Ambulance Driver, an evil term?

[nsmedic393]

I still cannot believe that this thread has continued on for four pages. WHO CARES what someone else calls you? You know what you do, and the impact that you have on the lives of others, and that is all that matters. Plus, at the end of the day, whether I am a medic or an "ambulance driver", I still take home the same paycheck.

I take some offense to annother professional calling me an ambulance driver, its right up there with plane flighers and police car drivers, but in the end it doesn't really matter to me.

What bothers me is when the general public call us ambulance drivers, it shows that they really don't have a clue about what we can do for them. It shows they don't recognise that they have a professional ambulance system working for them and that they probably don't know what to do with it. This leads to misuse of the system and people not getting the most they could out of it.

[Dustdevil]

We need to keep a focus on what we are here to do, a title is that, a title & is my patients want me to be an ambulance driver, then that i will be.

I do, however have strong objections to other medical professionals referring to me, or any of my colleagues in that manner. This is professional disrespect, & i will always take the opportunity to correct them & point out the study that needs to be undertaken.

Wow, excellent point, Phil! Something that has been seriously overlooked in previous discussion.

[emt4nyc]

Just found this on a page dedicated to an EMT who died on 9-11-01

http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/~hersh/whh2004sal.html

http://usinfo.state.gov/albums/911/ham1.htm

It is believed that the part-time ambulance driver, police cadet and incoming medical student heard about the attack on his way to work, and immediately rushed over to see if he could help.

:evil:

This guy deserved a better obituary. I found the Baltimore Sun page on him which is far better and really does depict a picture of a hero he became:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/custom/at...ttack-headlines

[medik8]

Meh...I know what I am. That's all that matters to me. If you call me because you can't breathe, or you are a code, and i save your arse, it's still a save. What you call me doesn't really make a difference at that point in time. Yes...it is a little degrading due to the way we've busted our butts to get where we are, and to try to maintain some level of respect, but most people call us ambulance drivers "ignorantly".

When you save a woman's baby, and she says, "The ambulance driver saved my child"...is that meant to be deroggatory? I think not. She's still grateful her kid is alive, whether it was because of us, or because Joe the flower vendor happened to know CPR and was nearby. It matters not at that point.

I am more frustrated by the medical professionals that call us an ambulance driver. Those are the ones that I have an issue with. They know better for sure.

In either case, I am confident when who I am, and what my abilities are. What you choose to call me rolls right off...its not worth the frustration...

xoxoxo :wink:

8

[Freshmeat]

Um I dont care what I'm called....just let me get my 1,000 hrs of EMT-B done so I can get INTO a Medic school. In AZ you dont go to Medic school until you've worked a year as an EMT. The reasoning is obviouse and to be honest, it would scare the shit out of me to find out my dad had coded and the Medic running the call had never even seen a code worked. I am truly uneducated and new to all this, but the discussion about how EMT-B's dont know anything and all kinda cracks me up. Maybe elsewhere its different, but here we all have to start at that level, and they dont let us play ALS (run) until we have been an EMT (walked) for a while.

I'm currently a licenced general contractor. I build custom homes for rich people; "Ambulance Driver" sounds like a great title to me.

[Dustdevil]

In AZ you dont go to Medic school until you've worked a year as an EMT. The reasoning is obviouse and to be honest, it would scare the Ca Ca out of me to find out my dad had coded and the Medic running the call had never even seen a code worked.

It's not obvious at all. In fact, after 33 years, it still completely escapes me, as it does many other EMS veterans.

Any medic school that is cranking out people without the experience to solidify their judgment and practice sucks. It has nothing to do with how long you were an ambulance driver before attending medic school. It's about the quality of your educational experience.

And I doubt that Arizona requires it. It is more like only the school you are looking at who requires it.

[Freshmeat]

To my knolledge...and believe me I have looked carefully, there are NO schools in AZ that will accept you without 1,000 work hours of EMT-B experiance.

You are corect technically..it is not a state requirement, but either way you cant go to Medic school without prior EMT experiance in this state.

[Dustdevil]

...and believe me I have looked carefully...

LOL! Good for you for exploring all your options! That's a very good sign.

Hell, when I retire again, I might just go open me up a school in AZ that doesn't require EMT experience and make a killing!

[AZCEP]

The state of AZ does NOT require any job/life/educational experience before enrollment in a paramedic class.

The state requires:

--current EMT certification

--current BLS Healthcare provider, or equivalent

--MMR/Hep B immunization record prior to clinical rotations

--TB records within 6 months of clinical rotations

--24 hours HazMat operational first responder.

Scary, yes, but it is what the powers that be require. Now, the individual schools will add a point system for more experience, that can make it difficult for those that don't have any to get in. I know that my program, won't admit students with less than 1 year of EMT experience. Those that have 1 year are at the bottom of the list to admit, but they can be.

[Freshmeat]

Well I'll admit that orriginally I was trying my damndest to figure a way around the experiance req that AZ schools demand...I put alot of thought into it and talked to alot of Medics and came to the conclusion that for "me" I need the basic experiance first. I have no problem at all with the idea of being a medics helper...nothing would make me happier right now. I have learned more in the last six months than I learned in five years at ASU. I would be more than happy to drive an ambu and wear a neon shirt that says "AMBULANCE DRIVER" front and back If it allows me to keep learning and keep on the road to being a good EMT then a good Medic I'm more than happy.