urban to rural ems, what a difference

[medic993]

i have found the switch from urban (big city) ems to the rural system has been a difficult change. a welcome one but still difficult at that. longer transport times and much different style of people.

[spenac]

It is surprising the differences. I personally prefer rural. My 90 mile 911 transports make me use my brain. At other times it makes me just be there for the person when nothing more can be done. If the person can talk I may be asked to tell their familys goodbye and give them the patients love. In a lot of ways Rural EMS is mentally tougher because you bond with your patients. When I work at my part time the 10 minutes to the hospital barely lets me learn their name. My experience in rural EMS is that we focus on quality of care rather than speed of care. This drives many urban medics crazy. I have also seen many an urban medic come work for us and could not handle the stress involved with being it for a bad patient for more than a hour, one shift and never return.

Are we better in some ways, yes, but in others no. Each area has its own challenges. Welcome to rural EMS.

[Chief1C]

#1 Rule in (true) Rural EMS..

Take a leak before you respond.

[spenac]

#1 Rule in (true) Rural EMS..

Take a leak before you respond.

Thats why we keep urinals on the ambulance, they're for us not the patient. :wink:

[Chief1C]

No...

[spenac]

yes :twisted:

[laxwixjenn]

It is the most important rule - bathroom before you head out on the call!

[riskynremtp]

bathroom, and a cigarette on the way to the truck....lol

[emtannie]

LOL spenac - I read your first post and it reminded me of some of the calls where a city unit has responded with us to a multi-patient call. It is interesting to hear their comments later about the length of transport time and how hard it can be.

Another stress in rural ems is that there are a number of times when you know your patient, sometimes very well.... large city crews rarely have to deal with a close friend or the relative of a close friend...

I will never say that rural crews are better than urban crews.... both have their strengths and weaknesses and challenges, and we can each learn from each other....

And come on you guys...... you haven't learned to pee out the back door on those long trips????? (j/k)

[medic5740]

I certainly will not say the rural EMS providers are better than urban EMS providers, but I will say that a rural provider has to learn how to develop a relationship with a patient due to the longer transport times. The urban providers must become much more efficient at providing the treatments due to the (sometimes) very short transport times, like 15-20 minutes. In the rural areas 15-20 minutes is a short transport time for most of rural Michigan anyway. If the hospital in less than 10 minutes away, how can an urban provider develop any kind of patient relationship. How do you convince a patient that you are providing patient care, not just treatment(s), in such a short period of time?

I am not being negative. I am actually asking a valid question. Our transport times are about two to three hours most often. The major treatments are completed in less than 20 minutes usually. So talking to the patient, holding his/her hand, and monitoring the patient are pretty much required to fill in the rest of the time.