Deal breakers at work

n7lxi said:
Yep, the minute I see or smell that dip, you're spitting it out. If I see it again, it's a really bad day for you. Think written discipline. The kind that prevents promotion or merit raises. If I see it again after that, it becomes a bigger issue and suspension or termination will be the outcome.

Dipping is tne thing I can not stand, a habit that has no place in my station, truck or anywhere near my patients. If you worked here and you had a problem with it, I'm pretty sure rereading the "no tobacco/zero tolerance" policy would make it crystal clear that I'm right and you're wrong.

Sorry.
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I agree with you and I HATE tobacco use with a passion. That said, what is the point of running to a supervisor about it? Yes you have a policy (i've worked in places like that) but it doesn't accomplish anything. You piss off your partner, you piss off the supervisor, you piss off HR, etc. See where I am going with this?

I don't condone violating policies, but just because it is a policy doesn't mean you need to run to a supervisor. When I was a cop my job was to enforce the law. Technically driving 1 mph over the speed limit is speeding (we even had a fine amount in our bail schedule for that). If I am writing tickets for 1mph what am I accomplishing? Am I increasing safety? Am I educating the public? No to both. In reality I am probably making the citizens angry.

If a partner chews, does that make them a bad partner or provider? Sometimes making a mountain out of a mole hill can bite you in the arse. Unless his actions affect patient care, deal with it amongst yourselves. No reason to involve a supervisor.

My "deal breaker" is partners that think they are perfect and run to the supervisor for EVERYTHING. I am an adult, treat me like one. If I screw up (and I will) lets discuss it so that I can learn from it. Don't belittle me because I know you have made mistakes too. Don't tattle on me when we can act like adults and work it out.
 
Touching my paperwork (which in this day and age means touching the laptop). I had one partner grab the tablet out of my hand to add a "facility delay" while I was in the middle of copying the pt's history. I had already put the delay in.

Smoking to the point that you stink up the whole cab. If you want to give yourself lung cancer, that's fine (provided I'm away from you while you're doing it), but I really don't feel like smelling it the rest of the shift.
 
Sloppy dressing.
Shirts untucked, or just EMS t-shirts, wrinkled clothes, sweat stains (not just wet stains... I'm talking crusty salt rings in the armpits) boots not laced/tied/zipped, hair all frizzed out...

I take pride in my appearance...if I were a PT, I would not think too highly of the EMS personell who respond looking like they just crawled out from under a bridge somewhere.

Also...cooking some nasty smelling crap in the quarters. I like garlic, but I don't want to smell like it all day long.
 
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Smoking. I even tell the patient to put it out when I get on scene and refuse to do anything until they do... why should my partner be any different? Not only is the smoke a hazard to my health that I don't want, but it's noxious and makes me feel sick. I can't work with that smell, therefor it's out. If that means I take the lit cigarette right out of a patients mouth, I will.
 
leoemt said:
I agree with you and I HATE tobacco use with a passion. That said, what is the point of running to a supervisor about it? Yes you have a policy (i've worked in places like that) but it doesn't accomplish anything. You piss off your partner, you piss off the supervisor, you piss off HR, etc. See where I am going with this?

I don't condone violating policies, but just because it is a policy doesn't mean you need to run to a supervisor. When I was a cop my job was to enforce the law. Technically driving 1 mph over the speed limit is speeding (we even had a fine amount in our bail schedule for that). If I am writing tickets for 1mph what am I accomplishing? Am I increasing safety? Am I educating the public? No to both. In reality I am probably making the citizens angry.

If a partner chews, does that make them a bad partner or provider? Sometimes making a mountain out of a mole hill can bite you in the arse. Unless his actions affect patient care, deal with it amongst yourselves. No reason to involve a supervisor.

My "deal breaker" is partners that think they are perfect and run to the supervisor for EVERYTHING. I am an adult, treat me like one. If I screw up (and I will) lets discuss it so that I can learn from it. Don't belittle me because I know you have made mistakes too. Don't tattle on me when we can act like adults and work it out.
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Running to a supervisor? I think you misunderstand. If you want to dip at work and I say "not happening" and you continue to dip, it becomes the supervisor's issue. They start the discipline and documentation chain. That's not "tatteling", that's me asking you to spit out your chew and not do it while on duty as we have a zero tobacco use policy.

It's not running to the supervisor, it's advancing a issue up the chain of command. That's what they get paid to do and if I had a problem, I would be remiss in not talking to the supe about these issues after I asked for the person to stop the use of tobacco products.

Look, I'm all about giving someone the benefit of the doubt, but if you continue to abuse my good nature, it becomes an admin problem. And it doesn't say anything about their patient care, but it does show that they don't respect the policies put into place by the department.

And yes, it does accomplish something. It keeps the people that dip from doing it around me.

And frankly, that's all I care about.
 
Deal breakers everywhere:
1. TAKE something out of my hand(s). Ask and I'll hand it, but my reflexes when there's a grab are to lash out.
2. STEALING/LYING: sorry, other than a social lie, I'm asking for another co-worker.
Stealing anything: How can I trust you? (I caught a lunch stealer once with methylene blue mixed in a PB and grape Jelly sandwich...
3. ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACK: you want to sit there and tell me to do or not to do something or to critique at the scene, then I turn to you stop and ask "Are you assuming control of this scene?". Anything but "no" gets you the clipboard. IV, or whatever it is I'm doing and I'll wait for your command.
 
Joe said:
And just a question, if i have a small dip in and i swallow it the whole time im around you or pts is it that big of a deal? What is it you dont like? And never, ever, tell me to lose it. Ill take it out if its a really nice house or an arrest.
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Because chew is disgusting. I hate seeing nasty cups full of that :censored::censored::censored::censored:. If you want to do that, do it on your own. Its pretty selfish to make other people smell it or see it. And don't say deal with it. Its a matter of common courtesy and respect.
 
Let's keep it simple and respectful folks. Just chew on, er ponder what you read before your fingers start twitching on the keyboard in reaction!
 
I don't mind dippers, bust I also live in a rural area and my main job is centered around the construction industry. I agree with the posts above. No clear bottles, no spitting on the ground(even outside) and don't let a pt see it.

I would take a well behaved dipper anyday over the week vs a smoker that jumps into the rig after a smoke break stinking like cigarettes.
 
Wow, seems like EMS is full of complaints, or "deal breakers"! This thread blew up to 29 posts in less than 7 hours!
 
I work in a system that has a lot of third riders, volunteers usually in some stage of learning riding with us for experience. Dealbreakers for them are wandering on a scene (safety), interrupting me when I'm talking to a patient (I warn them first) and texting and driving.

I am able to just tell them they can't continue the shift with me or that they can't come back...I don't usually pursue any discipline.

Also, we don't consume anything in our mouths in a patient care environment, added to the tobacco policy, that means dip is not an issue except with the volunteers, and then I just don't want to see or have to touch that nasty bottle. I regularly throw the bottle away if they leave it on a table and leave the room. Should have put it away.
 
TB 3541 said:
Wow, seems like EMS is full of complaints, or "deal breakers"! This thread blew up to 29 posts in less than 7 hours!
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Right we're all a bunch of a whiners.

We have a zero tolerance tobacco policy around facilities, trucks, and patients. It doesn't happen, and it's often times grope. It's not complaining when it's a significant policy violation, it's the right thing to do.

Other deal breakers for me include touching the light or siren controls when I'm driving, allowing the stretcher undercarriage to fall when unloading (and then whining about how the stretchers all suck), and drivers that are oblivious to a smooth ride while patient loaded.

I'm easy going, I rarely have a regular partner and have a reputation for being able to work well with random staff with varying degrees of experience. That said I really cannot stand when someone tells me that they hear that "I'm really easy to work with" and then take advantage of that by being lazy, late, or just plain messy. Yea I'm not someone to write others up but I still care about doing the best job I can.

But most of all I cannot stand being babied. Yes you may have been an EMT for longer than me but that is no indication of competence. I'm a fine driver, don't always ask if I need a break from driving. I can handle patient care just fine, I don't really need your help getting vitals and a history once we get loaded. Let's go to the hospital now mmmk. And I certainly don't need you to edit my PCR and then tell me how I write too much for "routine" calls. I wouldn't be where I am if I couldn't.
 
Here in the civilized world, those who chew tobacco dont sling their spit all over the station. They keep it discreet, and dont leave spitters all around. And obviously never around a patient or on a call. Doesnt bother me at all.

What kind of savages do you guys work with?
 
I chew. I'm not an *** about it though, I'm not putting golfball sized lips in and I'm not chewing the entire damn shift. My spitters aren't see-through and always are capped. With that said if a partner expresses a dislike for it I wont chew in front of them out of respect for them and you will never EVER find me with a lip in on scene, and I try to take it out while we are responding rather than getting out of the truck and flinging it across the street on scene. My question for those of you that don't like chewing tobacco is what do you say abut seeds? It's a similar concept and in my opinion smells worse than chewing tobacco.

I really dislike working with partners that are lazy or really burnt out. We get 20 minutes at the hospital, there's no reason we should be spending more time than that there. It really makes me mad when I run a couple calls and every time I come back the same crew is sitting at the hospital and they haven't run a call while I've run 2-3. I like running calls, it makes the day go by faster but in a system that consistently runs 200-250 calls a day the workload needs to be shared, sometimes you get worked constantly and other days you sit in areas with no calls while other units run their asses off. What goes around comes around.

I'll second the long chute times, if it's a priority 4 IFT or a post move then by all means take your piss before we leave but 911 calls don't take 2-3 minutes just to get to the truck to mark responding. I'm sorry if it ruined your nap but when it comes down to it you're at work and you're getting paid to work, not to nap.
 
n7lxi said:
Running to a supervisor? I think you misunderstand. If you want to dip at work and I say "not happening" and you continue to dip, it becomes the supervisor's issue. They start the discipline and documentation chain. That's not "tatteling", that's me asking you to spit out your chew and not do it while on duty as we have a zero tobacco use policy.

It's not running to the supervisor, it's advancing a issue up the chain of command. That's what they get paid to do and if I had a problem, I would be remiss in not talking to the supe about these issues after I asked for the person to stop the use of tobacco products.

Look, I'm all about giving someone the benefit of the doubt, but if you continue to abuse my good nature, it becomes an admin problem. And it doesn't say anything about their patient care, but it does show that they don't respect the policies put into place by the department.

And yes, it does accomplish something. It keeps the people that dip from doing it around me.

And frankly, that's all I care about.
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Your right I did misunderstand. I am all for going to a supervisor when its appropriate. Unfortunately I have worked in places where people run to their supervisor for the slightest thing. That is my biggest pet peeve.
 
Tigger said:
Other deal breakers for me include touching the light or siren controls when I'm driving
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I second this one for sure. Along with Linuss's post about arguing on scene. I don't care that you've been an EMT for 10 years, if I want your opinion I'll ask and I'm more than willing to talk about it afterwards but if you want to be the medic and make decisions you can go to medic school. Firemedics are a different animal because most worked for the agency I work for before they went to fire and I worked with them as an Intermediate and I know I can learn a lot from them but in the end I'm the medical authority on scene and what I say goes unless I'm directly endangering responders or the patient.
 
On a lighter note, a "deal breaker" for me would be blowing up the bathroom without spraying some air freshener before you leave.

COME ON DUDE.
 
Excessive swearing drives me insane. Dropping the f-bomb ever 5 minutes does not add flavor to your conversation...just saying.
 
Just about everything I've seen posted so far applies to me for the most part, the non-discreet dipping, the texting and driving, and excessive swearing all grind my gears to one degree or another, and I've only been on the job for a week! But on a lighter note, the one thing that really bothers me is people wanting to show me stuff on their phone. I don't mean something that happens every once in a while, I'm talking about constantly, and even when I appear to be busy doing something else. I'm aware that there are some cute animals doing some silly things on camera, but if I'm reading a book or writing a run report, or something like that, I don't want to be interrupted every couple of minutes with, "Dude, you gotta see this." I'm not anti-social, really, I'm not. :P
 
On coworkers: People that have an obsessive need to backboard everyone.

Company: IFT company owners that see fit to utilize 3 transport crews to move his daughter into her new apartment.
 
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