Professionalism and the lack thereof.

[DwayneEMTP]

I didn't read the whole thread, so maybe I missed it...but was this private EMS or Fire?

And if private, what WERE 6 people doing on one call? Even if it was an arrest?

Dwayne

[Jessi]

6 people on scene? Although I have seen it happen before here, it's usually a fire/wreck etc. Something that warrents that many people. As for my station, we're allowed to have up to 4 people on the truck. 1 driver, 1 AIC, and 2 trainees (given this is at the discretion of the AIC and the AIC, if they so choose, can have no trainees at all) As for yelling at an attending.. that's a no-no. Not only does it show how childish that person is, but it shows a blatant lack of respect to people who, contrary to popular belief, deserve it.

As for the inappropriate/sloppy dress and appearance. I run at a volunteer squad, therefore, I may show up not in a uniform shirt, or wearing blue jeans. But I do make sure that I'm not completely filthy and at least don't stink. There are strict rules here that you have to comply with to be on a truck. I.E. No shorts, no sandals/open heeled or open toed shoes(no crocs and socks deal), no low cut shirts, no clothing with profanity or an inappropriate motto on them, and no "pajama" clothing. Common sense kind of stuff. If you arrive for your duty night, you need to be dressed in a station uniform. (Meaning ems pants, station duty shirt, and boots).. Etc, etc.

Yes, I understand we all have rough nights. Yes, I understand that this is, by all means, not an easy job. Yes, I get that sometimes we're in bad moods and just don't want to deal with people. But keep in mind, we're here to HELP people. Don't take out your frustrations on the patient, the patient's family, or the ER/Hospital staff... how do you know they aren't having an equally crappy night/day? You need to relieve stress? Go to the gym, take a run, etc.

We're in a profession that people look up to us for help and guidance. Please... remember the golden rule. It applies... to us especially.

[txladymedic]

I must have missed that part of the thread too Dwayne....6 (holds up fingers and counts 1,2,3,4,5,6) Holy cow bat man! Unless it is an MVC or a multi patient situation I can't even come up with uses for 6 people on my truck, at the point when there are 6 people in my truck on one patient there are too many people there and in my way. Frankly I'm not sure that 6 people on one patient in the EMS setting is conducive to good patient care, but of course that is just my opinion.

And I agree the long and short of this whole discussion is take a little pride in your profession, respect others and yourself. If you can't do that, do our profession a favor and find another career.

[Kiwiology]

Six people eh? Sounds like that time I turned round and saw four firefighters standing there doing ... nothing

"Where did these firefighters come from?"

"Fire station"

"But why?"

"Medical run"

"But ... how?"

"See that guy there? He's the engineer, he drove the fire truck here"

"But why?"

"Medical run"

"Um, but ...."

"Medical run"

And that's about the truth of it

</slightly taking the piss>

[DwayneEMTP]

Six people eh? Sounds like that time I turned round and saw four firefighters standing there doing ... nothing

"Where did these firefighters come from?"

"Fire station"...

Oh man that cracked me up....

Dwayne

[rock_shoes]

As for the inappropriate/sloppy dress and appearance. I run at a volunteer squad, therefore, I may show up not in a uniform shirt, or wearing blue jeans. But I do make sure that I'm not completely filthy and at least don't stink. There are strict rules here that you have to comply with to be on a truck. I.E. No shorts, no sandals/open heeled or open toed shoes(no crocs and socks deal), no low cut shirts, no clothing with profanity or an inappropriate motto on them, and no "pajama" clothing. Common sense kind of stuff. If you arrive for your duty night, you need to be dressed in a station uniform. (Meaning ems pants, station duty shirt, and boots).. Etc, etc.

For a moment I’m going to ignore the volly factor. Are you saying that you and others working out of your hall/station show up to calls to which you have been assigned out of uniform? Or do you mean to say you have ended up on a call out of uniform because you ran across it during your off time? Those are two extremely different things. The second is just a matter of circumstance and deserves no judgement. The first however is quite a different story.

Showing up to a call to which you have been assigned by dispatch out of uniform (assuming no extremely unusual extenuating circumstances which I’ll allude to later) is absolutely unacceptable. Period, end, stop. The one and only time (these are the extremely unusual circumstances I was talking about) I have gone to a scene out of uniform I was at home on pager. I was paged to assist another crew with a cardiac arrest. The station, my uniform, second ambulance etc. are located approximately 10 km away. The call with my crew in need of assistance was practically beside my house. Even with such circumstances I felt true shame showing up out of uniform. I absolutely hated it and apologised profusely to the family (very understanding people who were just happy to have the help). Why was the second unit for a service area of roughly 13-14000 people “staffed” by providers at home on pager? That’s a service delivery issue I’m not going to muddy this thread with. My point is emergency service personnel wear uniforms for a reason. That instant recognition that you are the trained provider whose assistance they called for is critical to both call management and the promotion of true professionalism.

[Jessi]

If you have signed up to be on duty that day/night OR it is your assigned duty night, then you WILL be in uniform.

However, weeknights, our duty is 1800-0600. Anything during the day will be answered by either, anyone available, or by paid staff. Some of us respond to the station during the day to run calls, many times someone has just gotten out of class, or has just gotten off work. We may or may not be in "station uniform". We respond when we can. Most people are thankful just for that.

If you are sick/injured/dying... is your first thought going to be "Damn.. they're not in a uniform." I.. highly doubt it.

[paramedicmike]

If you are sick/injured/dying... is your first thought going to be "Damn.. they're not in a uniform." I.. highly doubt it.

Perhaps not. But their first thought could very well be, "Who the hell is this?"

[Jessi]

That is what the ID badges are for. Not to mention the "Hello, my name is _____. I'm with the rescue squad. What's going on today?"

[craig]

Six people eh? Sounds like that time I turned round and saw four firefighters standing there doing ... nothing

"Where did these firefighters come from?"

"Fire station"

"But why?"

"Medical run"

"But ... how?"

"See that guy there? He's the engineer, he drove the fire truck here"

"But why?"

"Medical run"

"Um, but ...."

"Medical run"

And that's about the truth of it

</slightly taking the piss>

typical firefighter response kiwi........the tosser want to do it all ans save the world...just not enuff fires........

well done in the RWC