I am NOT an EMT

[bbbrammer]

Interruptions and cold food are a way of life

My vocabulary includes words like cardiac arrest and respiratory failure

The phrase 'code 3' means something to me

The radio keeps me up all night

God only knows what the washing machine has been put through

I am an expert at ironing shirts and polishing boots

I frequently use ten codes without knowing it

I am NOT an EMT, but heaven help me I MARRIED ONE!

[somedic]

Sounds like someone needs to turn the radio off and get out of the trailer park every now and then.

Somedic

[Eydawn]

I just can't wait for the day when my significant other finally takes his EMT (he was going to this summer but plans changed) so I quit getting blank stares at some of the more technical lingo. That said, he knows exactly what the radio means and he's very good at polishing boots (bless his heart!)

He also knows that if I say DO NOT touch that pen that I mean it!

Wendy

CO EMT-B

MI EMT-B

[bbbrammer]

Sounds like someone needs to turn the radio off and get out of the trailer park every now and then.

I find that insulting. We don't live in a trailer park, and I was trying to find a funny way to give our significant others some credit for what they go through in dealing with our proffession. Not everyone can deal with our being gone to work for 12-24hrs a day, most of the days of the week. Not to mention what we bring home on our clothes, the flu and head colds we bring home for them, the radio going off and disturbing their sleep, not to mention just the secrets we have to keepp from them just because we can't tell them what we REALLY do in the interest of HIPPA. EMT's have a high divorce rate because it is hard to deal with for alot of people, and I was giving the significant others a bit of respect for sticking around anyway.

[somedic]

Like a person I respect said once on here..."Just keeping it real".

[Asysin2leads]

I find that insulting. We don't live in a trailer park, and I was trying to find a funny way to give our significant others some credit for what they go through in dealing with our proffession. Not everyone can deal with our being gone to work for 12-24hrs a day, most of the days of the week. Not to mention what we bring home on our clothes, the flu and head colds we bring home for them, the radio going off and disturbing their sleep, not to mention just the secrets we have to keepp from them just because we can't tell them what we REALLY do in the interest of HIPPA. EMT's have a high divorce rate because it is hard to deal with for alot of people, and I was giving the significant others a bit of respect for sticking around anyway.

I have always challenged the notion that police, fire, and EMS have high divorce rates because of the stresses of the job. I say they have high divorce rates because a lot of the people who work in the profession are a**holes. Sure, a lot of people in each profession's relationships have suffered because of some job related stress, but you know what, each job has its own stresses. I say that most of these problems are caused by the sense of entitlement that many people feel because of their jobs. In other words, if you are an EMT who is very "close" with his female partner, needs several nights out with the "boys" to "unwind", and then still expects his shoes shined and his dinner ready when he comes home, you'll be divorced shortly, and it has nothing to do with the job. And what's this crap with HIPPA? HIPPA is not a sacred oath that means you can't discuss specifics of your job with your spouse, so long as you keep the details of the person's identity private. Most people just don't want to hear about it, period. Doctors suffer the same way. Nurses do to. Funeral directors have incredibly stressful jobs. The reason for our high divorce rate is the high percentage of scum we have working. Okay, there, done, enough with the rookie excuses for why your girlfriend left you, we have standards to keep up around this berg.

[Richard B the EMT]

My girlfriend, who I met at a Vollie Ambulance, and is not involved anymore with any EMS system except me, personally, has learned (thru osmosis?) the 10-codes.

[somedic]

What a waste of brain space! Now that the NIMS inspired trend is plain language. I could think of other things to make a girlfriend memorize by diffusion or any other method. There is nothing appealing to listening to 10 codes. I dont find the need for EMS to totally permeate my off duty life and why would anyone listen to a EMS radio when they are off duty?

Asysin2leads: I like your comments about the "sense of entitlement"! This seems to be prevalent in volunteer and other less professional organizations.

Somedic

[JPINFV]

I find that insulting. We don't live in a trailer park, and I was trying to find a funny way to give our significant others some credit for what they go through in dealing with our proffession. Not everyone can deal with our being gone to work for 12-24hrs a day, most of the days of the week. Not to mention what we bring home on our clothes, the flu and head colds we bring home for them,

Because EMS is the only place that you find disease and long hours?

the radio going off and disturbing their sleep,

As said ealier, who takes their pager home. If you work in a busy enough system where you are constantly being paged out at night, maybe it would be better to have a crew at a station instead.

not to mention just the secrets we have to keepp from them just because we can't tell them what we REALLY do in the interest of HIPPA.

1. It's HIPAA, not HIPPA.

2. It's a lot better than military industrial complex employees who might have to go away on busniess only giving their significant other a phone number of a person who knows a person who can contact him only in a true emergency.

[Richard B the EMT]

Well, sometimes I have the scanner on in my POV, or turn it on when an NYPD cruiser or the FDNY goes by at "Emergency" status. If we hear an address, streetside, SHE is the one asks me, if we want to "buff" the call.