The Social Network & Community JUST for Firefighters
Pet Peeves...
Okay, so maybe I'm being extra bitchy today or something but I've just got this need to vent all my pet peeves.
First, I think it should be a $1000.00 fine if you don't have your house numbers CLEARLY visible from the street(facing both directions) in reflective numbers at least 4" in size.
And I know this second one is not very sensitive(politically correct), but I have a problem with rolling on medical calls to people(especially diabetics) who refuse to take care of their health problems and call us to bail them out when things go bad. I am a T2 diabetic and I control my diabetes entirely with diet and excercise, so I tend to have a diminished amount of sympathy for a 500lb diabetic patient with hypertension who calls 911 with a neglected foot wound and proceeds to blow cigarette smoke in my face and complain about being tired all the time while I'm trying to dress an ulcer that is going septic because they refuse transport. Knowing that we will be back in a week or so to help EMS carry them out of the living room to the ambulance to go to the Med Center to have the wound treated and try and save the foot.
Okay, I've vented and feel MUCH better now. Thanks for listening!!
Reg
First, I think it should be a $1000.00 fine if you don't have your house numbers CLEARLY visible from the street(facing both directions) in reflective numbers at least 4" in size.
And I know this second one is not very sensitive(politically correct), but I have a problem with rolling on medical calls to people(especially diabetics) who refuse to take care of their health problems and call us to bail them out when things go bad. I am a T2 diabetic and I control my diabetes entirely with diet and excercise, so I tend to have a diminished amount of sympathy for a 500lb diabetic patient with hypertension who calls 911 with a neglected foot wound and proceeds to blow cigarette smoke in my face and complain about being tired all the time while I'm trying to dress an ulcer that is going septic because they refuse transport. Knowing that we will be back in a week or so to help EMS carry them out of the living room to the ambulance to go to the Med Center to have the wound treated and try and save the foot.
Okay, I've vented and feel MUCH better now. Thanks for listening!!
Reg
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by JUSTIN BOEHMER on
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i have a really bad pet peeve that most every fire departmernt paid and volunteer has. people not giving units (responding vehicles) the right of way when they are running code 3 lights and siren. out where i live its worse cause oru department is all volunteer
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Permalink Reply by kimmieflirts on
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i completely understand where you are coming from. my pet peeve is stupid nursing homes nurses. u walkin in the room the pt is on a nrb at 4 lpms and she's rigor but they swear up and down they just took her vitals signs 3 mins ago and they where 120/80 p of 80 resp of 16 and an 02 sat of 88 thats why they put her on the nrb at 4lpm. they never noticed the fact the pt has rigor and lividity has set in
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Permalink Reply by Grant Bennett on
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Here are a few of my pet peeves:
-Domestics where you keep returning to the same address because "she loves him"
-People with trouble breathing who have a pulse ox of 98% but swear they are dying
-People who ride our @$$ cause they know can go through all the lights too
-People who complain because as you are going into their house to help their family member you accidentally got mud on the carpet
-Houses too messy to get a backboard in
My department had a lady who complained to the village board because we wouldn't go into the fully involved structure fire to save her chinchillas
-Bystanders with no experience who get in the way more than help
and finally
-I wish people would realize that WE DIDN'T CAUSE THE PROBLEM--we are only there to do what we can to fix it
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Permalink Reply by PFC Harmon on
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Among the people not getting out of the way and all that. My biggest one is the last time I looked the amulance wasnt YELLOW AND DIDNT HAVE A TAXI SIGN WERE THE LIGHT BAR WAS. I feel better now thanks.
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Permalink Reply by Ray Edwards on
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Ouch,you have hit it on the nail.Some people want help but do not.If people would take better care of themselves when they know they are ill or have a chance of getting ill,maybe insurance woulnd not be so high.I enjoy helping people however the very weight imbalanced (politically correct)that sit and smoke cigs while on o2 and call for help,I find it hard.Oh , and how about the fine outstanding drivers that think they can stay in front of you on a call until they finally let you around,just to tuck in behind to get thru lights faster.And what about, see you got me started.Enough for now ,I am better ..........
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Permalink Reply by Da Fire Rescue Girl !!! on
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my pet peeve is when people dont get out of the way
and when that think thay can out run the fire truck
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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My pet peeve is people who work in fire and EMS and either complain because a) they get paid and don't like every call they run and/or every person they meet or b) they volunteer and don't like every call they run and/or every person they meet. Just kidding...mostly.
Face it, folks,we're here to help other people with their problems. Not even astronauts get to have fun all the time, and they have a much cooler job than we do. We sign up for a job that has 24-hour shifts and then complain if we actually have to work after it gets dark. We pride ourselves on how much we're into safety and health, then complain about responding to patients who aren't as safe and/or healthy as we are...except for those of us who spend so much time taking care of others that we don't take care of ourselves so we're not really safe or healthy, either.
We volunteer, then only want to run working house fires, entrapments, gunshot chests, and patients that weigh less than 98 pounds and never get nauseated.
The bottom line is that we're in a service industry. The customers generally don't know as much as we do about their health and safety. That's - duuuuh - why they called us in the first place. We're supposed to be healthier, safer, maybe smarter, and hopefully luckier than our customers. I feel fortunate that I'm in a profession where I get to help people who don't have the means, motive, or ability to take care of themselves.
The EMS side of our profession has a history that goes back thousands of years. The historical story of the Good Samaritan is the story of an early EMS provider who uncomplainingly took care of a patient when others were "too good" to be bothered with caring for a bleeding battered trauma patient. Regardless of your religious preference or lack thereof, that story has historical significance and a real moral for all of us. BTW, the Good Samaritan was a volunteer. He funded his own gear, ER room, and ass (OK, donkey), too, and all for no pay.
One of the signs of true civilization is a society whose stronger members put a significant effort into helping and protecting the weaker and less fortunate members. Not everyone in our society - or our profession - has that mentality, but a lot of us do. Even the ones who have that mentality most of the time have bad days, sleepless nights, personal stress, or other losses of focus on occasion. Those things tend to make us forget how truly lucky we are to be able to do something that so few others can do, or want to do.
I'm not better than anyone else, and I've done my share of bitching about frequent flyers, the 2oth run of the shift at zero-dark-thirty, or the dumpster fire in the reeking alley. I do regret it, though. Maybe we need to focus on finding more effective ways to route chronic problems that our acute-care profession isn't very good at handling...instead of complaining about those who suffer from chronic issues.
Wow, that was pretty long and bitchy, wasn't it. I must be a firefighter/paramedic, or something.
Then again, we MUST bitch, or we'll explode, right?
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Permalink Reply by Medicine Man on
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My PET peeves: cats that pee all over peoples' houses, dogs that won't quit barking when you are on scene. Dead fish, roaches (ok not really a pet), dirty bird cages and stepping in dog dung. Just to name a few!
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And the people who have the stubbed toes and runny noses are supposed to know our definition of "Emergency" how? We can bitch all we want, but it won't help the situation at all.
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Permalink Reply by Tony P on
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We can all bitch about the idiots that won't get out of our way when we're running lights & sirens - but really, they're the minority, aren't they? It won't stop met bitching, but I always mention the good 'uns as well. Like two days ago I had a run in heavy rain - every car and truck got out of my way early, leaving plenty of room for the BRT. And I didn't use the air horn once, not once.
But then we get the hoax calls, usually bored and brainless youngsters. And those where you read the pager message and lnow it's going to turn out to be a hoax - but you have to go anyway, because really, you never know...
What's the old saying? Don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen? But none of us hate this stuff that much, do we? Have a bitch, have a laugh, and get ready for the next call!
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Apparently it meets some of the customers' definition of "emergency", or they wouldn't call us.
One of the tenets of customer service is "The customer is always right." How do you reconcile that with your stance that it's not our job to cater to them?
And if bitching makes you delirious, you should be ecstatic whenever you respond to a runny nose or a stubbed toe...another opportunity for bitching, yanno? :-)
I agree completely with educating the customers about inappropriate use of emergency services. That's the part about using an acute service (us) for a chronic problem (the socioeconomic, undereducated, or lack-of-attention probem that underlies the acute runny nose). If someone calls us for a runny nose or a stubbed toe, there's generally a chronic problem of some type underlying the 911 call, even if it's not the one it may superficially appear to be.
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I think we all love the job or we wouldnt be here but it does feel good to get this crap out. I love helping people or just being there to take a lonely 96 year old woman to the hospital at 2 in the morning because she felt sick at lunch time. But that feeling wont stop me from thinking why the ---- didnt you call at lunch. But then Id be gripping about missing lunch lol.
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