In response to your PM, mycrofft:
After I left Ambulance in 2006 I was still working winters as an EMT Supervisor at the Local Snow Park. But once spring started to come around, I had to find something else since the snow was melting fast. I saw an add for a privately run correctional facility in the next county. I won't mention the company, becaseu they have 5 facilities located across the west and have a great philosophy by which they operate (it's just teh reality of applying it that sucks). The facility is classified as (I believe) Level 4 Group Home. Basicly, the school-type facility is located in teh middle of the foothills, miles away fro anything. They house 100+ children ages 13-18 who were convicted of peer-preasure related crimes. The entire program is built around positive peer guidence. If everyone gets punished when just one kid messes up, the presure from teh other kids who are missing out on privileges step in an pressure (not violently) that one kid to get back in line. The facility offered vocational training in addition to standard schooling and athletics. That is the gist of the program, the details of it took 3 days of in service training to get a handle on. The program was greet, but from a medical perspective, there was a lot of turnover...
Staff worked 4 on / 3 off / 3 on / 4 off/ etc... We were required to remain on site the entire time we were on, especially medical. Normal staffing was suppoed to be 2 EMT's or Medical Assistants on duty 16 hours a day (8 hours sleeping on call), but with the high turnover, I spent the entire summer by myself. We were the primary care providers for all the students and the staff. If a child was not feeling well one morning, it was on us. If a kid was playing football and took a bad hit, that was us. 30 minutes of PE was required in the AM and every kid had to be on a team sport at least once a year (Football, baseball, weights, soccar, basketball), so the majority of our stuff was sports related. We were also responsible for the staff and any of there injuries or illnesses, including one cardiac arrest.
My problem was the kids. They knew the system and how to work it; i.e.e how to manipulate us. If a kid came up and said I am felling light headed from teh morning 3 miles run what do you do? I could blow the kid of becasue he is probably faking, but then you get the shole child endangerment thing. So I had no choice but to put him on light workout for the next 3-4 days until the Doctor came arouond to examine anyone with a complaint. By the time the doctor came arouond (twice a week) the list for kids on restricted activity so that they could see him was 15-20 kids deep. I felt like a nursemaid for this criminals. And thanks to California's ultra liveral laws these kid were allowed to pull my strings. I never felt like I was doning anything importants, so after the summer (and a really bad week) I wrote a letter to corporate saying thattheire system had some serious flaws that weren't helping thes kids to get on the right track and I QUIT! I went back to The Snow Park soon after and focused on SAR when not there.
On a side note, the medical staff took another hit 2 months latter when the Medical Director (EMT w/ Fire and Ambulance training) was foud guilty of videotaping female medics and other female staff in the shower rooms. Glad I wasn't there for that!
I know that I bumped an old thread, but I didn;t see teh need to create a new one when littel response is needed. I just posted theis becaseu I was asked to.
