What do you want the public to know about EMS?

[ncmedic309]

There are way to many folks out there that think EMS providers do nothing more than haul ass to your house when you call, then scoop you up, throw you in the back of the truck, and haul ass to the hospital. I want people to have a better understanding of the emergency care that we can and do provide on a daily basis. I think when more people realize that there's more to EMS than just being an ambulance driver, we will be recognized more as a profession.

[vs-eh?]

You're right, I'm not a doctor. But that doesn't mean that you can tell me "Too many questions, take her to the hospital", when I have asked TWO questions regarding your wife that for some ridiculous reason you are carrying around her waist out to the ambulance on our arrival. I can ask as many questions as I want. You are obviously insane...

Do not touch anything on scene. If you are not my partner/police/fire and you know too/were asked to touch/carry something just LEAVE IT. I know you are considered about your 67 year old mothers random hip pain but PLEASE I don't want you even to touch the sheet on the bed or the seat belts. I know how to buckle a belt...

Don't give me the "Phffft, I could have done/asked that" or "why aren't you DOING anything" look when I am assessing a patient. Unless you have the letters AEMCA, MD, or RN (ER or Critical Care) after your name, you would not have asked that, nor do you know anything of any treatment strategy.

Just because you have a cell phone, doesn't entitle you to call 911 for that "unconscious, possibly not breathing" patient that you have not come with 20' of, nor have asked if they needed help. Why? Because you are likely going to be 20 blocks away or at home by the time we arrive. You are not being a good samaritan, and you should get the bill for the tiered response you just initiated.

[medik8]

Wow...where do I begin....there's not enough room, Dust...

1. Please don't yell at me, call me a mother &*#$&*, try to bite me, kick me, or spit on me. I didn't just decide to jump in the middle of your domestic situation or your street fight...you are the one who called ME. You want help...stop being an asshole, and stop abusing me...or you are going to be hurting in a whole new way.

2. Please understand that we can't read your mind. Don't call me to your house for an emergency and then play the mind games when i get there. "No...I didn't take that....well...maybe....I don't know how many....it doesn't matter anyway...blah blah" or "I feel fine...." If you didn't want help, you wouldn't have called...so work with me here...

3. Please, when you see us coming, pull to the right. That's where expect you to go, although it almost never happens. Don't jam on your brakes...we can't stop that fast. Don't fly through the intersection anyway, to "beat" us...don't slow and almost stop, and then gun it after you've changed your mind. And...by all means, when you are all stopped at a red light and we come up behind you, don't freak out and blow your red light into the middle of an intersection. The last thing we need is another emergency while trying to deal with the one we already have.

4. Please don't ask me 20 questions about my job while I'm trying to take care of your loved one or neighbor. Not only is it rude, but it's distracting to me. I'd be more than happy to share the details of my job with you...visit me at the station.

5. Yes...I do see a lot of blood and guts and gore. No, I do not wish to share my stories with you. It's bad enough that I remember them all too vividly.

6. Yes...I have seen dead children. END OF DISCUSSION. (I can't even believe you have asked)

7. Please respect us and understand that we sacrifice our own lives, our family, our children, birthdays, special occasions, holidays, family time, special moments, and higher pay. We have a high stress job/life, all to take care of strangers who most of the time never even say thank you. Yes, I love my job, and no one made me do this for a living. I do it because I love to help people and because I have a big, caring heart, (and I love emergency medicine). I don't want all the glory and the hype...but it sure would be nice for the general public to recognize that we do all this and sacrifice all that for people we don't know...only to usually get shit on in the end. Yet we keep coming back....

8. Please...please...don't call me to your house for your loved one's emergency, and then tell me how to do my job. I don't care what Dr. so and so did 20 years ago in the ER, or what your Osteopathic doctor or Jane the nurse who is your neighbor said last Tuesday....this is MY call, MY responsibility and I will do my job as I see fit for the best interest of your spouse or family member. If you don't need or want my help...don't call me.

wow...I have many more...but I need to go for a walk now....*LMAO* Thanks Dust...It feels go to vent....

xoxoxo

8

[Dustdevil]

Thanks Dust...It feels go to vent....

I'm happy I could help.

But really, none of this is what I was looking for. I wasn't asking for people to vent or bitch. That's a whole nother topic.

I am asking for specific points about EMS systems that citizens should know in order for them to understand exactly what EMS, paramedics, EMT's, and all the other components are all about. I'm looking for definitive points. If you were to describe EMS in the encyclopaedia for all to see, what would you write? What are the most important things that the public should know in order to understand the system and us as individual providers?

[AZCEP]

Educated to a level of proficiency, trained to a degree of competency, individually acting.

Directed by physicians based on direct and indirect communication. Equipped with enough technology to allow for a cursory physical examination in the absence of direct physician supervision.

Up to 1500 clock hours of education in the U.S., significantly more in other parts of the industrialized world, for the highest levels available. Multiple classifications exist, in progression to the highest, first responder, basic emergency medical technician, intermediate emergency medical technician, and paramedic.

The descriptions are slightly different based on the jurisdiction represented, but most will have similar capabilities.

There is no consensus to determine what is the best system arrangement, though many exist. Many areas are served by volunteer organizations, responding from other activities of the members daily lives. Another significant number are a division of area fire departments, and these are usually cross-trained to serve fire suppression functions as well. Some areas have private companies providing service, and some will have a mix of all of these.

Is that more what you had in mind, Dust?

[medik8]

I'm happy I could help.

But really, none of this is what I was looking for. I wasn't asking for people to vent or bitch. That's a whole nother topic.

I am asking for specific points about EMS systems that citizens should know in order for them to understand exactly what EMS, paramedics, EMT's, and all the other components are all about. I'm looking for definitive points. If you were to describe EMS in the encyclopaedia for all to see, what would you write? What are the most important things that the public should know in order to understand the system and us as individual providers?

:oops: Sorry...but I feel so COMFORTABLE with you.....*LMFAO* I get what you are saying now....ok....I think AZCEP is on the right track, maybe. I'll think and then give you an educated response...so as not to embarrass myself again.

xoxo

8

P.S. I still feel better though.... :female:

[skinnyems8230]

ok... as many know EMS is the red-headed stepchild of the emergency services, what many people don't know is the amount of training that goes into becoming a EMT, MEDIC. in many instances I have been called a paramedic when I am a EMT, also to reiterate my last piont the public is unaware of training and the different levels of training. this is a problem because the public just dosent know. everytime there is a town function or fundraiser myself and many people from my ambulace Corps. go so that the public gets to know us and many people are starting, slowly becoming aware

[chicagoambo]

No your green card ( public aid card) is not an American Express , so yes you're going to the closest hospital!Seizure meds and booze don't mix well.Change your socks when you change your underwear!

[rocket]

I would say the majority of lay public I encounter understands that we in EMS are part of the team of healthcare providers that works with them from the moment they decide to call 911 to the moment they are discharged from the hospital. Although we don't necessarily dress like the ER docs we are a part of that continuum of care and most people seem to realize that we are dressed more for the rescue than the physical exam.

I think that much of the lay public does not realize that so many of us (in my region at least) still do this kind of service for free. And that many folks in volunteer EMS would love to make a living out of it but cannot because of the low pay rate. The folks that do this professionally around here tend to work very long hours to make ends meet...again due to the low pay rate.

The low pay rate tends to be a function of (comparatively) low educational requirements and easy access to volunteer opportunities. In many ways, our individual tickets into the world of EMS is also what holds our collective industry back. This problem seems to be unique in my experience; I don't see the same problem affecting other fields in the arena of medical care.

Despite these problems we EMS folks still arrive on your doorstep when you call for us. You may not realize that the guy or girl that is helping mom with her chest pains has about 10% of the training required for a hairdresser in your state, or that they spent all day at their "real" job (the one that can pay the bills) before signing on to ride all night on the ambulance....and that they've therefore been awake and working for the past 20 hours straight. Or that this person is doing all of this for free.

Yet if you were told by the EMS folks they were turning over care of mom to an ER doc that had very little formal training, was coming in after working their non-medical "day job" and was doing the work for free would you feel that you were getting the best possible care for your loved one or would you feel obligated to ask for someone else to handle it?

If I could let the lay public know something about EMS it would be this:

(1) We do a lot with a little because we care so much.

(2) I may not remember every patient's name but I do remember each "thank you" I get.

-Trevor

[DCMed124]

we go through a lot of training to make little money. (please see 7th point below)

we're not firepersons (I hate political correctness, but there you have it)

we're not cops (tell me you OD'd... it'll go better for you and I could give a @#*% what you do with your spare time)

Yes I like sitting in a hidden driveway and flipping the red lights on when you go speeding past. It's freakin' hysterical watching your brakelights come on as you nosedive your vehicle to the proper speed. (and you shouldn't be speeding) (just kidding about this one, but it was amusing)

when we gotta go, we gotta go. please act accordingly. (I swear I won't cheat you outta your check, Mr. Restauranteur.. can we settle up later?)

when we gotta go, we gotta go. please act accordiingly (like someone said earlier, move CAREFULLY to the right. I can't stop and help you too)

Thanks for the free coffee. (you saved me a dollar, but the thought is priceless)

that 3 year old little girl that died in the MVA? rips me to shreds by the way, but I'm a professional. My partners will get me through. (be thankful I don't take the uniform off and beat you to death too for not using seatbelts on kids)

Yes, we CAN all get along. just need more people to want to. It's mostly man's inhumanity to man that keeps us in business. We spend our time pulling silly people outta bad places. Please act accordingly. (no witty rejoinder here. statement stands on its own)

I imagine I'll think of more. The sad thing I've noticed is that people treat us like dialtone. When you pick up a phone, you expect to hear it. You don't really give it a second thought until it's not there. I think, if not walking a mile in said shoes, just some base understanding would go a looong way. heaven knows this stuff ain't for everyone.

Hope that's what you're looking for Dust... but probably not.