Blogging about EMS

[abckidsmom]

I'm considering starting a blog, which would be about family and general stuff, but also EMS.

Is there a "good" way to talk about work in an anonymous way? People who read the blog would know who I am, and where I work, and possibly even the calls I've been on. (Small town, woohoo.)

Could I let time go by and talk about work well after it was current events, letting partners and patients go unidentified? Is this even possible if I am recognizable and work in a small town? Is it respectful of patients and partners?

 

[Sasha]

Hotel and I are starting a joint blog.

 

[abckidsmom]

Hotel and I are starting a joint blog.

So how do you guys plan to address confidentiality issues? And where's my link?

 

[Sasha]

We dont disclose personal information and all the patients will be bob or bobette. Ill link once we get it up and running

 

[STXmedic]

We dont disclose personal information and all the patients will be bob or bobette. Ill link once we get it up and running

What about when you actually make Bobette? Definitely post the link when y'all get them up and running!!

 

[Epi-do]

On alot of the EMS blogs/books I have read, the writer typically refers to the service with some sort of bogus name. If I remember correctly, Kelly Grayson refers to his service as the Borg. I have read other things where the service is referred to as Big City Ambulance, Little City Ambulance, Country Ambulance, etc.

Yes, friends/family that opt to read your blog will be familiar with a lot of what you write. Just make sure you don't include any personally identifying info when writing about runs and you should be ok.

Take the time to read some of the better blogs out there, and see how they handle this sort of thing. Then it is about developing your own writing style, and finding something to say that others are interested in.

Good luck!

 

[JPINFV]

On alot of the EMS blogs/books I have read, the writer typically refers to the service with some sort of bogus name. If I remember correctly, Kelly Grayson refers to his service as the Borg.

I think it's more tongue in cheek because it's fairly easy to figure out which company he works for, especially given what state he lives in.

 

[Epi-do]

I am sure it is, in part, JP. However, by never actually mentioning the service's name, it at least gives the appearance of attempting to create some sort of anonymity.

 

[NomadicMedic]

I blogged about EMS and my journey to becoming a medic for a few years. I changed all of the patient info and referred to my employers with bogus names. Some people I worked with know about the blog... I was careful to keep it somewhat vague.

New blog in the works, by the way.

 

[mycrofft]

I blogged for six years and included my EMS stuff on occasion.

Words of advice:
1. Write your blog in WORD or some such, then edit it, then post it. Some blogging sites do not let you edit. Also, save a copy; if the site crashes, sometimes you can lose material you wish you hadn't. I lost nearly two years' worth that way.
2. Broaden your blog. Trust me, you will run out of stories unless you ventilate to the world about much more than what you did today.
3. To reneg on point one /last part, often you will look back and wonder why you bothered to blog that. On the other hand, you can scroll back and be amused at how your perspectives have changed. And how you unconsciously repeat stuff.
4. Consider why you want to blog in the first place. Who is your "Ideal Reader"? Are you trying to make money? What sort of feedback are you expecting?

I suggested EMTLIFE consider a blog annex. I think a targeted website would be better than a universal one, esp[ecially in regards to comments and reactions.

Good luck

 

[bigbaldguy]

You could write it saprano style.

So the other day I was doing some work you know and dis ting happened to dis guy you know so I go to dis guy and do dis stuff and then after I do this stuff for a while this udder thing happens and I'm like fuggit about it and we called it.

 

[mycrofft]

Oddly, I never blogged about EMTLIFE.

Go figure:unsure:

 

[Ambulance_Driver]

Blogging Tips 101

1. Find your niche. You might be a ranter, or a humorist, or an educator, or an inspirational blogger, or some combination of all of the above. But ultimately, find your own voice. Don't try to sound like somebody else, because Somebody Else already does it better than you do.

2. Anonymize, anonymize, anonymize. Use pseudonyms for everything, and vigorously sanitize your posts before you publish them. Heck, in my book, I even swapped partners around.

3. Avoid the urge to post about a call immediately after it happens. Let it simmer for a week or two. It makes for a better story, and it's easier to anonymize.

4. Alter pertinent details that can identify your patients. It might be tempting to post about the society debutante you brought to the ED tied up with the family Rottweiler immediately after it happens, but if you wait a week, you can change it to a redneck guy in a trailer park with a Chihuahua up his ***, and it'll still be just as entertaining.

5. Think before you post, especially if it is about a co-worker. If what you're going to say on the blog would earn you a shot in the teeth if you said it to your subject's face, you're better off not saying it.

I broke that rule myself not long ago, when a monosynaptic dullard I've known for 16 years recognized himself as the anonymous monosynaptic dullard in a blog post.

Of course, being a monosynaptic dullard, he sought to rectify the situation by threatening to beat my ***.

I took the post down and apologized, only because I felt ashamed for having broken my own rule of conduct. I did accept his invitation to rumble, however, but it seems he suddenly had more pressing engagements.

6. There is NO such thing as anonymity on the internet. You CAN be exposed, and if someone wants to bad enough, you WILL be exposed. As such, never write anything you're not willing to own under your real name.

 

[BEorP]

Could I let time go by and talk about work well after it was current events, letting partners and patients go unidentified? Is this even possible if I am recognizable and work in a small town? Is it respectful of patients and partners?

It will be very difficult to talk about work if there is any way to link you to your posts. I would suggest that if you want to be able to blog about work relatively openly (still de-identifying all patient information, of course), you will need to blog completely anonymously (i.e. not identifying who you are or where you are in any posts).

If you work in a small town and your blog in any way identifies you as such then it will be much more difficult to satisfactorily de-identify patient information. Remember that making a patient unidentifiable may involve much more than changing their name, especially if a call you attended has made the news or just everyone in town knows. I would suggest that aside from changing some facts of the calls, you may also need to wait longer at times after it occurs so it cannot be identified as being quite similar to something that made the news. It certainly will be challenging to do effectively.

 

[mycrofft]

Here is an author who wrote a book in the vein you speak of:

http://www.amazon.com/Population-Meeting-Your-Neighbors-Siren/dp/0060198524

This was his first nationally marketed book, largely about returning home to his (declining) rural roots, and his role as a volunteer firefighter EMT.

You might even drop him an Email.

 

[sirengirl]

not sure if you were aware, but I keep a blog of my weekly volunteer shifts on my squad. if you want you can check it out here. I established early on that I never give out names or genders of my patients, and a gender would only ever be identified by me if it was pertinent to the call (and as all my patients are geriatric, it hasn't happened yet). I call my patients by the number I recieve them- "1 did this" or "4 fell down and couldn't get up on their own." Some of my squad members are identified by name (either because they said it was okay or because there are more than one person at the squad with that name) and there's a picture on there of 3 of us together, and I posted that because they were okay with it.

Now that I'm going to be starting Medic next month my blogs will be short and more frequent, about what I learn in school and likely moaning on about how I miss being on an ambulance.

Really as long as you maintain anonymity for your patients, I encourage you to. I enjoy being able to talk with friends and coworkers about what I do after they read my blog- a lot of them are legitimately intereted. I don't live in as small of a town as you seem to, so you might want to wait a few weeks and shuffle the order of the calls and days around. Other than that, I can't wait for your link!

 

[SeanEddy]

In my blog I don't worry so much about being identified, because like Ambo Driver said, it's not hard to figure out who you are.

Just remember, if the patient that you transported could read your blog post and easily identify it as their call, then you could get in some trouble. Changing identifying things like the patient's age, sex, ethnic background, etc helps a bunch.

 

[abckidsmom]

1. Find your niche. You might be a ranter, or a humorist, or an educator, or an inspirational blogger, or some combination of all of the above. But ultimately, find your own voice. Don't try to sound like somebody else, because Somebody Else already does it better than you do.

2. Anonymize, anonymize, anonymize. Use pseudonyms for everything, and vigorously sanitize your posts before you publish them. Heck, in my book, I even swapped partners around.

3. Avoid the urge to post about a call immediately after it happens. Let it simmer for a week or two. It makes for a better story, and it's easier to anonymize.

4. Alter pertinent details that can identify your patients. It might be tempting to post about the society debutante you brought to the ED tied up with the family Rottweiler immediately after it happens, but if you wait a week, you can change it to a redneck guy in a trailer park with a Chihuahua up his ***, and it'll still be just as entertaining.

5. Think before you post, especially if it is about a co-worker. If what you're going to say on the blog would earn you a shot in the teeth if you said it to your subject's face, you're better off not saying it.

I broke that rule myself not long ago, when a monosynaptic dullard I've known for 16 years recognized himself as the anonymous monosynaptic dullard in a blog post.

Of course, being a monosynaptic dullard, he sought to rectify the situation by threatening to beat my ***.

I took the post down and apologized, only because I felt ashamed for having broken my own rule of conduct. I did accept his invitation to rumble, however, but it seems he suddenly had more pressing engagements.

6. There is NO such thing as anonymity on the internet. You CAN be exposed, and if someone wants to bad enough, you WILL be exposed. As such, never write anything you're not willing to own under your real name.

This was extremely helpful, and after simmering on it for a couple of days, has helped me find a little direction.

I really appreciate you taking the time to post a list for me.