Tust in your partner

[+medic]

Hello and welcome

Trust is a very important thing to have in a partner but it seems each place has one person who does not quite fit in or has severe trust issue with their co workers. Such as Lying about things on incident reports, laziness in many forms on and off the truck, miss treating hospital staff/co-workers, inability to do ones job at when crap hits the fan or just having a very bad/loud mouth.

I know in EMS it’s impossible to get along with everyone but I feel there is a unspoken rule of being able to trust your partner when the crap hits the fan even if you and your partner dont see eye to eye. Sadly some people just don’t get it they piss off co-workers or make bad mistakes on the truck and then the feeling of mistrust grows to the point where no one at the company wants to work with them.

I have a person in my EMS Company who is like the above. This person has made a lot of mistakes and errors both personal and work wise. This person was also let go from another larger EMS company in the area for a very bad error in judgement and for a lot of the same things stated above. Now this person is creating problems where I work. Our management had been very quick to deal with the issues and the person is being carefully watched and supervised.

So I ask you all this since I have to work with this individual who I don’t fully trust 100% on the truck to do the right thing or to help me when crap hits the fan. As my partner we had a very bad incident that I don’t want to go into here since it’s a personal matter and such things should not be posted here in my opinion.

The reason why I posted this is because I feel trust is a very big thing to have in a partner. While I may not like certain people for what every reason in EMS, I have to trust them to enough to have them be my partner on the truck. So how would one deal with a person like this when you have to work with them?

Cheers and thanks

[uglyEMT]

I had a similar situation in my Squad. I did not feel comfortable with my partner at the time.

The way I handled it was by first talking with my partner and trying to resolve our issues privately. When this didn't work my next step was my crew chief. While not going into much detail with the crew chief, other then a voice of concern, I had given my side of the dynamic. Then the crew chief talked with my partner individually in private. After this meeting it went to the grievance committee and they recommended a partner change.

I got my new partner and for the past year and a half I have been very comfortable. We have built a very good working relationship and we are both happy. My old partner eventually left the squad, not forced out but after realizing that EMS was not in the cards. By doing it the way I did I felt I gave this person every opportunity to change their ways on their own but when that eventually failed I followed the proper channels that would cause the least amount of drama within the ranks but also preserve myself amongst my peers as a fair and just person with great integrity.

Hopefully your organization has such channels to follow that will allow you to be civil and above board when dealing with this matter.

I hope this helps.

edited for script tag issues. no context changes made.

Edited January 28, 2011 by UGLyEMT

[+medic]

Yes as I agree with you, I have done what you staited in your post many times and there still is a very large issue. Where I work we have no set partners so its like a dice roll each day when you come into work.

[uglyEMT]

Yes as I agree with you, I have done what you staited in your post many times and there still is a very large issue. Where I work we have no set partners so its like a dice roll each day when you come into work.

Well then I feel this issue must be addressed to either a crew cheif, lieutenant, captain or if your service has it human resources. If the problems actually involve patient care or miscare and /or falsifying documents then you; being the partner, are also liable so I would do whatever it takes to make the issues known. No, I don't mean shout it from the rooftops but inform a higher up in the chain of command.

You are your patient's advocate so anything done to deter this, in my opinion, is failing your profession. Also your liscense could be at risk. If the documentation issues come to light the board can suspend or revoke your liscense. Think to yourself if this person is worth your profession. I know he / she wouldn't be in my book.

I know its hard sometimes to take the stand or call someone out but in this case if all routes were followed and still there is a major issue then do what needs to be done.

Hope everything works out OK.

edit for spell check

Edited January 28, 2011 by UGLyEMT

[EMS49393]

I do NOT trust anyone at work. Ever. I haven't trusted anyone for years and I'm not about to start now. This is one way I protect myself. The second way is to do my job.

Work is work. I'm competent, and I'm in charge, which is an advantage. I never bring my personal life to work. I do not do any social networking with anyone I work with. It might sound cold, but you don't crap where you eat.

The person is already being watched. They have a big bulls-eye on them as it is. Do your job the best you can and document the job you have done. You're actually lucky that the management already knows about this problem child.

[JTpaintball70]

At my service, I don't tend to fit in. I also do not trust anyone. Until they prove they deserve to be trusted they don't get it.

[Timmy]

I think there’s a fine line between trust and teamwork. It takes a while to build trust, I think you need to know the person very well, have respect, trust is something you can’t build overnight. While I don’t necessarily trust you, I’m certainly willing to work within your team. I’m willing to bounce ideas from you, ask questions, ask for help and likewise if I can offer you any assistance I’m more than willing to help. But at the end of the day I’m not just going to sign your drug checks, I’m going to actually work it out and check it appropriately, I’m not going to sign your notes or anything like that. At the end of the day I’m just as responsible as you are and if my signature or action appears anywhere in a court of law I need to know everything I have done or signed for is 100% my action.

As much as you may trust someone you’ll never know what sort of back flip they’ll do if it all hits the fan and ends up in the HR office or in front of the coroner.

I work as an agency nurse within a large regional hospital. Every shift is in a different department and I’m lucky if I work with the same people twice, I don’t know you from a bar of soap so offcourse I’m not going to trust you. I certainly don’t trust the doctors, at the minute we have 25 new interns, a hand full of new medical registrars and residences, I understand there still learning but some of the questions they ask you are just bizarre and certainly don’t build my confidence in you. Sometimes you wonder why they spent all that money on going to medical school. Anyway, that’s a different subject.

[crotchitymedic1986]

You can not change this person, the fact that they were recently fired, and still have not improved, speaks volumes. Protect yourself, report wrong behaviors and acts, I imagine he/she won't last long. I always went out of my way to piss those type people off (usually by doing something off-duty to them) so that they would refuse to work with me.

[HERBIE1]

You do not have to like your partner, but you do have to be able to trust them. You have to be able to believe they have accurately taken a set of vital signs, relayed a bit of information, or the findings of a physical exam. If the person is incompetent, then it is up to you to document that fact- for the safety of your patient, as well as your own license. It is difficult- especially in a union situation- for someone to lose their job- even for gross incompetence. Too often partners cover for them, people are afraid of taking a stand or upsetting the apple cart.

You do not need to be best friends with someone, but there at least needs to be a basic working relationship, and if you cannot trust the person to do their job, then that relationship fails. I've worked with people in the past who have the personality of a gnat, yet their skills are good, and we worked well together.I could count on one hand the number of non job related sentences we shared in 24 hours. Can that make for a long day- sure, but at least I knew I could trust the person to hold up their end of the bargain when it came time to go to work.

[NYCEMS9115]

Every Man Suspect...

Its a whatever topic. We can't get along; we can't trust one another; what is this field becoming?

A bunch of Pre-Madonnas. A self-centered bunch of people. Its my way or the highway attitude. People who have a little bit of knowledge: think they're experts. Glory hounds. Skells. Poor Technicians. Also late; never checks the Ambulance or Equipment. Air and chair is the routine. Bringing a laptop is part of the Checklist. Waits for food before responding. Falsification of paperwork. Liar. IV pokemon; missing a"l the time. The best Esophageal Intubator. Identifies all ECG as Sinus. Nasal Cannula all patients. Drives 2MPH so everybody sees them. Always goes out of service for anything. Drama bringer. Hits the skirt. Inappropriate always. Never offers. Thinks the work fu#k is French. Insubordinate. Never restocks. Cruising for chicks. Can't splint. Thinks they're hot sh#t. Invincible. Cocky. Sleeps at CME Letures. No call, no show. Bangs out last minute. Doesn't flush. Doesn't know the Protocol; makes it up as he goes along. Takes the credit. Can't lift. Blames other.

WTF!