Racist

[EMTizzle]

I have never been called a racist....but I have noticed a disturbing trend in my area. The bigger badder volunteer agencies regularly turn down applications from other ethnic groups(by that I mean anything other than white). The paid ambulance services have a large amount of diversity which is good because in the city there is a large amt. of African Americans, Latinos, Asians and others. I am African American and I was turned down by one of the largest volunteer agencies in the area. No reason was given, I was later told by a couple of friends that the same thing happened to them. It has gotten better but in some of the more rural areas of VA. there are still fire and EMS companies with the Dixie flag either waving in front of the building or prominently displayed on the fire truck. When the people see that driving up in their yard, they are bound to think the worst. Remember EMS personnel are usually lumped in the same category as uniform officers by the majority of the population, so they are seen as enemies not hero's by many. This area has had several publicized incidents of racial profiling, and police brutality that has made the actions of a few losers reflect badly on everyone, including EMS. Just recently a rural county in our area decided (once again) to try to make one month out of the year "Confederate History Month". Once again racial tension is rising and people nerves are getting strained. What is normal for EMS now looks highly suspicious, here is an example: I went on a call in the city(when I was riding along) and there were shots fired and a dispatch went out that said there were possible injuries. Well we went and staged, because PD was either picking their butts or their noses (who knows). This nearly incited a riot and pissed off the people in the area. They see two white people in the front of the ambulance, (I was in the back), representing the only hope for their loved ones to get help and they're just sitting there. Naturally this can be horribly misconstrued as racist, even though we know it is clearly not. However the racial tensions and escalating crime have made a public relations mess for all concerned. Because of this I think EMS personnel should go out of their way to treat everyone the same. NO MATTER WHAT. I have seen EMT's treat drunks, frequent flyer's and fakers terribly, they even go one step further in classifying young black men as thugs not knowing that when you least expect it, the wrong person is going to see this and run with a wild half story that will spread like wild fire through the community. Reputation DOA. Guys and Gals do unto others as you would have them do unto you! it's just that simple and if it isn't ......Find a different line of work

[chipmunkemt_98]

I have never been racist, nor do I plan to be. My children are Indian (Choctaw), some of my best friends are other than Caucasian. It is not the color of the skin, as we can all verify that we are the same on the inside. As for being treated as "substandard" races (other than Caucasian) were treated as in the old days, we definitely know that there is no difference in intelligence, no matter what skin color is. In fact, I have seen some pretty stupid Caucasians.

I worked for two EMS services in the past where the supervisors or EMS Directors (they worked the streets) would comment on race. I was never so tired of hearing the "N" word or comments about Indians when we went on calls as I was at these places.

When one of my former employers commented about my son, who had come to pick me up after my shift one day, I exploded on him. The boss had said that my son's paint's were baggy, and that his long hair made him look like a "druggie" and a "paint sniffing Indian". Strange, because my son was only 17, a good student in school, and on the football team. Needless to say, I quit working for the service, and called the Director a racist pig as I walked out the door.

In REFERENCE TO EMPLOYMENT:

I have to say this, though. There were many laws and rules that were put into place to protect those who felt they were discriminated against. These Civil Rights protect people to an extent, either by race or sex. I have seen these laws fail some and overwork for others. I don't like the idea that business has to try to full fill the "quota" for other races when they bypass those more qualified for the positions that may be Caucasian. I have seen several EMS/Fire news articles about services who don't have enough of one race versus another, and are bypassing those who passed tests with flying colors for those who scored less on the same test just because of race. There are some times that race should not matter, but ability of performing the job should.

[tunnelrat83]

EMTizzle hey just out of curiosity which part of VA u from? up in northern va we would get our asses chewed out and probably sued if we tried to put a Confederate Flag on the trucks. just wondering

[EMTizzle]

I volunteer outside the city of Richmond approximately 45 minutes away. This place is located in the south east of VA. As far as the Confederate flag and the volunteer fire dept. story, I was told this by one of the guys that has been in that area for a long time, it is rural so anything is bound to happen. It is not unusual to see a big ol' truck rolling down the highway with a big Confederate sticker on the window and a red fire dept license plate thing on the back(personal vehicles). Makes me scratch my head (really). I don't want to get into the significance of the flag and it's history so I will just leave it alone. It may not offend everybody but it offends enough, I think if you are going to be in the helping business, you definitely can't be involved in the hurting business. Can you imagine a fire fighter that has a swastika tattoo going into the home of a Jewish person? How bout myself, what if I go into the home of a white person wearing a Malcolm X hat? Some of this stuff is just plain common sense. However I am aware some people just don't have any.

[EMTizzle]

In REFERENCE TO EMPLOYMENT: chipmunkemt_98

I have to say this, though. There were many laws and rules that were put into place to protect those who felt they were discriminated against. These Civil Rights protect people to an extent, either by race or sex. I have seen these laws fail some and overwork for others. I don't like the idea that business has to try to full fill the "quota" for other races when they bypass those more qualified for the positions that may be Caucasian. I have seen several EMS/Fire news articles about services who don't have enough of one race versus another, and are bypassing those who passed tests with flying colors for those who scored less on the same test just because of race. There are some times that race should not matter, but ability of performing the job should.

I agree with you on this, but my big problem wasn't getting hired it was just simply trying to volunteer. I had to go waaaay out of my way to find a place were I would be accepted and even there, out of all the members we have there are only 4 African Americans that I know of (including myself). When I asked why this was, I was told that when they first started their organization "women and blacks" (that's a quote), were not allowed. Now that they are allowed it's hard to get them to volunteer because they figure why volunteer to help out an organization that didn't want you in the first place, when you can get paid by someone who does? As far as volunteer service turn downs, I was later told by some of the African Americans on the paid services that this happened to them, all they wanted to do was to volunteer a little after they got their certification to get their feet wet. No chance, they took one look at them and turned them down flat. Funny thing though, the same agency that turned me down,(and most of them) sent flyer's to my house begging for volunteers and money to keep them going. (a real head scratcher!!) Me being a good christian, sent funds to them, now ain't that something!!! :?: :shock:

[Alcomedicism]

This post has been deleted by the author.

[Richard B the EMT]

So far, no problems.

I work in a predominantly black neighborhood, have a Haitian partner, and have problems with communicating with the new immigrant Russian population, who don't speak much if any English. Most of the Hispanic population are from Nicaragua, but my partner from Haiti speaks a bunch of languages, and that lessens the language barrier.

By my ethnic and religious background, I should be able to speak, in alphabetical order, German, Hebrew, Polish, Russian, and Yiddish. I don't. I just don't have an aptitude for foreign languages; witness that after 5 school terms of first year Spanish, all I can really do, is ask and understand the question of "what time is it?"

I do have the nasty co-workers saying I don't really speak English (my native tongue, American variety). To them, I joke that I'm speaking "Brooklyneese," even though I'm actually not from Brooklyn.

Most of the bigotry I witness is directed at me, an admittedly overweight white guy, by those who are either incarcerated, or restrained EDPs.

[jeremy1322]

Never.

[Arff312]

I have been called a racist before by family members who feel we are not doing all we can to help the people. This has occurs in my opinion when people who are in stable condition are passed up for a patient in worse condition.

[erniemedic]

once during a call by a drunk , even though you treat all patients the same no matter what race they are ,you will upset someone sometime during your career. i have been on the other side of this a few times, i had a patients family member tell dispatch she wanted another truck because this was a white crew and she didn't want us. this was unfortunate because she was afraid we would mistreat her family member just because of our race.