Not sure how to feel about this.

[island emt]

Receiving recognition from the community for a job well done is important.

It shows that they recognize how special "we" are for being able to remain calm and solve problems when they are scared stiff and losing control. All the better when the outcome of the call is an improvement in the pt's condition.

Had a call yesterday for a Pt that had fainted while at church.

On arrival he was conscious , but out of it.

We did our jobs and identified a possibly fatal arrhythmia, treated successfully and brought him back to a normal life status , all in the course of a few minutes.

We had people from the congregation stop by the station later in the day and thank us for being quick, smart and knowing how to treat him properly.

Do we accept the thanks in the manner intended or just tell them we were just doing our job.

Of couse you accept them and let them express their thanks with a humble response.

Like Happiness, we are a small community and we know many of our neighbors/ patients personally so it's a little different than working in the big city where the pt's are just numbers on the tally sheet.

[Bernhard]

No, i need not the reputation of a fire fighter or a cop. I don't want or need to be a "hero". I'm proud of what I'm doing good, but I'm aware it requires constant education to stay on top. Yes, I want to be generally respected for what I've learned, know & do now, just as any other profession. No public praises needed, just a better pay.

BTW, that may be the point: it's a lot of public relation. Fire dept's seem to put a lot of effort in their reputation, especially if volunteer. That's not bad per se. But they sure have excellent possibilities: action, big technical things, large trucks...

Compared to this, our possibilities in EMS are very limited. Action = blood & guts? Who wants to see this? And we know that's not the thing. But we aren't allowed to talk about the most of our incidents directly due to confidentality laws, where fire dept. may publish every small lawn fire or broken water pipe. If we do, noone understands the beauty of a strange ECG rhythm anyway. And what does attract kids in an ambulance? You simply can't compare a 20ml syringe to a real fire hose...

But that doesn't cause me to fall on the dark side, starting to whine about lack of public awareness. Rather than that I would like to provide a professional appearance, high level of care and a confident team in even the worst situations.

On the long term I think this is what builds up a good public relation. And the EMS provider that spoils this by doing something silly just is a large back step - if career or volunteer. So I spend a lot of my time in training & teaching to get the standards high - if for my career or volunteer group.

On the other side, let's look at the real reputation of a fire fighter or a cop: it's very ambivalent. Some may see them as heroes, but a lot see them as prolly beer or doughnut consumers in uniform, lighting fires or beating innocents just for their own enjoyment, beeing in the way rescuing cats out of trees or causing traffic delays instead of solving major crimes. I can't see this ambivalence in EMS public awareness. And I'm glad for this!

We have a job to do and we simply do it. That's way cooler than posing in dirty gear making a story out of some others suffering. No, really no hero image needed.

Just some random thoughts...

[DFIB]

I have been a little busy and am sorry I have not been back.

There is no need here to state the importance of EMS in society. I mean, I would be preaching to the choir. Our job is not about recognition or glory, it is staying frosty and getting paid to do it, that is, when we are not giving our skills away volunteering, even though volunteering is often the most dangerous time.

It is cool to know that our profession not totally ignored by all in society while the "others" ego would not survive without the constant acalades.

I would suppose that the general lack of recognition makes a grateful nod seem really special.

Thanks for your comments.

[DwayneEMTP]

Yeah, I'm mixed on this to tell the truth...

Tonight we got our redneck on and went to a monster truck rally. During the opening ceremony they asked for military, police and firemen to rise and they played "God bless the USA" in their honor. It didn't bother me nearly as much that I wasn't included, in fact I don't think at all, but it kind of pisses me off that firemen were asked to stand with military and police.

And of course many that stood were 300lbs with volly fire Tshirts on....

I'm not sure what it all means really...

[Kaisu]

If you were the 300 lb volly, would you have stood up? I would have been ashamed.....

[DFIB]

Being a volunteer should not mean that the standards are lowered. Volunteers should be required to up to par with the service standards that our communities have come to expect and deserve. It is not the 300lb volunteers fault he is a fireman. The responsibility lies firmly on management and the standards they have allowed to relax. A management that relaxes fitness standards demonstrates a lack of interest in responder safety. That is why more FF die from fitness related issues than on the job injury. If one responder is down, everyone has been hazarded.

The trade off between trade off between high standards and filling the shift spots would seem to be costly and counterproductive in the long run. When people loose confidence in the service, what is the point. When team members can't trust their partners, the committed workers will gravitate away from poorly run services. That is why we see volleys that are almost entirely conformed of uncommitted elements. Standards are relaxes and the committed, experienced people go elsewhere.

Then again this is a problem that permeates EMS as well. There are many EMS workers that are not fit either. Just because we should have fitness standards does not mean that we do.

Any person who wants to do the job should be disciplined enough to prepare adequately for the job they are doing.

EDIT: I also agree that FF and Military/LE personnel are not in the same category.

Edited August 18, 2012 by DFIB

[medicgirl05]

We used to have a luncheon at a local business place once a year where all emergency personnel were honored. It made me uncomfortable to be recognized for the job that I do. Most of my problem is that I hate some questions people ask. One of which is "What's the worst thing you've ever seen?" Why would anyone think I want to relive the worst thing I ever saw?

[DFIB]

We used to have a luncheon at a local business place once a year where all emergency personnel were honored. It made me uncomfortable to be recognized for the job that I do. Most of my problem is that I hate some questions people ask. One of which is "What's the worst thing you've ever seen?" Why would anyone think I want to relive the worst thing I ever saw?

I make up some BS story about the old lady with sundowners that would run around neked and shoot us the finger as the worst thing I ever saw.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I always tell em about the time I saw So and so naked, in a bathtub covered in roaches and beetles. They usually never ask again.

[Arctickat]

I tell them the truth, that it's the 2 year old girl who went to bed Christmas night, had a seizure in her sleep, and was found dead by her parents Boxing Day morning. Then I thank them for making me relive the nightmare.

Edited August 21, 2012 by Arctickat