Jason Green, EMT

[HERBIE1]

Well, I can only speak from experience, but our dispatchers are trained as EMT's. That said, I'm quite certain most of them would also have a difficult time even putting on a pair of gloves, much less providing actual patient care. They are trained on paper only. Yes, they are required to do ride alongs for a few hours each year, and even that is like pulling teeth. For whatever reason, they do not WANT to be on the front lines, providing care. Dispatching is an entirely different animal than actually laying your hands on a patient. Their services can be vital in the chain of survival, but just as a field provider may not make the best dispatcher, working on a radio is a different animal.

I liken it to firefighters who are trained as first responders or EMT"s. Too many receive the training(and the pay) but for whatever reason, are reluctant to use their skills.

If these folks do not like the expectations of being a patient care provider, then maybe they should not be wearing a uniform, and certainly not a patch that signifies their level of training as an EMT. Put them through a dispatcher's course, but not EMT. I never understood the advantage of EMT training for a dispatcher who never uses the skills. Obviously they need to be familiar with medical terminology, but with the advent of computer aided dispatch and triage protocols, medical training is almost superfluous now. Right or wrong, the decision making process has been taken out of their hands and placed in some algorithm that a monkey could follow.

[tskstorm]

RIP to the Deceased

Lets let this thread die, and take this conversation somewhere more appropriate.

RIP Jason Green.

[Happiness]

Seriously?? Did you even bother to research the facts in the case before posting?

He did not have an ambulance, he was not a field employee, and was on break.

Seriously?????? Do you think it was appropriate that he didnt stay and help in any manner possible even if its holding her hand. I do recall this insident when it first happened but when you read news articals you dont get the emotion out of it. Did he leave because the situation made him uncompfortable, or did he leave because he was a dick who knows right.

Your comment about not haveing an ambulance, not a field employee, and was on break really to me is very disturbing because as far I am concerned its like being a cop, your a paramedic 24 hrs a day on or off shift.

My husband (fire fighter) and I(paramedic) many years ago (both off duty) were the first on scene for a shed fire that a 12yr old boy burned to death in. I didn't have my ambulance and he didnt have his firetruck but we did everything possible to help the burned people that had tried to rescue the boy and to make sure the fire didnt spread to other homes. It's about your morals in the end and I couldn't imagin not staying and helping that is just WRONG.

[akflightmedic]

No ambulance, not a field employee, and on a break...sounds like every other person in that shop as well...no?

Why are you not outraged that all the other patrons/coworkers did not hold her hand or stroke her hair and say it will be ok?

I disagree, you are not a cop or a paramedic every hour of the day...that kind of mentality kills ya young and leaves you with no life to enjoy.

EMS is what we do, it is not who we are.

[tskstorm]

Seriously?????? Do you think it was appropriate that he didnt stay and help in any manner possible even if its holding her hand. I do recall this insident when it first happened but when you read news articals you dont get the emotion out of it. Did he leave because the situation made him uncompfortable, or did he leave because he was a dick who knows right.

Your comment about not haveing an ambulance, not a field employee, and was on break really to me is very disturbing because as far I am concerned its like being a cop, your a paramedic 24 hrs a day on or off shift.

My husband (fire fighter) and I(paramedic) many years ago (both off duty) were the first on scene for a shed fire that a 12yr old boy burned to death in. I didn't have my ambulance and he didnt have his firetruck but we did everything possible to help the burned people that had tried to rescue the boy and to make sure the fire didnt spread to other homes. It's about your morals in the end and I couldn't imagin not staying and helping that is just WRONG.

A cop is a cop 24 hours a day when ARMED here in NYC, if they don't have their gun they are not expected to do anything.

Having an ambulance as a Paramedic is very much like a gun to a cop.

I don't agree with the reaction of himself or his girlfriend. I'm not defending it. Just illustrating the difference and similarities of the situation.

[Richard B the EMT]

EMTs and Paramedics don't always work on ambulances. I, for one, worked the first 11 of my 25 years in municipal EMS, in the EMD, where, in the following article, from the time of the alleged refusal of the 2 EMTs on December 9, 2009, and datelined as Tuesday, December 22, 2009 , shows where they were then assigned, as I have highlighted in red.

</h1>http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/22/2009-12-22_call_911_emts_are_suspended.html

<h1>EMTs suspended as officials look into allegations they refused to help pregnant woman who later died

BY Kerry Burke and Jonathan Lemire

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Tuesday, December 22nd 2009, 9:21 AM

Two city emergency medical technicians were suspended without pay Monday while officials investigate accusations they refused to help a pregnant Brooklyn woman who collapsed in front of them and later died.

Jason Green, 32, and Melissa Jackson, 23, were suspended after witnesses said they callously walked out with their bagels and said "Call 911" instead of trying to help Eutisha Revee Rennix, who was gasping for air while sprawled on a coffee shop floor on Dec. 9.

Green and Jackson - who FDNY sources said are dating - work in the Emergency Medical Service dispatch center in the Metrotech complex, and their offices are directly above the Au Bon Pain where Rennix worked.

"We've known them for years," said Au Bon Pain employee Tareen Brown, 29. "We thought they'd do something ... [but] they said there was nothing they could do."

"They wouldn't put in any effort," said barista Lourdes Colon, 19. "She was lying on the floor and they just told me call 911."

Green had been an EMT for six years and Jackson for four, FDNY officials said.

Pat Bahnken, president of the EMT and Paramedics Union, said paramedics' job is to always help those in need. "If these allegations are true, then they should be disciplined," he said.

Rennix died a short time after collapsing. Her unborn child, delivered after just six months, died two hours after her mother.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/22/2009-12-22_call_911_emts_are_suspended.html#ixzz0uXN25800

[Happiness]

A cop is a cop 24 hours a day when ARMED here in NYC, if they don't have their gun they are not expected to do anything.

Having an ambulance as a Paramedic is very much like a gun to a cop.

I don't agree with the reaction of himself or his girlfriend. I'm not defending it. Just illustrating the difference and similarities of the situation.

Ok Im I guess I have to back off a bit. Your right, the other difference is that I am from a very small town and this is a city atmoshpere and there is a very big difference that also needs to be regognised. The comment "and they were on break" just chokes me as that is not an excuse to not help someone in need if you have the ability to do so, even if it is just holding someones hand.

[akflightmedic]

Ok Im I guess I have to back off a bit. Your right, the other difference is that I am from a very small town and this is a city atmoshpere and there is a very big difference that also needs to be regognised. The comment "and they were on break" just chokes me as that is not an excuse to not help someone in need if you have the ability to do so, even if it is just holding someones hand.

How is their hand holding any different from anyone else's? Do we need to put that much pressure on them, do we need to make everyone a hero on standby every hour of the day?

[Happiness]

How is their hand holding any different from anyone else's? Do we need to put that much pressure on them, do we need to make everyone a hero on standby every hour of the day?

Gee AK you sound a bit crabby on this subject...... First never said we had make hero's out of everyone or anyone at any part of the day. Lets face one fact here when you are a first responder of any sort and those that are around you know that (as in this case) you are expected to help in anyway that you can. If I walked away from any scene off duty not only would I personally feel crappy about it, I would be disappointing the community that I do this job for. Please remember with me this is not my career as such and maybe go back in my postings to remember why I do this job. Any ways off I have to go as my pager just went off..................................

PS AK I respect you alot and your knowledge but please remember there are those that dont think like you and do this for other reasons

[tskstorm]

Ok Im I guess I have to back off a bit. Your right, the other difference is that I am from a very small town and this is a city atmoshpere and there is a very big difference that also needs to be regognised. The comment "and they were on break" just chokes me as that is not an excuse to not help someone in need if you have the ability to do so, even if it is just holding someones hand.

Although they may have been on a coffee run, I am not familiar with anyone officially being allowed a break. When working on the ambulance we are allowed a facilities a 20 min allowance in which to use the bathroom. However they will still ask you if you can take a call if you come up recommended for it. It is at that units disposal whether or not to take the call, it is on that crews ethics, most it seems deny the call even when they are no longer using the restroom. (If caught disciplinary measures would follow) But as you said in a city environment can't have a supervisor everywhere every moment.

Summer months like we have now, we run 4300+ calls in 24 hours. The number of ambulances may increase slightly, but rarely are their extra supervisors.