What Does it Take to Change EMS?

[azemt2007]

So I'm hoping for some positive involvement in this topic. This is not a hate thread as I love what I do and at the same time I hate going to work. The frustration stems from working in private ambulance for the past 5 years. I realize we are not all Rhode Scholars in EMS, (I have met many truly brilliant people in my career) but we are paid horribly and treated with even less respect by our employers. How many of you go to a station that the health department would condemn in any other situation yet our employers continue to allow to deteriorate? How many of you have supervisors that are not there to help you do a better job but are there to wait for you to make a mistake and discipline you? I know this sounds like venting but it's not really. I want to make a change in EMS. I still hold on to ideals that one person can start the ball rolling for change. So here are the issues that are important to me. See if you have the same or want to add some. Let's get together as a community and start to support one another.

Issue #1:

We may not spend 4 years going to school to be an EMT or Paramedic, however we do have to treat the sick, injured, and yes stupid with a smile and the best effort. Sometimes we even take part or are a major factor in saving someone's life. So why not pay us what we are worth? I mean I'm not talking $100k incomes but $8-9/hour for an EMT, $10-12/hour for a Paramedic...seriously?

Issue #2:

Public perception is a huge one. The west coast has glamorized being a firefighter...mostly after 9/11. Firefighters in the LA area often make more than $125k per year and rarely run fire calls. 90% of emergency calls with fire departments in the LA area are medical, yet private ambulance is who transports these patients and provides care are not acknowledged. I love my fire brotheren as I was also a reserve firefighter/paramedic. However, I will have to say this, not to be hateful, but the LA area has some of the poorest quality paramedics of any system I have ever worked in, yet the EMTs are some of the hardest working. So how do we change the public perception of us? How do we change how our employers perceive us?

[BillKaneEMT]

I have almost no experience with the west coast area, not in the last 5 years anyway. Are you sure about the firefighter wages? I live in the midwest and while firefighter are making at least triple what I make 125k a year is a bit shocking. My company went out of business this saturday and one of the reasons they cited in their "don't let the door hit ya" letter was the fact that the state was simply not paying them for any public aid runs we did. They were cutting costs for the last month, most notably when we were told to purchase our own gloves. Gloves are cheap but when you're making less than 10 bucks an hour it is a little frustrating. BSI or a non ramen noodle based dinner? Decision, decisions. Alas, such is life in this decadent age.

Regarding issue 2 I understand your frustration. Personally, all of my coworkers were pretty amazing, particularly the paramedics. I LOVED working the ALS shifts. Not just because we tended to get the more interesting calls but due to the opportunity of working with and learning from some really great medics. As far as fire fighter glamor, well.... Just to get the ball rolling, let's consider the Hollywood perspective (In honor of your location *stage bow*). Best firefighter movie? Many would say Backdraft. I certainly enjoyed that movie and it did portray firefighters as serious hero types. Best EMT/EMS movie? Probably Mother, Jugs and Speed. A bitter EMT packing a big gun while hilarious hijinks, most of which portray the private ambulance folks as idiots, ensue. FF's 1, Privates 0.

How do we change perceptions of the public and our employers? First, we get educated. As soon as I find a reliable job so I can avoid cardboard box living, I'm signing up for medic school. I'm still hoping to start before the end of the year. *fingers crossed*. Obviously EMT's who are happy with their current level of training and treatment options won't like that answer. It's a shame but it's about the only realistic chance I see at improving our value. Frankly, our class was extremely condensed at around 200 hours (with clinicals) and some states use classes that are half that. Fully half the class revolved around anatomy and physiology and I'm willing to bet that almost all of that is omitted from some states requirements. I'm looking at you Illinois! I'd love to see the basic emt requirements go up to, say, a 12 month course. Include phlebotomy and expand our protocols to include, oh, how about BGL testing? I can do it to myself twice a day but not a patient? How about some pain management beyond "bite down on this here plastic stick and we'll drive real fast mkay?" Why not take the current 10-12 month medic course offered by hospitals into the basic course and have the medic program stretched to 2 years like it is at Ivy Tech and most other colleges? And no grandfathering. EMTs who don't want to deal with it can be reclassified as EMRs. EMTs who take the new class can get paid a livable wage. Medics can take their associate of paramedicine degree do a 6 month nursing bridge if their back or knees go out or they just get sick of the rig. Now I admit this isn't a perfect solution. EMT's who feel happy with their treatment options will resent being dropped to EMRs. Employers will be enraged at needing to pay more than $9.50 an hour. Hospitals will be furious that... hmm. I dunno, they'll probably be mad at something . Anyway, I'm just brainstorming here. Let's hear what everyone else has to say. I'll check back on this tomorrow. Gotta get some sleep. Interview at 1100!

[DwayneEMTP]

(Hey Az! Welcome back! I've missed you here!)

(Carry on...)

[Kiwiology]

Look I hate to play devils advocate but the 1,000 hour paramedic operating to "protocols" is probably not worth much more than about $15 an hour

If you want more money then convince everybody that higher education is absolutely necessary and that the profession must take responsibility for its own development. New Zealand started doing it in 1972 and it's taken nearly forty years to get to we are now so it's not going to happen overnight

[BillKaneEMT]

Look I hate to play devils advocate but the 1,000 hour paramedic operating to "protocols" is probably not worth much more than about $15 an hour

If you want more money then convince everybody that higher education is absolutely necessary and that the profession must take responsibility for its own development. New Zealand started doing it in 1972 and it's taken nearly forty years to get to we are now so it's not going to happen overnight

That's reasonable enough. I should point out though, 1000 hour paramedics, nationally registered, started at $12.50 an hour at my company. We had a few closer to 18 but it took 8 years or so with the company to get that high. Granted, our pay was at the low end of things, but 12 and a half bucks an hour for an nremt-p is just silly. "Oh yeah, fork out 8-12 thousand dollars for school, you'll be making.... state fair money! Woot woot!" From what I hear that is not the case at the 2 big guys in my area who are still in business, and who hired every medic that worked for us on the spot due to their own medic shortage. Supposedly they're starting medics at 16 an hour which has lead to some "I shoulda quit last year" talk among my my former coworkers. Anyway, higher education would be great but if you insist on a 2 year degree (which is 10k at the bare minimum here) ambulance services will need to pay more than other companies pay for high school educations.

Time to get ready. I'll be back this afternoon.

[DFIB]

Did anyone notice that the Aurora police chief acknowledged PD and FF in his first press conference but made no mention of EMS.

Just more of the same.

[Bullets]

Ummm...move

I work in nice stations, showers beds couches flat screen tv's Xbox computers

I make $18hrs as a basic and most companies around me pay 11-15

Medics are paid 20-40 depending on where they are. More in the city

Sounds like an Arizona problem. But our fire dept only does fire suppression, EMS does everything else

[libby]

Hello. I don't have an answer for your question at this time. I just need to say that I have been a certified nurse assistant and I feel the same way we are treated just because we don't have a higher education or a degree of nursing. I really dont want to be a nurse because I see to much competition among the nurses and the B.S that goes on in nursing homes. so I decided to go to school for EMT-B and continue school for EMT-P. Here in PA paramedics salary get paid 50,000 to 70,000 per-year and EMT-B 35,000 to 40,000 per year depends on location. Been a C.N.A for 22yrs and dont even make what emt's make per year. CNA's only make 25,000 per year and with all the experience of 22yrs, it is sad what we get paid per year and no appreciation or no respect from no one. Even some nurses treat us like we are something that they carry on the botton of their shoe( crap ).

[Arctickat]

Ummm...move

Ummm, and live within a 100 miles of Snookie? Not a chance in hell. Thing is telling someone to just pull up and "move" is not a practical approach. How much do you think your job would be worth if 500 paramedics applied for every opening in your company. It would devalue pretty quickly because management would just pick another medic from the pool if you don't like what you're getting paid.

Additionally, this is AZs home. Some of us put a lot of value into where we live and we think of others before ourselves. We love our homes and where we live, but just want to improve the situation here rather than abandon it. That's why AZ started this thread. Telling him to move solves nothing, provide him with ideas on how to improve his situation instead.

AZ, public perception needs to change. They need to identify what it is a paramedic and an EMT do. They need to know what sort of toll it takes on them. Kiwi has a great point. We just got self regulation in Sask and that has improved and increased the public awareness significantly...unfortunately in a way that might not be all that beneficial, but it'll change.

My suggestion....Public Service Advertising. Consider what the Tema Conter Society has done, not just for itself, but for EMS in general. Their PSAs are very well done and provide very hard hitting examples of what life is like as an EMS professional.

Here's an example.

http://youtu.be/fNzck0O28SI

Once you have the support of the public you will begin to see a paradigm shift away from the current opinion of EMS to one that you and your counterparts can shape yourselves. Instead of letting the public think they know what you are...get out there and show them. Once they are on your side you have the power to lobby governments for change. It won't be easy, and it certainly won't be cheap. You'll have people fighting you every step of the way, even people you work with, but in the end, once the growing pains and bad weeds have been uprooted; you'll begin to see some changes. Just remember, you won't be changing things for yourself, you'll be changing things for those who come after you. Like Kiwi said, it's been 40+ years for them.

Did anyone notice that the Aurora police chief acknowledged PD and FF in his first press conference but made no mention of EMS.

Just more of the same.

Did you ever notice how many FDNY Paramedic/Firefighters are mentioned in all the statistics for the WTC attacks? The paramedics are lumped into the fire fighter count because they just don't know which were there with the ambulances and which were there on the fire trucks.

Edited July 23, 2012 by Arctickat

[Chief1C]

Here in PA

Maybe... There in..whereever you're from.

I live in Pennsylvania, and I can't think of a single EMT or Paramedic that I personally know, that is employed by just (1) service. Many of them work for two, or three...or five services. All of which are combinations of 911 and IFT.

A big thing anymore is volunteer services going paid during the day hours. Even at 60hrs a week, most of them still have to work an 8hr night shift somewhere. If you have your financial seed planted, and have a specialty, you can move. But I don't know many people that work as EMT's, who move, to be EMT's somewhere else.