I can't imagine a volunteer unit behaving like that, but then again, I have the luck to run in a unit that has seasoned medics at their disposal (not that they run as medics here as we are a bls unit) but also our training officer has a 100% pass rate for any students she brings to the state exams. She's sort of known in these parts for her pass rate, as well as pushing the unit for propriety.
That's my point. My first exposure to volunteer EMS was with the various VAC's in NYC. I ran with one, and dealt with several others whan I worked paid 911. They would run drunks to the hosp hot, ripping corners and such. The senior members would dictate everything, and just have me carry bags and lift. Some vollies I ran with I would think, "there's no way they would hack it on the job for real". My next exposure was with the various Long Island vollies, such as Brentwood, Exchange of the Islips, Commack, etc. They were as on top of their game as one could be, IMO. I'd let them treat my family. It probably helped that many of them worked paid elsewhere, thus ensuring ongoing training, accountability, standards, and call volume. I've since worked with various volly depts in South Carolina and Northern Virginia. The professionalism, proficiency, interpersonal relations and such vary widely.
That's my next point. I am of the opinion that in order to volunteer, you should have prior paid experience, or at least go to a standardized EMS and/or fire academy (whatever the case may be) to ensure uniform, adequate training, from an accredited institution. I'm not against volunteers, but my main issue is the lack of regulation regarding training, QA/QI, and accountability. It varies widely from dept to dept.