You've got to be kidding.....Right?

Okay, here we go again. As if the H&R Block commercials weren't bad enough, NOW Arby's has a commercial out that shows an ambulance crew giving food to treat people. It's no wonder everyone takes EMS for granted when they see things like this. We in EMS have to start pulling together to combat these comic stereotypes. It should not matter whether you are in public or private service, paid or volunteer, you are an EMT first and foremost. This bickering going on in the service NEEDS TO STOP!!!! How is the public going to take you seriously, or view you as a professional if all they see, read, and hear about is the bad things, like services fighting with each other or bad-mouthing each other? I'm asking everyone to contact Arby's either online or at your local store, and let them know you don't appreciate their view of EMS. We need to get involved or this will get worse.

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Comment by Doug on April 29, 2008 at 12:26am: Uh oh, does Arby's have to start being politically correct now too?

Comment by Brian Dumser on April 28, 2008 at 8:27pm: That's right there with the commercial where they get the full arrest patient in the ER and scan his credit card. As soon as it is approved, they yell "clear" and defibrilate him! As if it wasn't approved they would have to let him expire!

Comment by Mick Mayers on April 28, 2008 at 1:45pm: If they were showing us as a bunch of idiots, I would take exception, but the ads I have seen are just pretty comical. I don't think anyone actually thinks we're leaving patient care to the side because we are worried about our taxes or giving people roast beef instead of meds and if they do, well, that doesn't say much for their thoughts anyway.

I'd be more inclined to boycott them if they implied we were doing something unsafe or if the ads portrayed us as sitting around drinking coffee and eating donuts instead of doing our jobs (although that rings closer to the truth in some departments rather than not).

Although I don't necessarily like the idea that any publicity is better than no publicity, in media relations, that is pretty much a truism. This is your moment to play a little jujitsu with the ads; maybe take a bunch of Arby's sandwiches to a public relations event to score a little humor (thus showing we can laugh at ourselves) then driving home an important point like that by not watching what you eat, you make a mistake that contributes to the leading cause of death in America.

Good luck with the boycott.

Comment by lutan1 on April 28, 2008 at 5:06am: Interesting post, but there's two very distinct and different topics here-

1) The stereotyping of EMS

and

2) The "fighting" between services and agencies