Advice Needed

[Chief1C]

First rule in all of first aid care, do no harm. I'd have asked where she got the real-working X-ray glasses. Harm could have been done, that'd be tight-upper-lip lecture worthy, even if I am lower on the ladder. You clearly handled it better than I would have. I'd have put her in her place, nobody gets in my ambulance and gives me attitude. I don't care if it's a medic or a doctor. If I were you, I'd file a complaint against the b*tch. And I'm a big teddy bear, so don't negative me.

When I get yelled at, and it's undeserved, I curl up in a ball. So, if I don't, and I stand up for what I believe in. Words are going to start coming out like a broken water main.

[Kaisu]

Egos egos egos... I am having a similiar problem with an RN (I run Critical Care Transport and we are a team comprised of EMTB, EMTP (me) and an RN) and I see it in the field with fire medics, transport medics, etc etc often. I think it stems from the fact that EMS can be damned scary. The more medicine I learn, the more I despair of ever getting a handle on it. Patients don't read the text books and even if we memorize every text in the field, we will come to that chasm in medicine of "we really don't know." If you don't have a little pucker factor on every call, then you are ignorant.

So the EMS conundrum - we are expected to deal with the situation, whatever it is, yet we are often working in the dark. A lot of take charge types cannot cope with it emotionally.

Somebody running around acting like they know everything and can dismiss the eyes, ears and brains of other professionals on the scene is somebody riding for a fall. It will bite them in the ass. Unfortunately, these types often harden in their stupidity as opposed to changing for the better, and tragically, someone might have to die first.

So what to do... I never get in a pissing match in front of patients or the public. I eat crow, unless actions will harm the patient, in which case I intervene firmly, and swiftly. In your case, I would assume this medic had taken control of the scene, was a higher level of care and you really had no voice in what happened next. Write it up man. Write it up the way you told it here. Make sure you make it clear that you are acting out of concern for your patient (and future patients). It is just as much your responsibility as good care on the scene. You are advocating for your patient and that is your job.

Good luck to you.

PS.. you did the right thing for your patient. All the brilliance in the world will not trump being thorough and correct and doing a top notch job on each and every call.(much harder than it sounds). That consistency week after week and year after year is what makes a professional. At the end of the day, you can take pride in that.

edited to add PS

Edited March 23, 2011 by CrapMagnet

[HellsBells]

Here are my thoughts Timmy.

It should be you that writes the compliant. Its fine if the father writes in, but he has no medical training, and the accused could easily write him off as an overbearing parent who didn't understand what is going on. Your compiant holds more weight because you have a better understanding of what was going on. The fact that they are paramedics and you are not is irrelevent. This is BLS were talking about, and they have no more ability to determine if its a # than you do. Furthermore, she did not act in a professional manner, and that alone needs to be addressed.

I think that Paramedics acting like turds is unacceptable. It makes us all look bad. No matter what I think of another practitioners Tx, I always do what I can to conduct myself in a professional manner.