# Hate being called ambulance drivers!



## Izaya64 (Sep 17, 2011)

Am I the only one who absolutely hates being called an ambulance driver? I find that to be one of the best ways to make somebody in EMS really angry. What are everybody's thoughts on this?

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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

EMT =  Earn Money Transporting 

Why get mad, just enjoy getting paid to drive.


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## Sasha (Sep 17, 2011)

I only hate it cause im a non driver. A more accurate term would be ambulance report writer.


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## WolfmanHarris (Sep 17, 2011)

Thankfully it happens very infrequently where I work and I'm quick to politely correct it when it happens. If anything we get "EMS People" from well meaning family members who are trying to be correct. I expect that over the next two years we'll see even that decline as the service is doing a major rebranding. As we move into more community based care and expanding out from our core mission the service name is being changed to "___ ____ Paramedic Services." EMS will be phased out off of our vehicles and uniforms.

The City of Ottawa did this a few years ago and saw significant increase in media and public recognition of Paramedics.

Still while I think this is useful for PR and promoting and advancing the profession, I try not to take it personally when a member of the public calls me something other than Paramedic. I do get annoyed when I get it from Nurse's (usually at a nursing home).


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## bigdogems (Sep 17, 2011)

I only get annoyed if it is another medical person saying it. If its the general public I just chalk it up to them being uneducated and go about my day. I could care less about titles or what Im called. I know what I do. Thats all that matters.


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## Gray (Sep 17, 2011)

Just try to let it roll off your back. Just realize the person is either inconsiderate or trying to get a reaction from you. Kill her/him with kindness and they will stop.


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## medic417 (Sep 17, 2011)

Sasha said:


> I only hate it cause im a non driver. A more accurate term would be ambulance report writer.



EMTP = Earn Money Taking Pulses

EMTP = Even More Terrible Paperwork


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## Mohrenberg (Sep 17, 2011)

One of my co-workers always replies, "We can't all drive the ambulance."


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## Katy (Sep 17, 2011)

Usually the general public are uneducated in the proper names and levels of EMT's, so generally people find it hard to be angry when they know no better, which is sad that they don't, so educating them in the proper terms would be a good idea.
Now when you have other healthcare providers, usually that leads to those who are ignorant in the profession or don't care to get it right, either is sad also.


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## WolfmanHarris (Sep 17, 2011)

Can we blame them though, we can't even agree on acceptable nomenclature amongst ourselves.

What shall we call our service?
EMS? Ambulance service? Paramedic services? Fire-Rescue? 

What shall we call our transport vehicles?
Ambulance? Medic Unit? Rescue? Rescue Ambulance? 

What do we call our staff?
EMT? Paramedic? 

To the public:
Fire Departments, staff fire fighters, in fire trucks.
Police Departments, staff police officers, in police cars.
EMS Services, staff EMT's or Paramedics, in Ambulances.


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## JPINFV (Sep 17, 2011)

I'd rather be called an ambulance driver than fire fighter.


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## Meursault (Sep 17, 2011)

A lot of floor staff announce our arrival to one another and the patient by saying "The ambulance is here". I'm always tempted to say that we left it outside, as it was too small for the elevator, but that seems too needlessly snide and nit-picky even for me.

 It's evidence for my suspicion that I'm really just a piece of equipment put on the ambulance because the state requires it, though. Once Joerns/Hoyer and the DARPA Urban Challenge teams manage to produce an ambulance that can load and drive itself, we'll all be out of a job.


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## Izaya64 (Sep 17, 2011)

Haha I agree once they make that were back to minimum wage

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## Scott33 (Sep 17, 2011)

I was called an ambulance driver by a doctor's hand maiden...I mean nurse, the other day. -_-


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## firecoins (Sep 17, 2011)

It's not a big deal. 


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.754488,-73.898366


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## WolfmanHarris (Sep 17, 2011)

I have noticed a fairly clear link in my area between areas of health care we liase with regularly and have built professional, collaborative relationships with and how they refer to us. No one in the cath lab or CCU ever calls us anything but Paramedics, same with the ED, but we work closely with these areas with our regular patient load and a extremely successful STEMI and STREAM trial programs. In other words, the more we build a professional relationship and earn the respect of our colleagues in different disciplines the more these petty issues will fade away. But the onus is on us to build this trust and mutual respect.


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## epipusher (Sep 17, 2011)

They can call me whatever they want as long as I'm not referred to as a firefighter.


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## Anjel (Sep 17, 2011)

I really dont care.


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## Hunter (Sep 17, 2011)

MrConspiracy said:


> A lot of floor staff announce our arrival to one another and the patient by saying "The ambulance is here". I'm always tempted to say that we left it outside, as it was too small for the elevator,



Lol!!!! Next time I see a nurse I don't like and they say that I'm gonna use this.


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## d0nk3yk0n9 (Sep 17, 2011)

WolfmanHarris said:


> To the public:
> Fire Departments, staff fire fighters, in fire trucks.
> Police Departments, staff police officers, in police cars.
> EMS Services, staff EMT's or Paramedics, in Ambulances.



Unless you happen to be in a flycar...


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## DrParasite (Sep 17, 2011)

I've been called worse....


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## firecoins (Sep 17, 2011)

As long as they don't call me a nurse.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.708076,-73.948212


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## usafmedic45 (Sep 17, 2011)

> What are everybody's thoughts on this?



Once you develop thick skin, it no longer bothers you.  A spine, thick skin, strong back and firmly descended testicles (or the feminine metaphorical equivalent) are major predictors of long term success in EMS.


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## dstevens58 (Sep 17, 2011)

After two years in EMS; followed by 13 years in varying forms of military medicine; followed by 20.5 years in law enforcement, and back to EMS again.......I've been called worse.:blush:


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## Epi-do (Sep 17, 2011)

Eh...I don't really care.  Like someone else already stated, I know what I can do, and that is all that really matters.  I actually get called a firefighter more often than an ambulance driver, but we are a part of the FD.  People make comments about the "female firefighter" quite often, and it is easier to just smile and go about my job than to try to explain to them how the whole civilian EMS thing works.


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## medic417 (Sep 18, 2011)

I've been called Doctor, driver, nurse, and worse.  I don't care just pay me and don't call me late for supper.


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## Sasha (Sep 18, 2011)

d0nk3yk0n9 said:


> Unless you happen to be in a flycar...



Then you are a fly. Because youre in a fly car. duuuuh.


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## Aerin-Sol (Sep 18, 2011)

Random person calling me an ambulance driver? I don't care.


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## ArcticKat (Sep 18, 2011)

Izaya64 said:


> Am I the only one who absolutely hates being called an ambulance driver? I find that to be one of the best ways to make somebody in EMS really angry. What are everybody's thoughts on this?



But we are ambulance drivers, it's part of what we do.  just like police car drivers and fire truck drivers.


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## MedicJon88 (Sep 19, 2011)

Izaya64 said:


> Haha I agree once they make that were back to minimum wage
> 
> Sent from my SPH-M910 using Tapatalk



Back?


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## MedicJon88 (Sep 19, 2011)

ArcticKat said:


> But we are ambulance drivers, it's part of what we do.  just like police car drivers and fire truck drivers.




Emphasis on "Part" of what we do. It maybe be the proper title back in the olden days... where it required no training except gurney and driving. As my old trainer would like to say "a Monkey can operate the ambulance- judgment calls are what make this job tricky."

I've been called "transportation code2" by a fire captain over the radio... we really hated that especially because he wasn't a paramedic fire captain- he was an EMT like us. (notice I didn't say just an EMT?)


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## JPINFV (Sep 19, 2011)

AchilliesOmega3 said:


> Emphasis on "Part" of what we do. It maybe be the proper title back in the olden days... where it required no training except gurney and driving. As my old trainer would like to say "a Monkey can operate the ambulance- judgment calls are what make this job tricky."




...but in LACo, most judgement calls at the paramedic level must be ran through medical control.


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## Hunter (Sep 22, 2011)

Of it's a random person I just say, yes I work on the ambulance, that keeps me from being just a driver and sometimes keeps me from having to explain that there's different levels off providers and all that to a civilian who most likely will never need the information in that much details.

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