Can you describe the EMS enviroment?

[patzyboi]

Atmosphere? Culture?

During work/non-work/transporting and non-transporting environments?

It seems to me that a lot of company really have respect for each other, and everyone seems to know everyone in EMS. I know there are rival companies and competition, but those are the same companies that will give you a helping hand if you ever need it and always wave at you when driving against you.
EMS social atmosphere is always unique; can't explain it though.

just my observation/

 

[medic15al]

Yes, but also be prepared for neurotic, Whimsical, power tripping folks and managers who will stab you in the back in a heartbeat. Dispatchers that do stupid stuff to mess with you and write you up for perceived problems, rush rush rush.. ETC...

Granted not all services are like that but the 10 or so I dealt with in 15 years were so. That was the reason I walked away in 2006, not the actual job itself.

 

[NomadicMedic]

"EMS is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

 

[medicdan]

There is a strong sense, at least within private EMS, across companies, that we're all doing the same job, different uniform, and that things aren't that different. Among some there's loyalty to their supervisors, partners, their patients, to others, their paychecks. We are a young industry, born as the :censored::censored::censored::censored::censored::censored::censored: stepchild of fire, hospitals and yearning to become professionals, and inconsistent training, protocols and equipment across the country.

 

[Arovetli]

"EMS is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."

DE S. Medic?

 

[NomadicMedic]

DE S. Medic?

Ding ding.

 

[abckidsmom]

DE S. Medic?

???

 

[NomadicMedic]

The quote about the "shallow trench..." I posted above is usually (incorrectly) attributed to Hunter S Thompson.

 

[abckidsmom]

Got it.

 

[All Ryle Dup]

The scariest environment imaginable.

 

[hogwiley]

The EMS environment tends to vary depending on the location from my limited experience. Rural EMS tends to be more laid back and the people friendlier and more helpful, and there seems to be less of an ego driven culture and pecking order. As a new EMT I was welcomed and as long people know their stuff, work hard and are reliable, they usually wont have any problems.

In a suburban/urban EMS environment EMS tends to be more about status and there is definitely more of a pecking order, and people tend to be more uptight. There's more of a petty gotcha mentality. I've also noticed it seems to be less geared towards being a medical professional and more geared towards being some perceived action hero. Even new EMTs act really cynical and don't seem to give a crap about their patients. In rural EMS I knew Paramedics who've seen it all and done it all who would never act like that, but you get some new EMTs in a suburban/urban setting who think it shows they're experienced.

 

[hogwiley]

The scariest environment imaginable.

Try being in the military right out of bootcamp/training with your first unit just getting back from a combat deployment. We actually missed the petty torments of bootcamp.

I thought my first name was boot for about 6 months. The happiest day of my Marine Corps career was when we got some new guys so I was no longer at the bottom of the totem pole.

Being new to EMS is easy by comparison. Getting chewed out by some FTO who looks like hes spent far too much time eating cheetohs in between transfers just doesn't have the same sting as having an enraged Sgt with scars all over his face telling you he wants to kill you because you signed the wrong line on some government form he handed you.

 

[All Ryle Dup]

...your post...

Thank you for your service.
Also, I was being sarcastic.

 

[ffemt8978]

Thank you for your service.
Also, I was being sarcastic.

Sarcastic about which part? His military service or referring to your post about "scariest environment"?

 

[All Ryle Dup]

Sarcastic about which part? His military service or referring to your post about. -------> "scariest environment"? <----- this part

bold mine

Apologies for the confusion. His (or anyone's) service is certainly not something I would joke about.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

"%99 boredom followed by %1 of sheer terror" - some old medic

 

[RocketMedic]

The EMS environment tends to vary depending on the location from my limited experience. Rural EMS tends to be more laid back and the people friendlier and more helpful, and there seems to be less of an ego driven culture and pecking order. As a new EMT I was welcomed and as long people know their stuff, work hard and are reliable, they usually wont have any problems.

In a suburban/urban EMS environment EMS tends to be more about status and there is definitely more of a pecking order, and people tend to be more uptight. There's more of a petty gotcha mentality. I've also noticed it seems to be less geared towards being a medical professional and more geared towards being some perceived action hero. Even new EMTs act really cynical and don't seem to give a crap about their patients. In rural EMS I knew Paramedics who've seen it all and done it all who would never act like that, but you get some new EMTs in a suburban/urban setting who think it shows they're experienced.

...and then you have the rural folks who use "rural" as an excuse for substandard care and operate on the same methodology as a fraternity.

 

[Handsome Robb]

...and then you have the rural folks who use "rural" as an excuse for substandard care and operate on the same methodology as a fraternity.

Yep.

I've seen lots of hate towards younger urban providers lately....I'm young, been in the field for two years, probably run more calls than some of those career rural medics. Not saying that's the end all be all but you have to take that into consideration. Did a hair over 1600 911 calls last year, not including IFTs or everything I ran in my internship...so we'll call it a square 2000 runs in 12 months.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

Ya I can feel you on that some. I worked for an agency on a 1 year contract where I did around 10-12 calls per shift 4 times per week. That comes out to well over 2000 calls in a 1 year period.

 

[exodus]

Ya I can feel you on that some. I worked for an agency on a 1 year contract where I did around 10-12 calls per shift 4 times per week. That comes out to well over 2000 calls in a 1 year period.

That's about what I've been averaging. Then my last 2 shifts happened and we got 2 or 3 per 12 hours.