Ambulance driver makes a pit stop at Subway

[medic417]

What if it was a paramedic driving?

Yes in dual Paramedic systems but then they really would be MICU drivers. Now if they are driving and have a basic partner then they should be called taxi driver as there is no real need for an ambulance.

 

[Aerin-Sol]

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.

Yes, I and most other people on the board know this, but I just didn't expect the general public to agree!

 

[Shishkabob]

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.

Ah, but call a trooper or a deputy a police officer or any variation thereof and they'll correct you... much the same way a medic will if you call them an EMT. Heck, call a Marine a soldier, and they'll correct you there too.

It's not wrong to want people to call you by your proper title, even if the average person cannot distinguish you from someone else in your related field right off the bat.



Calling a medic an EMT or an EMT a medic is just a mistake of levels, not that big of a deal. Calling someone an ambulance driver is a mistake of existence. I don't call a cashier a "button pushing money taker" or a janitor (or floor technician) a "mop mover" etc etc. You don't label the person by a single task that they do in their job.

 

[JPINFV]

Yes in dual Paramedic systems but then they really would be MICU drivers. Now if they are driving and have a basic partner then they should be called taxi driver as there is no real need for an ambulance.

MICUs are not ambulances?

Only acutely ill patients need an ambulance?

 

[JPINFV]

Ah, but call a trooper or a deputy a police officer or any variation thereof and they'll correct you... much the same way a medic will if you call them an EMT. Heck, call a Marine a soldier, and they'll correct you there too.

So troopers and deputies are no longer "law enforcement officers?" They're "law enforcement troopers" and "law enforcement deputies" now? Sure, there are some that are going to get uppity, just like there are the "ZOMG, I'm a PARAMEDIC not an EMT" or "ZOMG, I'm an EMT, not a PARAMEDIC" EMS providers out there, but I seriously have a hard time believing that the average high way patrol officer or sheriffs deputy cares what the average person calls them during limited interactions. There comes a time when arguing about titles becomes pretentious. What would you say if I insisted on being called a "student doctor" instead of a "medical student?" After all, "student doctor" is the proper title for what I'm currently am, even if I find it extremely pretentious.

It's not wrong to want people to call you by your proper title, even if the average person cannot distinguish you from someone else in your related field right off the bat.

It is wrong when you expect 100% accuracy in title in a field with multiple titles. I'd be more sympathetic if there was a single unified title, but there isn't and there's too much division and too much, "Mine, not yours, you can't have" in EMS in the USA for that to happen currently. I'm more sympathetic, for example, for providers in Canada where every provider in most provinces is a paramedic, be them a primary care paramedic, advanced care paramedic, or critical care paramedic. That's a harsh contrast to the US where you have EMT-1, EMT-2, EMT-3, Advanced EMT, EMT, EMT-B, paramedic, mobile intensive care paramedic, paramedic specialist, EMT-paramedic, licensed paramedic, EMT-Airway, and the list goes on, and on, and on.

Calling a medic an EMT or an EMT a medic is just a mistake of levels, not that big of a deal. Calling someone an ambulance driver is a mistake of existence. I don't call a cashier a "button pushing money taker" or a janitor (or floor technician) a "mop mover" etc etc. You don't label the person by a single task that they do in their job.

So fire department engineers need to be called something else then, because only a part of their job is being an engineer? Field training officers need a new name since field training is only one task? Additionally, when I'm describing a person doing a specific job as a part of a team, that job because a rather important title, especially when there's a vast difference in immediate priorities between the ambulance driver and the patient attendant, regardless of what their level of training and education is.

 

[CowboyMedic]

MICUs are not ambulances?

Only acutely ill patients need an ambulance?

I wish that was true.

I call med students Baby Docs. I think it suits them and smacks them off their high horse once in awhile especially when they walk in and ask me to give a report a second time cause they werent included in it.

Hell you refer to me as a paramedic fetus and I would just smile and nod my head at this point.

 

[Frozennoodle]

Just a fun fact: Where I work we have a lot of auxiliary personnel that work out the same building like mechanics, dispatchers, office staff, van drivers, etc. No matter the provider level, the rest of the company calls us all medics.

 

[JJR512]

I wish that was true.

I call med students Baby Docs. I think it suits them and smacks them off their high horse once in awhile especially when they walk in and ask me to give a report a second time cause they werent included in it.

Hell you refer to me as a paramedic fetus and I would just smile and nod my head at this point.

If I was a med student and you called me a "baby doc", I would tell you that I am not a doctor for babies.

Just remember...How you interact with med students now is going to have a direct effect on how they interact with EMTs and Paramedics for years after they become functioning doctors. Remember that.

 

[JPINFV]

If I was a med student and you called me a "baby doc", I would tell you that I am not a doctor for babies.

Just remember...How you interact with med students now is going to have a direct effect on how they interact with EMTs and Paramedics for years after they become functioning doctors. Remember that.

I think it's one of those things where context, non-verbal cues, and the attitudes involved make a huge difference. If someone, especially if it was someone I knew from EMS, jokingly called me a "baby doc," I'd probably laugh. I'm not in medical school for the title or social standing, just like I wasn't working as an EMT for the title or social standing, so it's not something I'm overly concerned. When it comes to comments like that, a response with a shrug is going to make more friends than a stern, "That's "student doctor" to you." Personally, you can call me a turd provided preceptors and staff answer my questions, assist me where I need it, an implement my cosigned orders. Real respect is provided by action, not a title.

 

[JJR512]

I think it's one of those things where context, non-verbal cues, and the attitudes involved make a huge difference. If someone, especially if it was someone I knew from EMS, jokingly called me a "baby doc," I'd probably laugh. I'm not in medical school for the title or social standing, just like I wasn't working as an EMT for the title or social standing, so it's not something I'm overly concerned. When it comes to comments like that, a response with a shrug is going to make more friends than a stern, "That's "student doctor" to you." Personally, you can call me a turd provided preceptors and staff answer my questions, assist me where I need it, an implement my cosigned orders. Real respect is provided by action, not a title.

That's true, it can depend on the context. I was interpreting it from the context of someone who is looking to "[smack] them off their high horse once in awhile", especially when he's frustrated at having to repeat himself to help a student learn something. All I'm saying is I tend to reward a smart-*** with some smart-assery of my own.

That bit aside, I stand by my final sentiment you quoted.

 

[Shishkabob]

I'm too tired to answer the rest so I'll do it later, BUT

So fire department engineers need to be called something else then, because only a part of their job is being an engineer? Field training officers need a new name since field training is only one task?

Engineer is an official title. FTO is an official title.

"Police car driver" is not.

 

[JJR512]

I'm too tired to answer the rest so I'll do it later, BUT



Engineer is an official title. FTO is an official title.

"Police car driver" is not.

What's an "official title"?

One state agency can give me a test and if I pass, they license me to provide emergency medical services. Another state agency can give me a different test, and if I pass that one, they license me to drive a vehicle. It sounds like "Driver" is just as official a title for me as "EMT".

 

[CowboyMedic]

If I was a med student and you called me a "baby doc", I would tell you that I am not a doctor for babies.

Just remember...How you interact with med students now is going to have a direct effect on how they interact with EMTs and Paramedics for years after they become functioning doctors. Remember that.

Suck the fun out of things by looking at them literally do you? Yes you do.:glare:

It is the context. FYI all the BABY DOCs around here wear baby blue scrubs hence baby doc. they are color coded! - policy so nobody reports to them or gives them patient care and walks off. Apparently it is also easier for their proctor to keep track of them. Like children on a field trip all wearing the same bright colored tshirt that says if found please call 555-5555.

And yeah I know Im a **** and I could scar them but Ive only been a **** to them once and thats cause I was standing in blood squeezing a bleeding brachial artery cause one of them had to take my tourniquet off to see what it does.

I'm too tired to answer the rest so I'll do it later, BUT

Engineer is an official title. FTO is an official title.

"Police car driver" is not.

I have an official Dallas Ambulance Drivers Permit. So I guess that makes me an official ambulance driver!

 

[JPINFV]

And yeah I know Im a **** and I could scar them but Ive only been a **** to them once and thats cause I was standing in blood squeezing a bleeding brachial artery cause one of them had to take my tourniquet off to see what it does.

On the bright side, at least I now know not to do that... sorry about the uniform shirt though.

I have an official Dallas Ambulance Drivers Permit. So I guess that makes me an official ambulance driver!

I used to hold the infamous California Ambulance Driver certificate.

 

[firemedic07]

just tell em Medic from now on lol

 

[EMT11KDL]

just read the story. i have mixed feeling on it. do i agree with the drivers choice. yes and no. i do understand why, and i know if i was in that spot i might have stopped also. but with that being said, i would have checked with the person in the back to make sure the patient was stable enough for the short delay in transport and that the patient was informed.

 

[slb862]

I am A "Professional Ambulance Driver"

 

[MrBrown]

Each ambulance here is crewed by two Ambulance Officers; thier patch might say Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic or Intensive Care Paramedic but they are still an Ambulance Officer.

The AO who makes the wheels on the ambulance go round and round is called gasp, the driver.

Brown thinks its high time we just called everybody some degree of "Paramedic" but alas, not going to happen.

You guys think you had it bad, in the late eighties here a volunteer Ambulance Officers offical title was "Honourary Assistant"

 

[b2dragun]

What's an ambulance driver?

I actually prefer the term taxi driver, more often then not it is appropriate. The only real difference is the taxi gets paid for the ride close to 100% of the time.

And before someone calls me out I am joking...kinda.

 

[firecoins]

Ahh.. but do we call lawyers "Courtroom talkers"?

yes my courtroom talker took a break to become a toilet paper wiper.

I am not an ambulance driver. I sit in the driver seat and if the ambulance goes out of control, I control it. I am an ambulance controller.