

I do have to say that I like the local paper where I live. They print "Thank you cards" from folks when they're sent in. We've had specific EMTs named a number of times in those thank you cards for what they've done. It's always sent into the paper by the pt or pt's family, so we're not liable under HIPPA for them being printed. I guess one of the positives about being in a rural setting is that the people do realize that it's real people who are helping them in an emergency.

[paraloco]

Some of the best barbecue I ever had was in Lockhart. Glad none of us needed a med unit while we were visiting.

[WolfmanHarris]

Remember the bad news usually comes from the family straight to the media. How often do we see in and out of EMS a complaint end up in the paper but not at the office of the people responsible. There was a protest on my University campus 3 years ago about how during winter wheelchair accessible parking space were not well marked and covered by snow. There were signs and a demo where people could use a wheelchair to see what it was like to get around campus. What not a single person had done was call physical resources and let them know. Once the local and campus papers ran it there quote was "No one had let us know until just now. We've ordered news signs which will arrive next week and in the interim temporary signs went up today and Security has been asked to make an extra effort to police those spaces." The protesters called it a victory.

The odd call might get a thank-you card, but not all services are going to feel comfortable sending that to the local news and the news likely won't run it since they won't be able to get all the details they want without a HIPPA violation. I know Toronto EMS runs a section of good news from the professional standards department in their internal newsletter, but they don't put it in the paper. Also the same privacy laws make it near impossible for the service in question to defend themselves, no matter how stupid the claims are, until they get to court.

The other good news stuff we do, may or may not make the news, as it's all been done before. So EMS did a Toy Drive? Great so did FD and PD. We'll put them in as an also ran. Paramedics did an outstanding job treating a family pulled from a house fire? That's good, but did you catch the picture of the FF holding the puppy that was in the backyard? Let's run that. EMS is doing a fundraiser for blank cause. Put it in the community calender with all the other fundraisers. Good news just doesn't sell and is usually forgetablle by the people who read it anyways. It gets a "that's nice and we move on."