TRAUMA Premiere, 20 Sep 09

[Dustdevil]

Maybe we all need to pull the gigantic backboard we have out of our ass and realize it's just a TV show.

Right... and 9/11 was just a plane crash.

[VentMedic]

Maybe we all need to pull the gigantic backboard we have out of our ass and realize it's just a TV show.

Did you miss the part where I referred to the person posting who is claiming to be in EMS and believes it is acceptable to drink and have sex in an ambulance? That is not about a TV show. I would hope most do not get into this profession just because of "these fun things" as well as all the whacker accessories or the lights and sirens. As a professional, I would rather move past the stereotypes that have been prevalent in EMS. It are those in EMS and not the public that continue to hold on to this skewed concept of what an EMT(P) is. As Dust mentioned earlier, the public knows the difference between a real doctor and some fictious version on TV because they have real doctor role models in their real lives. What does EMS have if those in the profession believe they are like the characters portrayed in these crappy shows?

[fireflymedic]

I worked hard to get a degree and be seen as a professional and to portray myself as such to my coworkers and most of all to my patients providing them the best care that I can. Yes, this show poured more than a little salt in the HEMS wound and was very poorly timed especially for the area as they are shooting for a helipad to a trauma center and also the recent crash but I've gone on enough about that. The show in general does portray ignorance. If this is a resurrection of the show that was proposed a few years ago (Mercy Air - it seems to have an eeriely similar quality to it) then I'm not suprised what we got. They had pilots as consultants, not actual EMS professionals (to anyone on here that may be a HEMS pilot no offense but you all fly and I do the medicine side we don't tell each other how to do our jobs unless you accept something that is questionable then we talk). While most of us are fully aware of the egotistical doctors that we all hate (thus why I think House is so amusing - it's a love/hate relationship) people aren't aware of all the types that exist within EMS so it's difficult for them to relate to something they may not know. Also people may go a lifetime and never encounter a medic. Few but some except for our frequent fliers - will have enough interaction to understand our jobs well. And well, the frequent fliers just view us as their ride and "ambulance drivers". The legitimate frequent fliers are usually to sick to know what's really going on. We don't have follow up interaction with our patients (rarely) unlike doctors so yeah. It's understandable why they are ignorant about us. We can't demonstrate our skills without it being a traumatic situation and then they are not in the mental state to really absorb it. They remember the firefighters cutting you out of the car, but they don't remember the paramedics that pushed all kinds of drugs potentially to save your life. That glory is given to ER docs - we are just the transport vehicle to get you there. I am sure nurses currently are fussing about the show Mercy and all it's gripes. I am not a nurse so I cannot speak from their perspective.

Two years ago I was visiting a friend in a large university hospital. The doc taking care of her was great (hospitalist), and when he came in one day, we were talking and she was asking how work was going and everything. he asked if I was a nurse and I told him no, I was a medic. He responded "oh your an ambulance driver". I promptly informed him I had never driven an ambulance which always makes them look at me funny he was like so what DO you do then? Gave him a small education on what I could do and he was thinking wow I didn't know all that (doczilla this was one of yours, he's well educated now ). I didn't realize even the amount of doctors that are ignorant about our scope of skills and practice. So with this being the case I know the public knows even less in most circumstances ! Yes, we are perpetuating stupidity in an already ignorant society that thinks all we do is race around town with siren blaring and blinkety blinks going, show up, throw you in, and drive to the hospital. Then the image of being a bunch sex crazed people that are reckless and self serving - yeah that's what I want to project as the image of my service. Thanks NBC

[stcommodore]

What is with all the over inflated ego's and people walking around high on there degrees that have yet to realize it's just TV! Dustdevil I have no idea what 9/11 has to do with my comment or this show, but I'm not surprised some type of silly comment would come from you.

[WANTYNU]

Folks I think we're all missing the message here, it's not about drinking on the job, or in the rig, or having sex in a place that is sometimes dirtier than a public restroom, it's at last WE ARE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!!!!

YES, we can live normal lives, we can take the rig out of service, have a drink, unwind and laugh with our coworkers on a bluff overlooking a beautiful sunset that is all our own, because at the end of the day people no longer get sick or have accidents.

Working 9 to 5 it's a way to make a living…

I can't believe I was soooo blind! This is GREAT!!!!

Opps, is my sarcasm showing?

-w

[Dustdevil]

...I'm not surprised some type of silly comment would come from you.

And I'm not surprised that you don't get it.

Edited October 2, 2009 by Dustdevil

[AnthonyM83]

Eh, honestly, it's not their responsibility to portray us as anything at all, other than what they want.

Actually to contrast, their responsibility as Hollywood entertainment IS to portray us and anyone else as whatever their creative minds choose. Many other professions characterized on TV series, movies, and commercials (from doctors to special forces to federal agents to street cop to mailmen... many who worked harder than most of us to get to our jobs) get inaccurate descriptions. Yes, it sucks for us that we haven't gained enough standing...but honestly that's OUR problem not theirs.

Hollywood would be nothing otherwise.

Again, their screw up and my criticism is in that they claimed to be showing what real EMS is like. That's where they F'ed up.

[Dustdevil]

Again, their screw up and my criticism is in that they claimed to be showing what real EMS is like. That's where they F'ed up.

Precisely.

[WANTYNU]

What is with all the over inflated ego's and people walking around high on there degrees that have yet to realize it's just TV! Dustdevil I have no idea what 9/11 has to do with my comment or this show, but I'm not surprised some type of silly comment would come from you.

No it's not just a TV show, it's a view to the public about a profession not well reported nor understood.

Perception is EVERYTHING

-w

[AnthonyM83]

No it's not just a TV show, it's a view to the public about a profession not well reported nor understood.

Perception is EVERYTHING

-w

Yet, every profession is in the same boat as far as being inaccurately depicted. Most don't cry about it.

They've either accepted it was TV or gotten their sh** together as a profession and already have a decent enough standing as professionals.

I like watching Beverly Hills Cop 2. I'm GLAD they didn't portray it realistically.

Again, their mistake was in concentrating too much on making people think this was real rather than focusing on interpersonal relations of a good drama show.