Ever grossed out a Bystander/Partner/Fireman

[scottmcleod]

"Not confessions of our sins and subsequent tongue lashings as penance. "

...tongue lashings aren't ALWAYS penance...

(Sorry, HAD to lighten up the mood.)

The public is incredibly sensitive to the **** we see on a daily basis.

Best to keep it to EMTLife, or discussions at the station.

That being said, If it's already happened, lesson learned, enjoy it for a laugh, and move on, no need to grill them armchair-commando style. (They probably caught enough crap when their captain got the phonecall from the scout leader!) Floor moppin' fer a month, I reckon!

 

[VentMedic]

EMTLife is also a very public forum and can pop up when someone and anyone does a search.

The public is incredibly sensitive to the **** we see on a daily basis.

I could probably talk about stuff I see on a daily basis in a hospital that I know would make you cringe. However, the patient and family members must deal with it.

That being said, If it's already happened, lesson learned, enjoy it for a laugh, and move on, no need to grill them armchair-commando style. (They probably caught enough crap when their captain got the phonecall from the scout leader!) Floor moppin' fer a month, I reckon!

I guess you haven't read regulations in your state concerning patient privacy. It is more than a joke if someone in the public decides to pursue it further. It is also a gross display of unprofessional behavior in public view that you do not have your patient's best interest in mind. Patient care is for adults, both mentality and physically. If one is still stuck at a the level of a very immature 10 y/o, then maybe a health care profession is not for them. Patients deserve better.

 

[scottmcleod]

EMTLife is also a very public forum and can pop up when someone and anyone does a search.



I could probably talk about stuff I see on a daily basis in a hospital that I know would make you cringe. However, the patient and family members must deal with it.



I guess you haven't read regulations in your state concerning patient privacy. It is more than a joke if someone in the public decides to pursue it further. It is also a gross display of unprofessional behavior in public view that you do not have your patient's best interest in mind. Patient care is for adults, both mentality and physically. If one is still stuck at a the level of a very immature 10 y/o, then maybe a health care profession is not for them. Patients deserve better.

This is why I hate the f***ing internet. Nothing ever comes out right.

I was NOT saying to make fun of patients at their expense. I was saying discussing gorey/messed up calls should be kept to the station, if discussed.

It sucks if it comes out in public, but after it happens, and you learn your lesson (and take your reprimand), the only thing you can do is laugh a little on the outside, and regret it inside.

I give up (again, this happened last year on EMTLife as well... something I said came across in the wrong way). I'm going to keep my mouth shut around here, and watch other people say stupid things, and watch other people be Armchair Commandos at their expense.

To be perfectly honest, if everyone else does the same, it would take away most of the high-horses, soap boxes, and associated paraphenalia.

Talking about Paramedicine (especially online) is an awkward situation. Even worse, in the US where there's a lot of EMT-B'S (No offense, I love you guys), who are up to operational status after a short class, young, don't necessarily know how to cope with the stresses of the career, and when they find a forum such as EMTLife, they use it to get stories off of their chest that would normally only come out between medics back at the station where it's safe to talk about it.

... that "lax" attitude then carries to talking at restaurants, parties, and at other places where it might not be so appropriate, and also, the CONTENT of what's talked about.

This forum should either be heavily moderated, or shielded from the public with ZERO tolerance for stepping outside the bounds of what's publicly ethical.

The sheer fact that this forum is searchable scares the sh*t out of me sometimes, considering what is posted here sometimes.

And again, unfortunately, EMTLife goes down to the bottom of my lists of visited websites... (because I myself, have forgotten occasionally that this is a public website, and logging in does and means NOTHING.)

... Woah. Rant much? Hrm. I guess my birthday yesterday didn't go so well, and I've been cooped up in this room for too long today. I'm going to go get some fresh air, but I don't take back any of the above.

If it's not appropriate, the mods should be deleting it immediately, without question. This forum shouldn't be moderated by armchair commandos telling people what's "right" and "wrong". Posts should just dissappear.

 

[scottmcleod]

Oh, and so VentMedic doesn't get any more ammo, I'm going to include "all patient information that could be used to identify them should be changed before discussing, EVEN at the station."

 

[VentMedic]

You stated it very well in your lengthy post that education in the U.S. is very short and professionalism or professional ethics is rarely covered.

 

[medic417]

Anyone ever read the EMT Oath and Code of Ethics?

http://www.naemt.org/about_us/emtoath.aspx

Guess none of them have as they all seem to be ignoring it. Thanks for attempting to help the dignity of my profession.

 

[scottmcleod]

You stated it very well in your lengthy post that education in the U.S. is very short and professionalism or professional ethics is rarely covered.

Sorry, that last quip about ammo wasn't deserved, to you.

It's true. I'm in a program that's "Accelerated", and I've got 8 months of class, 1 month of clinical, and 3 months on the road.

We spent maybe... 2 days (10 hours) on the medical-legal, and of that, it was maybe... a few hours directly spent on ethics?

Too easily forgotten at the expense of getting something off your chest, or not enough time thought about what's to be said, before we quip off a joke.

(Thanks for the wake-up call, btw. I was probably a little closer to the "thin red line" then I'd have liked to admit to myself.)

... It still raises a lot of questions about EMTLife, and how public, it still really is.

 

[scottmcleod]

... and, apparently something I said got me banned from the chat room... LOVELY.

 

[PapaBear434]

Talking about Paramedicine (especially online) is an awkward situation. Even worse, in the US where there's a lot of EMT-B'S (No offense, I love you guys), who are up to operational status after a short class, young, don't necessarily know how to cope with the stresses of the career, and when they find a forum such as EMTLife, they use it to get stories off of their chest that would normally only come out between medics back at the station where it's safe to talk about it.

... that "lax" attitude then carries to talking at restaurants, parties, and at other places where it might not be so appropriate, and also, the CONTENT of what's talked about.

You know what's funny? I was the only basic there at the time. The rest of them were all Medics save one trainee.

It has nothing to do with experience, education, or age. Hell, the longer someone has been in, the more war stories they want to share. It's like that with almost ANY emergency field. Police, fire, military, EMS... Whatever the specialized field, people love to share their experiences with each other.

And sometimes, of course, people are morons and do it in places not appropriate because they get carried away. That was us this day. We were in there at 0530 in the morning we were the only ones in the restaurant let alone our section. Kept talking into and past breakfast, and then realized when Mr. Troop Leader complained that we had someone sitting next to us.

I didn't tell this story to glorify the activity. I didn't tell it as an example of what a proper EMT shouldn't do. And I certainly didn't do it as some grand moral parable, topped off about how I learned a valuable lesson and was a better person for it. I told the story because it was a funny story of a personal *#@& up related to the topic of freaking out co-workers and passersby.

Can we just forget all our soapbox posturing and just get back to the funny stories now?

 

[scottmcleod]

... all our soapbox posturing and just...

Is that where the patient holds one hand out with one finger pointed?

Now where is the checkbox for that on my patient report...

 

[PapaBear434]

Is that where the patient holds one hand out with one finger pointed?

Now where is the checkbox for that on my patient report...

No, it's more when a person exhibits a body position resembling a very large stick up their posterior.

 

[scottmcleod]

No, it's more when a person exhibits a body position resembling a very large stick up their posterior.

... so where exactly does that fit on my GCS scale?

 

[PapaBear434]

... so where exactly does that fit on my GCS scale?

Eyes - 4
Verbal - 20
Motor - 6

Get it? Because they'll never shut up and like to lecture. Eh? EH!?

 

[scottmcleod]

Eyes - 4
Verbal - 20
Motor - 6

Get it? Because they'll never shut up and like to lecture. Eh? EH!?

Priceless! Not sure if that last line made it funnier, or killed the joke

 

[ChargerGirl]

i had to pull out my scarf from my dogs butt at a four corner stop with people watching and gagging. poor baby ate my scarf and it came out whole. i had gloves dont worry hahah

 

[nyfd136]

I have to throw this into the mix...we used to go out to a local haunt after teaching. One night the manager came over to us and asked us to talk shop because he was having problems with some unruly kids sitting next to us. Apparently they wouldn't leave and were harrassing the waitstaff. So we just started off with our gross calls and then on to the pictures we used in classes. After about 3-4 minutes the group got up and left. The manager came over and said that we were really in rare form....even grossed
out some of the staff who were used to us.