Is lifting a necessary job for volunteers?

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FutureParamedic12

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So, I'm volunteering as an EMT for a 911 service for clinical exposure. The company I'm volunteering for always has 2 paid-employees and usually one or two volunteers per truck. They had me doing a hefty amount of patient loading, which I should have probably refused due to previous medical issues. I can easily do patient to stretcher lifts and stretcher to hospital bed lifts, but I have trouble lifting patients into the ambulance by myself. My goal is to become a pediatrician (which requires virtually no lifting) and am volunteering to help me gain clinical skills. I'm a very good EMT medically, and I'm very knowledgeable and confident around patients, but I am afraid to speak of my condition to the EMS crew. What should I do?
 
if you are going to be an EMT, you will need to do lifting.

if you are worried about a preexisting condition, talk to upper management, and make them aware of it. if they will work with you, great!!! if not, you will need to gain your experience another way.
 
When you signed up to be a volunteer, did it have a description of your duties? You should find out your role there as an EMT volunteer.

You could also ask for help loading the patient into the ambulance. Have two people at the feet for lifting purposes and one on the side to lift the undercarriage (if it's not electronic).

Are you FutureParamedic or FuturePediatrician? Were you expecting not to do any lifting or limited lifting in EMS?
 
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Sorry about the username, it's from high school. I'm premedicine in college now. I don't think it will be extreme to ask them to take over lifting seeing I was completely prohibited as a student and it still worked out well. There are a minimum of 3 EMT/Paramedics when I ride. I don't think it's too much to ask for seeing the two paramedics would have been working alone if I didn't volunteer for that shift.
 
It might have just been the paramedic I rode with as well. I have some friends that volunteer and have never had to perform lifts. The paramedic wanted to essentially make me a part of his crew; he said that many medics would just let me sit and only jump in when I wanted to but he wasn't going to let me do that.
 
Are you "employed" as a volunteer? If you are then that means you're covered under their insurance. If they go to those lengths they more likely than not expect you to preform as any other crewmember on the shift.

With that said we don't allow third rides to lift or carry anything where I work, by company policy. We also don't have random volunteers on our units either.

Aprz pretty much gave you the answer. Look in your job description, it should be well outlined in there.

Personally I think you should have to lift like anyone else. Why do you get to only do the "fun" stuff while we do the heavy lifting? Not trying to be a **** but that's my point of view.
 
Well, you are getting a paycheck, I'm not. I feel like I'm still helping out the crew substantially by volunteering, seeing the only thing I cannot do is load a patient into the back. I understand your point though, if I did not have a metabolic condition that would place me into the hospital for days on a day of heavy lifting, I should be expected to lift just like any other crew member. But I also believe that I should still be able to volunteer, and I personally think if I tell the paramedics about my medical condition they would take necessary precautions without question. The paramedic started noticing about half-way throughout the shift that it was becoming a struggle, so he took over.

Maybe this accommodation couldn't be made if it weren't many capable medics on the truck, but come on, if there are three or four medics on the truck...like you said, your company does not even allow the third EMT to do any lifting. It's completely possible.

By the way, I'm not only doing the 'fun' stuff. I restock, clean the truck, assist in paperwork, etc.. There are a lot more 'un-fun' things to EMS than loading a patient into the back of an ambulance.
 
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Don't take this the wrong way but if you're going to be on the truck you'll need to be 100% capable. I'm not a big fan of 3 person crews. Personally, I just think it's too may people. One of the biggest advantages of a third person would be lifting, which you cannot do. Having a good "medical EMT" as a third does nothing for the medic. You can't work the patient or do the paperwork.
 
DrParasite said:
if you are going to be an EMT, you will need to do lifting.

if you are worried about a preexisting condition, talk to upper management, and make them aware of it. if they will work with you, great!!! if not, you will need to gain your experience another way.
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This is what you need to do. Talk to a supervisory figure and outline what your goals are. Perhaps they'll be willing to work with you, but a big part of EMS is moving patients around. I also would be wary about the whole "they're getting a paycheck, I'm not" thing. Play that card and do not expect to be treated as anything close to equal from there on out. Once you're on the ambulance, everyone is doing the same job.
 
What if I volunteer at public events (like triathalons), or would it be possible to volunteer in a hospital?
 
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I don't personally think it will be a problem, just because I know many volunteers that do absolutely no lifting. In all honesty, it was probably just that paramedic.

Honestly speaking, if I would have acted like an "insecure" EMT rather than approaching everything with confidence, I probably would not have been allowed to do any lifting to begin with. And again, I can do most lifting, just not loading into the ambulance.
 
I like running a two man crew with a student. If you can't lift, oh well. Just don't get yourself in a position where you are minimum staffing.
 
FutureParamedic12 said:
I don't personally think it will be a problem, just because I know many volunteers that do absolutely no lifting. In all honesty, it was probably just that paramedic.

Honestly speaking, if I would have acted like an "insecure" EMT rather than approaching everything with confidence, I probably would not have been allowed to do any lifting to begin with. And again, I can do most lifting, just not loading into the ambulance.
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Just for what it's worth, but the lift into the ambulance is the most stable and often lightest that happens in EMS. You don't have to support all of the patient's weight since the head of the stretcher is supported by the ambulance and you are lifting in a single direction using your body's most powerful muscles. This compared to say a sheet draw, where it's difficult to lift your legs. Just food for thought, but if it's what you aren't comfortable with, definitely make someone aware of that.

Also special event coverage might be a good avenue for you to explore if the agency your with now does not work out, but I doubt that will happen anyway.
 
Maybe I am on my own deserted island, but 2 person lifts! Paid or volunteer, 2 person lifts make your career last longer... You have enough people...
 
Volly on the truck at the BLS level or a firefighter at the BLS level? What else are you expecting to do on a call other than the physical labor?

If you have a medical condition that precludes you from lifting at all and puts your health at risk, let them know. If you'd just prefer not to lift, meh.



I'll admit it... I'd much rather have someone else do the lifting than me, and have no problem at all with that. I do what I can to minimize the risk to my back and my career. I'll do my part, but I'm not going to push someone else away from the stretcher to lift.
 
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If something easy like lifting a stretcher into a truck is a health hazard, you need to reconsider your career field. I wouldn't want you on my truck with that attitude.
 
Rocketmedic40 said:
If something easy like lifting a stretcher into a truck is a health hazard, you need to reconsider your career field. I wouldn't want you on my truck with that attitude.
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I understand this position.

I stand by what I said, and would welcome you on my truck, but don't delude yourself into thinking you are a key, pivotal member of the team. You will add awkwardness into things: who lifts the stretcher, backboard or monitor? The one standing right by it. If you have to move and get out of the one who is doing the work, you are in the way of the work being done.

Did you know pediatricians see people until they are 21 years old? Did you know that 10 year olds approach 100 lbs nowadays? Even my fit, healthy, thin 9 yo weighs 90 pounds. She technically has 13 years left of seeing a ped if she wants.

Think about your choices, and know that if you find a truck you're welcome on, they are helping you more than you are helping them if you go into it with this inability to lift.
 
Are you serious or joking? When has a primary care pediatrician ever had to lift a patient? I know MANY physicians who have my same metabolic condition and work fine at their job. I find it funny that some of you would find me useless for not be able to load a stretcher into an ambulance by myself. It makes no sense. My service allows people to do 'observation' shifts where they sit by and just watch...talk about useless. Not every single call is ALS, half of my calls on my last shift were BLS. That means even if you are a paramedic, your scope of practice will not exceed mine during that call. Remember this is EMS, and it's not like the movies. I contacted the supervisor, and she was perfectly okay with it (by the way).

Thanks for the helpful comments from some of you. Others were just unhelpful, rude, and false.
 
abckidsmom said:
You will add awkwardness into things: who lifts the stretcher, backboard or monitor? The one standing right by it.
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...and this here is the problem with someone who is a member of the team but on seemingly permanent light duty. Personally, I've never kept score on who's time it is to lift. You find yourself at the foot of the gurney, you're loading or unloading it.
 
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