What next ?

[Just Plain Ruff]

Ok, with all the talk on this site of us wanting to be professional and considered professionals and these yahoos do this and we are defending them.

I'm sorry, taking stupid pictures of yourself and then posting them online is the height of "professionalism" if you ask me.

If we are going to tout professionalism on this site then we need to be consistent in our stance.

Am I the only one who sees a discrepancy here?

[WolfmanHarris]

I'm sorry, taking stupid pictures of yourself and then posting them online is the height of "professionalism" if you ask me.

Yes... because professionals hand in their sense of humour.

I'm with you for the most part, but let's not overstate the case. Being a professional does not preclude joking around.

That doesn't mean that these particular EMT's were in the right, I didn't see their photos and I don't know the P&P of their employer.

[Happiness]

I as an office manager have seen the effects of over abuse of computers during working hrs. I am paying you to work not play on FB or down load your music so that I have to pay for the overages. So my solution was to block may sites, make policy that says you use the internet after 4:00 pm for personal use and make sure that my staff know that our IT guy will have total access to all pass words and he will be able to check what is on your work computer at any time.

With that being said I dont give a crap at what you post on any site any where in the internet world. If you want to show the world that you are an idiot, have a sense of humor (and yes I do) or just want to be on the internet then go for it, but be very aware that if the policy isnt there to say you can do all of the above in your uniform or in your ambulance then you cant cry when your fired

[fracno]

Hey guys, this is Franco Colon. Found this because I decided to Google myself. I just wanted to clarify some things. I had decided not to really say anything regarding this since I had planned on fighting this with my Union but the more time that passes by, the less I feel like drawing this out. First off, I was a Full Time EMT at LICH with no prior instances of ever getting in trouble. I've never banged out of a tour and I've always been comically early. As an EMT in NYC we don't have a station that we hang out at in between calls. We sit at our assigned locations in the ambulance and respond to calls from there.

We were parked at our assigned location for about 3 hours. I have my personal laptop with me when I work and so we were passing the time. Obviously we ended up going on chatroulette and since our gas masks where with us we put them on. It was stupid and a bad idea. As you know, pictures were taken an put on Flickr. Another stupid, bad idea. What did NOT happen. We didn't flirt with girls, we didn't write anything obscene or vulgar, you couldn't identify what hospital we were from, I was NOT driving and texting (a photo was taken of me while I was sitting there texting on my phone but my left hand happened to be resting on the wheel) and that photo was NOT named "Franco likes Safety". It was 10 minutes out of our 16 hour shift. We responded to our calls, pt care wasn't compromised, nobody would have even known about it.

That is until the reporter from the post found the photos, came to the hospital, threatened us with a story. She was just out for blood. Because of the issues our hospital has been facing lately, we were terminated without a chance to say anything in our defense. I've never even received so much as a written warning. Technically we weren't terminated because of the article, we were terminated for a series of extremely grey policies that allows the administration to fire you for just about anything. The really ridiculous thing about this all. Nobody from the hospital except the reporter, my partner and myself has even seen the photos in question. It's all been based on the word of the reporter. I have no desire to distribute these photos but I'll say this. Friends of mine who have seen them agree when I say, it's absolutely crazy so much fuss is being made over such simple harmless boring photos. I love my job, and it pains me that something like this happened. I feel like I was struck by lightning, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I would love nothing more than to just move on and get a job somewhere else. I just hope this doesn't hang over me like a black cloud while I try to do so. Watch out guys and gals. Big Brother is watching.

Edited March 25, 2010 by fracno

[tniuqs]

Hey guys, this is Franco Colon. Found this because I decided to Google myself. I just wanted to clarify some things.

Big Brother is watching.

WORD!

Franco ... firstly welcome to EMT city.

First off I believe you 100%.

Secondly I believe some on this website owe you an apology.

This momentary lapse of judgement and as if we ALL are not guilty of this at one point in our careers ... Hell I know I have, but I believe that it is part of being farking HUMAN BEINGS. But following this downward trend proves 2 things:

1: Big Sister is watching ... BITCH and this is not the first time news groveling reporters destroy lives .. DUH.

2: We still eat our young just when will WE grow up as a profession ?

Thoughts .... or does anyone know of an employer that stands up for the employee and is looking for a stand up EMT ?

Edited March 25, 2010 by tniuqs

[spenac]

1st no apology as 1. No proof he is who he claims. 2. No proof he is telling the truth if he is who he claims, just his word vs someone else's word, odds are truth is more in the middle.

2nd we should learn from this, even if it is true what he said, and avoid certain actions and sites. Never post anything that identifies you being at work or even who you work for. Most companies do have policies against doing anything that reflects on the company. So in this case even by what is written by misspelled name person claiming to be the individual in question you could tell they were in an ambulance and so everyone that knows this person would associate his actions with his service even if no service name were seen.

If you are the person I hope you learn and move forward.

[tniuqs]

1st no apology as 1.

No proof he is who he claims.

2. No proof he is telling the truth if he is who he claims, just his word vs someone else's word, odds are truth is more in the middle.

2nd we should learn from this, even if it is true what he said, and avoid certain actions and sites. Never post anything that identifies you being at work or even who you work for.

Most companies do have policies against doing anything that reflects on the company.

So in this case even by what is written by misspelled name person claiming to be the individual in question

If you are the person I hope you learn and move forward.

Some days I have to shake my head in disbelief.

Edited March 25, 2010 by tniuqs

[Just Plain Ruff]

Ok, Kudos for Franco to come here with hat in hand.

I won't apologize for what I said because I believe in my heart that professionalism does not include taking pictures of yourself in company garb and then posting it to flickr or facebook.

I also believe that in order for us to be professional we need to take this social networking seriously and remember Just like what is happening to Franco, if you post something it is forever.

What I do find to be a good thing is Franco setting the record straight. I'm not going to jump to any conclusion and you will find that I have been consistent in my criticism on this site that people jump the gun and go straight to the lynching. I don't believe I did that. If there were policies broken then the consequences have to be accepted. I know they are grey according to Franco but seriously, discipline should be the same across the board. Each and every person working at your company should know and expect that if a certain policy is broken then XYZ is what happens, EVERY SINGLE TIME. This way there are no pissing and moaning when you get fired.

I do wish you luck out there Franco. Sounds like you are a good guy. You can fight this, you can fight it just to force the company to either rewrite these gray policies or to try to force the company to apply the discipline across the board, consistently to each person and not just on a person by person basis.

One thing that I do have a question is this, you specifically stated that no-one other than you, your partner and the reporter has seen the pics but then you went on to say that your friends don't see the big deal. This is the only part of your story that I find troubling.

Since I believe New York is a right to work state then they can fire you for any reason. Sucks but remember, you can also fire that company for any reason. They don't have to give you 2 weeks, nor do you have to give them 2 weeks.

I do wish you luck.

Edited March 25, 2010 by Ruffems

[spenac]

Wow lots of jerks giving negatives for expressing valid concerns.

Sadly we all should understand what ever we post can come back to harm us. We have seen this for years in discussions about what medics have posted on space book or my face etc. We have discussed the consequences of what we post on our chances of getting jobs. So sorry that I am not sympathetic.

[armymedic571]

Arrrghhhh.....

This is conflicting. As I agree with FireMedic, I know that our "senses of humor" and practical jokes can be off color to the outside eye, (part of what makes our PROFESSION unique), I feel it is very necessary.

The fact that it was done in public, is where I have scrupples.

Franco-Glad to have you. Funny as it may have been. Sorry for ya.

I guess that's is why it is nice to have a station to retreat to.

On a seperate note. Our management has been known to google names and search facebook looking for comments about out service and hospital. It is what it is...