Ambulance driver makes a pit stop at Subway

JPINFV

JPINFV

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I'll give a pass for the reason, but not a pass for either failing to document the pit stop nor informing the patient the reason for it.
 
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EMSLaw

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JPINFV said:
I'll give a pass for the reason, but not a pass for either failing to document the pit stop nor informing the patient the reason for it.
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The article doesn't say that it wasn't documented, though obviously they didn't inform the patient. Fortunately, the brief stop didn't have any negative effect on the patient, which makes this all merely a very silly story.

Now, if they had stopped at the liquor store, I would have been more concerned. :)
 
WTEngel

WTEngel

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One of our pilots had such a bad case of diarrhea once that we diverted to the closest airport and had to cancel the flight.

It is unfortunate, and thankfully doesn't happen that often, but we are human, right? Also, the thing with these GI issues is a lot of times they just come out of the blue and the situation becomes pretty urgent pretty quickly.

Now, had we had an unstable patient with threat to life or limb, the pilot may have chosen not to land and to soil the seat and the aircraft, but that wasn't the case thankfully. You also have to consider that a person having uncontrolled diarrhea in the ambulance is an infection control issue also.

Anyway, I am preaching to the choir here I am sure, it is just frustrating to see these types of stories told with no perspective from the provider's side. I feel bad for the provider because it is an embarrassing situation, I feel bad for the family because it happened during their "emergency", but mostly am thankful that the patient is ok.

Lastly...kudos to the ambulance company for looking at the situation objectively and coming out in support of the provider. In a day where knee jerk reactions to public opinion are so common, it is nice to see management explain to the public in a responsible way what really happened.
 
medic417

medic417

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JJR512

JJR512

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JPINFV

JPINFV

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JJR512 said:
An "ambulance driver" is a person who drives an ambulance.

Pretty self-explanatory, really.
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This. The ambulance driver is the person who, in the US, sits in the front left side of the ambulance and moves a wheel and pushes pedals to control, or in other words drive, the ambulance. EMS providers really need to grow a thicker skin, especially when the term "ambulance driver" is used appropriately and not just as a generic term for "those people who come on an ambulance because EMS providers are too lazy and disinterested to give the public one common name to use to describe themselves without them crying like little babies."
 
Shishkabob

Shishkabob

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JPINFV said:
This. The ambulance driver is the person who, in the US, sits in the front left side of the ambulance and moves a wheel and pushes pedals to control, or in other words drive, the ambulance. EMS providers really need to grow a thicker skin, especially when the term "ambulance driver" is used appropriately and not just as a generic term for "those people who come on an ambulance because EMS providers are too lazy and disinterested to give the public one common name to use to describe themselves without them crying like little babies."
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Meh... I tend to disagree.


How many different kinds of police officer are there? And yet, does Joe Public go around calling them "Police-car drivers"?
 
JJR512

JJR512

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JPINFV said:
This. The ambulance driver is the person who, in the US, sits in the front left side of the ambulance and moves a wheel and pushes pedals to control, or in other words drive, the ambulance. EMS providers really need to grow a thicker skin, especially when the term "ambulance driver" is used appropriately and not just as a generic term for "those people who come on an ambulance because EMS providers are too lazy and disinterested to give the public one common name to use to describe themselves without them crying like little babies."
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Exactly, and as Linuss pointed out, police cars and fire trucks (using the term generically to include all fire apparatus) have drivers, too. I mean, these vehicles don't just drive themselves. :D

To put it another way: When a person is driving a vehicle, that person is a driver.

When a lawyer drives his car to work, he's a car driver, not an Attorney Transportation Vehicle Operator.
 
JPINFV

JPINFV

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Linuss said:
Meh... I tend to disagree.


How many different kinds of police officer are there? And yet, does Joe Public go around calling them "Police-car drivers"?
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The fire department calls them engineers, vehicle operators, or (gasp) chauffeur. Would you feel better if the driver was called an "ambulance chauffeur?"

Police officers often work alone, and when they are working a dual car share the same general responsibilities. It isn't like one police officer rides in the back with the suspect when driving back to the station.

Similarly, a fire fighter isn't going to chafe at being called a fire fighter regardless of if the fire fighter is a fire fighter or an officer. The fire chief is still a fire fighter.

A police officer isn't going to chafe at being called a police officer regardless of whether the officer is just an officer, is a detective, or some other rank. The chief of police is a police officer.

However, call an EMT a "paramedic" and people get mad. Call a paramedic an "EMT" and people get mad. Call them "EMS providers" or "first responders" and people get mad. I find it unreasonable to think that the public should be aware and be able to instantly recognize every single level of EMS provider.
 
JPINFV

JPINFV

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JJR512 said:
When a lawyer drives his car to work, he's a car driver, not an Attorney Transportation Vehicle Operator.
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The lawyer's job doesn't involve driving past getting themselves from place to place. If they drive or take public transit, it doesn't matter. Driving an emergency vehicle is an important part of a prehospital provider's job description.



You know, I wonder if boat captains get mad when people think they drive boats, even though on large boats the captain normally doesn't control the wheel.
 
JJR512

JJR512

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Linuss said:
Ahh.. but do we call lawyers "Courtroom talkers"?
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Not all lawyers talk in court.

Not all EMTs and Paramedics drives ambulances. Those that do can be called "ambulance drivers" when that is the function they are providing. It is something that is easily understood. When I worked for a critical care transportation service, my title was "Emergency Vehicle Operator". When I introduced myself to a patient, I introduced myself as the driver. That's something anyone can understand. What does "EVO" or "Emergency Vehicle Operator" mean to someone outside of the EMS world? Lots of people are intelligent enough to grasp the concept without further explanation, but many aren't. Some people would think that with a title like that, why am I up in their hospital room with the paramedic and nurse that I brought; shouldn't I be outside, operating on my emergency vehicle? Or performing emergency operations on my vehicle?

By the way...I also prefer the terms "secretary" and "steward/stewardess", too.
 
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Aerin-Sol

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It is relevant to the story that the person who went to the restroom was the ambulance driver. It makes it immediately clear that it was not the person providing patient care.

It's interesting that most of the comments to the story are on the side of the crew, not the patient. I was not expecting that.
 
JJR512

JJR512

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Aerin-Sol said:
It's interesting that most of the comments to the story are on the side of the crew, not the patient. I was not expecting that.
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It seems that the patient's condition wasn't serious, since he wasn't intubated. On the other hand, if the ambulance driver had shat his pants and continued driving, the odor may have made breathing worse for the patient.
 
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