My Day Job Safety Boss Is Officially A Moron

[FireMedic65]

It may seem redundant that you have to sit through these classes but that is exactly what continuing education is. The equipment you train on is not always the same you have at work. There may be some differences in equipment and even if you know how to operate them, your company needs to cover themselves liable to assure themselves you are "trained".

I had a similar situation. After medic school, while I was waiting on a better job to come up, I was still working at a factory that made mattress frames. I STILL had to sit through a few classes on using the AED, CPR, and first aid. They were instructed by people that were not healthcare workers. They were people that the company sent to get instructor cards.

Your AHA may not be sufficient to their CPR because most industrial companies used Red Cross. Yea, it is the same "CPR" but it is not the same certification.

Your boss was right but did a very poor job of making their point.

ps... it is not always wise to insult employers on a public forum, just an fyi

[uglyEMT]

Back from my training

Ok I got to read through the comments. I see some others have had the same thing I did, having to go through the motions. Well i can now shed some light on things said and done.

First off the instructor worked for a national cert company and did an excellent job of keeping the class interesting and giving real world scenarios. The first question he asked was does anyone have a CPR card, if we did he said we could go I stood because I could use the break He asked if anyone was a FF, responder, ect. I said I was an EMT and he made me his bit errrr assistant. He did a good job of conveying the whole if your doing CPR it means hes dead you cant hurt dead message.

He did mention what Lone Star mentioned about being a higher medical authority I better hope, unless I want to help, that noone calls me because I would be the one responsible. Said it would be the same laws that we all follow in the field in regards to higher medical transfer.

As far as the safety guy goes, again I still think he's in the shallow end of the gene pool, and the pool needs chlorene. He wanted folks extentions for their desks incase someone goes down he can call them. I see a huge problem here. What if the person he calls doesnt want to help? Not comfortable in helping? Ect, ect ect? By being notified of the situation wouldn't that be putting the person in a duty to act thus not doing it be a breach and thus liable? I dont feel the company should put that burdon onto folks trained for 2hrs in CPR. I can see the cluster F now... someone scrambling to call desk's of folks before calling 911 and wasting valuable time.

Anyways, thanks for your comments and I think this may be a good thread for other folks too that might get into this work situation. Keep em all coming.

BTW... Im a guy not a girl and second I dont mention any names hehehe

[Just Plain Ruff]

unfortunately you can only work with what you have.

[Richard B the EMT]

ps... it is not always wise to insult employers on a public forum, just an fyi

@ FM65: Truer words have rarely been spoken.

@ UGLyEMT: Unless the workplace in question has a PA system to put out a general page, similar to the hospital's PA calling out a "Code 99" somewhere in the facility, There would be the question, not of if the "trained person" didn't feel like responding, but if the person would be at the desk? There's things like meal breaks, bathroom breaks, sick leave, and vacation leave, that make a person not be at their telephone to be notified for the need for their skills.

I must mention that FDNY EMS, my employer, in trying to keep with the incoming DoH 5 year CME recertification program, which is supposed to be replacing the 3 year refresher class recertification program, doesn't want to accept my CME credits from outside the department. However, all of my instructors who know I have taken these outside CMEs have all told me the same thing: "As it is a new program, things are in a state of flux. Today, we're not accepting the outside credits, but hold on to the paperwork, as tomorrow, we might be accepting them."