Where I worked (Israel), we often have to respond to terrorist incidents, violent scenes, and the normal bad neighborhoods. There have been incidents where EMS personal have been shot or shot at.
Some of our guys are issued weapons, and/or have personal weapons and carry licenses. We also...
Do something nice for them when they aren't expecting it. It might brighten up their day. Try to find humor and see if they lighten up. Otherwise, tell the captain and get a new partner.
Our Medics would usually take turns dispatching and running calls. We had our 911 (101) where I worked, dispatch, and station all in the same building.
We had one medic that could make "Ambulance 37, Transfer at (insert name of old age home) Code 2" sound like phone sex.
I never leave home without a knife.
Don't invest in something that you would mind losing. I'm never spending more than $50 on a blade. You never know if you'll forget it in the heat of the moment, lose it, or worst case scenario, have one of your patient snatch it when you're not looking...
I worked with Magen David Adom (Israeli Red Cross) in Israel and being non-profit and at a not so well funded station, we had to make do with what we had. We usually had a full load out when we rolled out at start of shift, but sometimes we were short. We would just make a note of it and hope we...