Spitefullness and you

[JPINFV]

So I ended up working today and we were fairly busier than normal, but a few incidents with two separate coworkers (including a high level manager) got me thinking. What is it about EMS and medical transport that makes so many people spiteful towards their patients? One of my coworkers used to work as a medic and he was telling me almost with glee about how he used to push the full two milligrams of Narcan all the time, including waiting till right before reaching the hospital if he didn't like the nurses or the hospital. After all, what fun it is to completely destroy a patient's high and get them swinging. Especially when you only have to see them for less than 5 minutes. The manager spent the entire time going back to station complaining about how the patient screws himself up forcing him to go to the hospital and forcing us to run his discharge.

My question, based off of today, past experiences, and posts in some of the threads on internet EMS boards, why is so many EMS providers just down right spiteful towards their patients? What is it that attracts such people to this field (for the record, lack of education standards is more of an enabler than a cause)?

[Ridryder 911]

Immaturity. No matter what the age. As well, full of ego and B.S. Just alike those that abuse children, strikes females, geriatric population it is a "power trip".

Shame we cover and even endorse some as being .."Cool".. I have heard the laughs and I will personally tell my thoughts. Sorry, your a loser and I am not. No, I am not a hand holder or "goody two shoes" but; I want to be the type of provider that I would want for myself.

R/r 911

Edited March 25, 2009 by Ridryder 911

[CBEMT]

After observing such people all over my state, I've come to the conclusion that spiteful providers as you describe are not born, they are created by failed services and/or systems.

[Arizonaffcep]

I try to adapt myself to the patients needs, be it someone to hold hands with, a shoulder to cry on, or if they need it, "tough love," and the occasional taxi attendant. I agree that there is a lot of immaturity in a "spiteful" provider, and or burn out. Once this happens, it is very important to remove yourself from the field at this point. Not forever, but enough that it's a "vacation," which allows you to reset and recenter yourself. All I can say about the Adam Henry that pushes 2mg narcan at the hospital doors had better not show up on one of my scenes. If you push that all at once, wow...not only painful for the ED folks, but what about SEIZURES?!?!?!

[Just Plain Ruff]

There are two types of providers out there. Those with the patient's best interests at heart and those without.

We have a couple of providers in our service who think every patient is a burden. Every patient is a "drug seeker" or "They've been here 10 times for the same complaint" and they feel that person is a burden on them personally.

We have others, and I fall in this category, who understand that even though those patients may have been here many many times before, it's not my emergency and I will do what i need to do to take care of them in that particular instance and then they are out of my mind and I go on to the next patient.

I think that once you lose sight of the fact that the patient is there, you are called to take care of them and you do what you have to do to take care of them, once you lose that perspective then EMS may not be for you any more.

I can spot a half assed medic from across the city. I want a provider that will treat me like I would treat them. I can spot the medic who will only give a partial effort and not the right effort.

If you don't bring your A-game to every call then maybe you should be thinking of Career B

There is nothing I dislike worse than a provider who considers the patient a burden and does nothing to hide that demeanor to the patient. If you give half an effort then I don't want to work with you.

[mobey]

I don't have alot of time to post tonight so I thought I would share this.

I recently did a call where a woman fell down a flight of stairs injuring her shoulder.

After we had her immobilized, my partner took an extra few mins to grab some lotion from the bathroom and work her rings off her swelling hand so they would not have to cut them at the hospital.

THAT is the type of medic I want to be!

(Oh ya, I am agressive enough to RSI or decompress if it is indicated..... but that is far and few)

[2wheelinemt]

There is no place in ems for someone who acts like that, makes me sick to my stomach that someone even thinks that is cool!. I agree

with the everyone here and if someone does feel it's cool you should find a different line of work to do and not subject the poor people

that call 911 to you and your need for control. a medic that slams the narcarn or takes his time to give the pain medication is no better

a mental abuser. So lets go on a leave and try a new career.

Here's to all the people in ems for right reasons and make someones worst time of their life a little less stressful!!

[Just Plain Ruff]

Let me put it a different way

If I accept a patient from you as a medic and I find out you slammed narcan as you entered the ER or you took 20 minutes to give the pain medication that was ordered then your medical director is going to get a call from my medical director. And... I'm gonna have a come to Christ meeting with you in the ambulance bay and it won't be pretty. If your patient injures one of us here you can bet that there will be repercussions.

We've all had the narcotic overdose or heroin user who we used narcan on and many times they come up swinging. If you do slam the narcan as you enter the ER just because you do not like the ER crew that is on, your name will be on the shit list of our ER for many many moons and you will quickly find out that your request for orders will be denied many times because of your actions. Your credibility will be shot and the physician will more than likely wait to assess your patient before any pain meds are given.

Now, I know that there are no medics on this board that do this but who knows, and you know who you are, remember, what goes around comes around.

I can even imagine that if you were the patient on the cot and you needed pain meds and the doc knew it was you and you did any of the things above, you might not get your meds you need for a while.

[itku2er]

Now, I know that there are no medics on this board that do this but who knows, and you know who you are, remember, what goes around comes around.

I can even imagine that if you were the patient on the cot and you needed pain meds and the doc knew it was you and you did any of the things above, you might not get your meds you need for a while.

But Ruff isnt denying any patient reguardless of who they are or what they have done just as bad as the medic that did that? Has EMS really gotten to be so mean spirited? What every happened to we are here for the patient and their needs. I agree 100% ruff what goes around comes around but are responsible for that coming around? Doesnt that make us stoop to the level of the "bad ones"?

For previous post so what if we pick up this person 100 times a week for the same thing ISNT that our job? Is that not what we paid for doing? What in the long run do you gain from such acts nothing accept loss of respect for you and your crews.

[WA-EMT-B]

Good thought....

I had assumed that people became medical service providers... because they wanted to HELP people... Maybe its just me, but I am an EMT to help people... ALL people.... I don't pick the patients... I just help them... even the high ones and the druggies...

I guess it turns out that those that are spiteful to patients quite possibly turned to EMS because they could do it in 2 months and not have to learn more than how to turn the "woo-woo's" on and perform chest compressions... I agree on the fact that the schooling is the enabler and not the cause... you don't have to be smart to be a humanitarian... and you can be a genius and still be cruel... plenty of medic's and doctors have proven that over and over again...