Females

[Clare]

I've never worked on an all-female crew... so I can't say I've had your problem, Clare

I highly suggest you try it sometime, unfortunately all the knives in the block in the kitchen are blunt so um, it might hurt a lot ...

 

[ffemt8978]

I highly suggest you try it sometime, unfortunately all the knives in the block in the kitchen are blunt so um, it might hurt a lot ...

:rofl:

We'd have to change his username to "Jan" then.

:rofl:

 

[Clare]

:rofl:

We'd have to change his username to "Jan" then.

:rofl:

Well, if he does that, I would have to try working with an all male crew but that would make me "Blare" or something, more-over, Blair is the correct spelling but alas, I am Clare not Claire nor Clair, so um yeah.

 

[ffemt8978]

Well, if he does that, I would have to try working with an all male crew but that would make me "Blare" or something, more-over, Blaire is the correct spelling but alas, I am Clare not Claire

Nah...we'd just change yours to Clark.

 

[Clare]

Nah...we'd just change yours to Clark.

Oh don't you dare, I like my name!

 

[Fish]

What I am about to say is not "sexist" I am just joining the conversation with personal experience, I am a Male of average height and build and have worked with MANY female partners of all sizes, bigger and smaller than me. And males of all sizes, bigger and smaller than me as well.

Now,

While we are being honest

I have never had a male partner not be able to lift something, I have had female(s) partners not be able to lift something before.

I have never had a male ask if he can take the foot end of the stretcher because it is the lighter end, but I have had female(s) ask me this.

I have never heard the local FDs complain of a male Medic for "Never helping lift one of the ends of the stretcher, or bags"

But I have heard them complain of Female Medics in this way......Fire Guy "She never lifts ANYTHING" Me "Did you ask why? Maybe she does not realize she is coming off this way" Fire Man "Yes, she said it is because the stretcher is too heavy" That is not the verbatim conversation by the way, but it was something close along those lines.

I have only seen this with smaller petite females

These occassions have not been often, and to be honest I am not bothered by it. I am very laid back, just do my job and have a good time at work with all my partners. When I was hurt and was not able to lift what I usually can, I appreciated it when people gave me a helping hand and helped me along physically during work. I felt like I had more to offer the job than lifting ability.

 

[Clare]

Your point about girls not being as strong as a male is fair and valid.

 

[Fish]

Your point about girls not being as strong as a male is fair and valid.

But, like I said. These occassions I listed above were not very often.

And one in particular....... Was most likely pure laziness, and not physical ability.

There is a reason we have atleast 4 people on each scene, we are there to be a Team and help one another.

 

[the_negro_puppy]

I prefer a male / female combo crew.

We honestly don't do that much heavy lifting - we have gear and can call for other crews. The only problem would be for example moving a 100kg pt in cardiac arrest etc

 

[DrParasite]

a female firefighter is expected to do the job as well as any man. I'm pretty sure their academy and employer doesn't treat them or evaluate them any differently. I know the risk and requirements of the job don't.

a female police officer is expected to the the job as well as any man. I'm pretty sure their academy and employer doesn't treat them or evaluate them any differently. I know the risk and requirements of the job don't.

a female corrections officer is expected to do the job as well as any man. I'm pretty sure their academy and employer doesn't treat them or evaluate them any differently. I know the risk and requirements of the job don't.

I hope you see where I am going with this.

I want my partner to be able to do the job properly. I don't care if my partner's reproductive organs are on the inside or outside. and I have been stuck with partners of both sexes who couldn't do the job.

 

[abckidsmom]

And speaking as a female, it makes me sick when a girl asks for the foot end of the stretcher, or quits without trying on a task, or any situation where she makes "being female" be the problem that interferes with her ability to do a job.

Makes us all look bad.

 

[Aidey]

I have a tendency to go to the foot, but it is a height thing. If I am on the head I can lift, but I have a bad habit of using my back more than I should to get the extra inch to get the top all the way up.

 

[Jon]

There are several females that I'm regularly partnered with at work. Many of them do the job, including lifting "their share". I've also worked with a slugs of both sexes. It can be quite handy to have a mixed-gender crew. For example, we often do psych IFT's out of a local children's hospital. When the patient is female, I'd much rather have my female partner ride them. Not saying I still don't pay attention to what's going on from the front seat - but I've never heard of a female EMT accused of sexual misconduct w/ a patient. And I've seen horror stories of false accusations before.

When it comes to whiny partners that want to make me do more than I perceive as fair - I think it's been a pretty even mix male to female. Slugs are slugs.


As for horror stories:
There's one from quite a few years ago that still sticks in my mind as being the "worst case scenario". Young female, brand new EMT. First job, period and its an IFT job. She was pretty... and knew it. She went through her field training time making the FTO (Boss) do all the lifting. She just stood back and batted her eyes, and he just did it. She didn't last more than a couple of shifts after he released her - she was paired with some crusty old firefighters that didn't have any tolerance for BS. They went to the boss's boss, and once said EMT failed a functional lifting exercise, she was gone.

 

[DrParasite]

They went to the boss's boss, and once said EMT failed a functional lifting exercise, she was gone.

the boss should have been reprimanded as well.

Not for nothing, but if you fix the problems in the beginning, they don't get worse as time goes on. ignore the problems, cover for them, let weak providers (or providers who can't do the job) continue to work for your agency, and the agency as a whole suffers. Get rid of them (and those who approved their continued work) and you raise standards.

 

[Clare]

a female firefighter is expected to do the job as well as any man. I'm pretty sure their academy and employer doesn't treat them or evaluate them any differently. I know the risk and requirements of the job don't.

a female police officer is expected to the the job as well as any man. I'm pretty sure their academy and employer doesn't treat them or evaluate them any differently. I know the risk and requirements of the job don't.

a female corrections officer is expected to do the job as well as any man. I'm pretty sure their academy and employer doesn't treat them or evaluate them any differently. I know the risk and requirements of the job don't.

I hope you see where I am going with this.

I want my partner to be able to do the job properly. I don't care if my partner's reproductive organs are on the inside or outside. and I have been stuck with partners of both sexes who couldn't do the job.

... and yet nowhere did I ask or wonder about any of this.

What I said I was curious about was the public perception, not the treatment female Ambulance Officers receive from other ambos; which is on the whole entirely professional.

 

[DrParasite]

the public expects when an ambulance is called, help arrives. they don't care if the crew is male or female

the only time I have ever seen the question asked involved two 80 lb women who were on the ambulance, and had to do a lift assist on a 300 lb woman. then the family was like "do you need help?" I ended up being on the crew for the engine or rescue to help them out get this person off the ground and onto the stretcher.

 

[grump]

I run with all vollys. 8 females 2 males. The job gets done and nobody has ever questioned who showed up.

 

[Brandon O]

I have an attractive female partner who's new to EMS, and I am blown away how many times she gets propositioned, touched, or otherwise sexually harassed in a regular day. Do women really deal with this kind of :censored::censored::censored::censored: all the time?

 

[AtlasFlyer]

I have an attractive female partner who's new to EMS, and I am blown away how many times she gets propositioned, touched, or otherwise sexually harassed in a regular day. Do women really deal with this kind of :censored::censored::censored::censored: all the time?

Yup.

Was walking back to my old apartment in Chicago from the El train one day. In full uniform, just walking along getting back from a trip (was a flight attendant at the time) and some dude in a car drives by and shouts, "Hey baby! Wanna have sex?" My reply, "With you? No." And I kept walking.

Men say some seriously stupid stuff sometimes.

 

[DrParasite]

Yup.

Was walking back to my old apartment in Chicago from the El train one day. In full uniform, just walking along getting back from a trip (was a flight attendant at the time) and some dude in a car drives by and shouts, "Hey baby! Wanna have sex?" My reply, "With you? No." And I kept walking.

Men say some seriously stupid stuff sometimes.

and as sad as this sounds, somewhere, some woman will have said yes to him. otherwise, men wouldn't do it.