EMS is weird like that, everyone is in everyone else's business.
I work for a private company, so we post in our vehicles around the city 24/7. We only leave the vehicles to use the restroom or get food, but then we have to eat in the trucks. Needless to say, everyone hears everyone else's phone conversations, and everyone knows when one person went to the bathroom one too many times on a shift.
Working BLS, even our dialysis patients get in on the gossip. They know more about the company than I do.
Personally, I don't get involved in the drama. I work contingent, meaning I'll pick up random shifts, meaning I don't have the same partner. I've worked with BLS and ALS partners, and I know most people's basic life stories.
Most of my partners know that I don't get involved in the gossip that everyone else seems to thrive on. I'll just change the subject or not carry on the conversation, that always seems to work for me.
I've had many issues with many of my partners, but I try my hardest to work around them. I've had partners that couldn't lift, and others that I just couldn't stand working with. For the people I can't stand working with, I try to minimize my interaction with them, and do my own thing. Like you said, we always work together on scene, but in the truck I'll do my own thing.
After rambling on, I realize that I don't have a solution for you. I can say that it's important to find something that works, because there is nothing worse than working with someone you hate.
Best of luck, and let us know how it turns out
