Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Beth on September 22, 2007 at 8:35pm

I agree with you. We have the same stuff happen to us as the nurses and they treat us like dirt too. Must be a nurse thing. One day I would love to see us come first. We have set up an EMS advisary board for just this reason in our county. It is headed by our OMD and has at least one rep. per company. So far they have updated the protocols and gotten us training in different areas of EMS. As we speak they are planning a mass casualty drill. So far so good.

Permalink Reply by Scott on October 5, 2007 at 11:36pm

We have a pretty good relation with our Medical Control Hospital, but have switched the hospital for our Medical Control because of instances you have mentioned above. The hospitals we normally transport too due respect us very much. They are very complimentary for everything we do. We have one hospital we transport to who was are original MC that thinks they are God's Gift to hospital care.

We also have our Medical Control Doctor and EMS Coordinator come to our trainings every other month. They are very helpful. They let us know other ways to treat patients that we may have not learned in school. I think it helps too that even though they are a MD and RN respctively, they were both paramedics so they know what we go through when we are called into action. They also, constantly ask us why we do not transport to our old medical control hospital; because, they are being asked by the hospital doctors there. Don't get me wrong if it is an absolute emergency we will transport there, but our stable patients will be transported to the most appropriate care facility. Bottom line if the hospital treats you like crap it might worth checking into changing Medical Control Facilities if you have the option, you'd be amazed how well different facilities treat you.

Permalink Reply by John on October 19, 2007 at 4:02pm

We don't have one specific medical director hospital. Ours is the receiving hspital to where we are transporting to. We mainly transport to two hospitals but there is like three more that we do use and one is so rude it isn't even funny. I have talked to the president of the hospital once about their attitudes toward us and he told me that is life deal with it. So i give them no respect going there. I will try and talk a pt out of going there if i can

Permalink Reply by D.MAN on November 18, 2007 at 4:55pm

we have a pretty good realationship with most of the nurses were we go.we have a few that talk down to us.they need to think they have the best equipment,the best enviorment.we dont.we must make due with what we have.they need to run with us to understand what it is like.

Permalink Reply by Buddy Kerns on November 25, 2007 at 11:15pm

I agree, after 25 years, very little has changed for EMS, no elected officals seem to care until we take an extra minute to get to their home. It doesn't seem to do any good to complain, except I feel better when someone at least, pretends to listen.
Most of the ED staff in the local hospitals treat EMS ok, but the 'better than EMS" attitude is up front and center with a large number of nurses. The exception, the ED I work in, some of the nurses started in EMS, or are PHRN certified, and all are given the opportunity to respond on 911 calls with our prehopsital unit as part of their orientation/on going training. In fact some of them still respond either with us, or in the next due rig when an extra pair of hands are needed on scene.
Maybe if we can get groups like this to grow in membership, and join forces with any others out there, standing up with one voice the winds of change might catch up with EMS giving us the respect we should have been receiving since day one!

Permalink Reply by tonya keene on May 22, 2008 at 1:16pm

hi my name is tonya and i have been in ems for almost ten years too, and a firefighter but it is very true ems very rarely gets the respect that we deserve. it isnt fair we also put our lives on the line to save and help people but yet we are not getting the respect we deserveout in the feild if it wasnt for us half the patients wouldnt make it to the hospital alive and to me that deserves respect.

Permalink Reply by James on June 18, 2008 at 3:42pm

i'll settle for the guys at the firehouse admitting the ambulance does more then just take up space on the apparatus floor.