Harassment in EMS

[Sasha]

She was outside of the rig in the parking lot. I started it up to give her the hint but it still took her a while to catch on.

Sorry for derailing the thread.

Turn on the siren.

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[JPINFV]

You need her in the ambulance to pick up the radio and say, "Unit 75, clear"

 

[FourLoko]

You need her in the ambulance to pick up the radio and say, "Unit 75, clear"

clearly not but it's either let the current call run long or take longer to be on scene for the next one

we usually go back to back to back

 

[JPINFV]

clearly not but it's either let the current call run long or take longer to be on scene for the next one

we usually go back to back to back

Unit 75 clear.

Unit 75's pager(s) buzz with ending information.

Unit 75's pager(s) buzz with new call information.

"Hey, partner, get off the phone, we've got a call."


Something else to consider. How much of your calls are scheduled and you're dispatched with enough time to get on scene before pickup time. There's a difference between calls that need to be run now (be it emergency calls, scheduled calls that are late, or hospital discharges where often the patient is ready when the service is called) and calls where pickup is 20 minutes from now and the facility is 15 minutes down the road.

 

[DrParasite]

In EMS, I haven't gotten much of it. It's pretty constant in fire--almost every new guy assumes I'll be weak--but that's another story.

not for nothing, but for every guy that assumes the girl is weak, there are 3 girls who will have the guy do all the heavy work for them, and 2 girls who are too weak to do the heavy lifting. It's not right, but it happens.

I have found that I need to walk a fine line between "looking cute" (which means you won't be taken seriously, at best) and "trying to be one of the guys" (same result). Some of the men I work with are also immature enough so that they think any pretty girl who speaks to them must be interested, or that girls can't do the job. As a result, I try to keep myself from looking feminine at work. I don't pay much attention to my hair, never wear makeup, and buy my uniforms a size too big.

Nothing wrong with looking cute. Nothing wrong with wearing makeup, doing your hair, wearing lipstick, etc. I knew a girl on my FD who used to use the reflective metal of the tower ladder as a mirror to apply her lipstick, was into hello kitty, and said "I'm a pretty firefighter!!!!" whatever, to each her own. but when push came to shove, she would get down and dirty, pack hose, and do the dirty work just like every other guy.

And if you are buying clothes to big, and not "looking pretty" to downplay your attractiveness, than you are doing yourself a disservice. Nothing wrong with wearing clothes that fit properly or doing your hair. if guys don't accept you, but you do still do the job, than that's their problem

 

[DrParasite]

I've avoided the worst of it, but I've seen it get ugly. One boss managed to make 3/4s of the female employees quit within his first year of being promoted. In a typical case, he assigned a really attractive rookie to a series of guys who'd spend the shift making passes at her, in order to see if she was "tough enough." After a few months, she quit. The boss seemed to think it proved that pretty women really are just weak and whiny. I won't be surprised if that place gets sued someday...

than the boss should have been fired, as well as all the guys who were making passes at the girl. and the women should have sued. That type of behavior (from the bosses and the staff) should not be tolerated.

 

[DrParasite]

Have you ever really felt harassed by your partner or your coworkers? Sexually, religiously, racially, etc?

Especially women, did you feel hesitant to report it because you didn't want to seem like a whiner?
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Lets see......

1) when I was offered a full time position at my job, one of the field crews gave me a welcome to the shift present.... a box of matza

2) my former partner, a Puerto Rican with a daughter out of wedlock, was constantly called a Mexican... by me.... and when he really pissed me off, he was called an Ecuadorean.....

3) I told a field crew staffed with a person from Boston that she wasn't allowed to talk on the radio anymore, because I couldn't understand a word she said

4) I told a cop once, if he was gonna feel me up, he would need to buy me drinks first

oh, and the 3 people involved in #1 and #2 are going to be in my wedding, and you don't want to know what #2 called me.

There are other things, but those are the 4 things that come to mind. and I have no doubt if I had felt offended and said something, they would have stopped and apologized

Just so we are clear, I don't think harassment should be permitted at all. And those black and white cases (hand down the blouse, etc) are pretty clear. But there can be a lot of grey area... a lot.... and it is the responsibility of the person being harassed to SAY SOMETHING.

The NCIS clip is a great example. is a hug unacceptable? is a slap to the back of the head unacceptable? is licking the back of a coworker's ear unacceptable? well, it depends on the person, and if the person doesn't say anything, maybe the offender doesn't know that the victim is feeling harassed?

If you feel harassed, or uncomfortable, than SAY SOMETHING to the harasser. If the person doesn't stop, than take things further. Often a culture clash or rather a new culture can be viewed as harassment (such as the new female probie has to always clean the bathrooms), when in reality, if something is said, the whole situation can be explained or rectified without it getting blown out of proportion.

 

[JPINFV]

2) my former partner, a Puerto Rican with a daughter out of wedlock, was constantly called a Mexican... by me.... and when he really pissed me off, he was called an Ecuadorean.....

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsorXfwfA9g[/YOUTUBE]

 

[46Young]

What you have to watch out for is the person that's having a bad day, and you say something inappropriate to them at the wrong time. What ususally is tolerated or received well suddenly becomes offensive and is reported.

Anyone can flip the script on you at any time. It doesn't matter if they've enabled your inappropriate behavior for months or years; it only takes one reported incident to get you written up or worse. For all you know, they could be playing it cool while they're writing it all down for a future payday in court. We've had two recent cases where I work. A year or more of documented incidents from people who no one though had a problem with the behavior of others.

I had a former female shift member that would occasionally fellate a banana, and voice sexual double entendres for attention. I'm not going anywhere near that.

 

[Fish]

Have you ever really felt harassed by your partner or your coworkers? Sexually, religiously, racially, etc?

Especially women, did you feel hesitant to report it because you didn't want to seem like a whiner?
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There are women in our service who have reported such things, however I think it becomes abit difficult. We in EMS and Fire joke around so much sometimes about stuff that people can accidently get carried away and mistakenly offend someone. Now, if you touch someone or make such bold advances as "wanna join the code 3 club" then peace, your fired. But crude humor is part of our nature. I never think someone should feel uncomfortable or threatened when they come to work.

Personally, I am not a very easy person to offend or harass. I like to joke around, I like to laugh and I know nobody is being malicous it is all ment as a joke. Then again, I have never had anyone trying to put their hand down my blouse and had to break that arm either.

 

[Fish]

I had a former female shift member that would occasionally fellate a banana, and voice sexual double entendres for attention. I'm not going anywhere near that.

I know this person

 

[clibb]

It's a fine line and the line is different with everyone. It is nearly impossible to sexually harass me as a guy, but I do know other guys who it would be very easy to do.
The other question is; what if you're dating the person that is on the same crew as you? How do you act around other people and how do other people view you as?
^^ Something me and my ex had a hard time with. Now, it's pretty simple for me to stay out of it. I just stay away from her and problem is solved, haha.

 

[Sasha]

It's a fine line and the line is different with everyone. It is nearly impossible to sexually harass me as a guy, but I do know other guys who it would be very easy to do.
The other question is; what if you're dating the person that is on the same crew as you? How do you act around other people and how do other people view you as?
^^ Something me and my ex had a hard time with. Now, it's pretty simple for me to stay out of it. I just stay away from her and problem is solved, haha.

Dude everyone here is dating everyone. We have three engaged crews right now!

One crew was so bad students started to complain that it was really uncomfortable because they would hang on each other and get the whole "oh baby I love you" thing.

I don't support couples working together on a truck. Why would they want to? Don't you need time away from your significant other? Dang.

Too each their own.

This thread came along because I had trouble reporting harassment due to my religious beliefs because I didn't want to be a whiner or appear too sensitive.

He sang religious songs in the truck, piped gospel into the patient compartment, told me he would pray for me, told me I wasn't happy because I wasn't a Christian and that I feel god with me but ignore it.

Finally snapped last week and reported it when he started off the shift as "hey still atheist?" And that was the least offensive thing out of his mouth for the little bit of time we worked together after that.

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[sir.shocksalot]

Finally snapped last week and reported it when he started off the shift as "hey still atheist?" And that was the least offensive thing out of his mouth for the little bit of time we worked together after that.

Absolutely report that. That stuff drives me nuts. I really don't have a problem with really religious people, however they need to keep their beliefs off the ambulance and out of my face. I had a partner once who would do the same thing and try and talk about the bible all shift, it made me extremely uncomfortable. If you want to read your bible, fine, just do it quietly in the corner and don't talk to me about it.

 

[Fish]

I am religous, I go to Church every sunday that I am not at work. But do I like it when another religion is constantly bombarding me and trying to change me? No, so I would never do that to someone else.


As far as people working together who are in a relationship, we certainly have a policy for that. Infact there is a legal name for it that I cannot remember. Here you cannot work in the same region if you are in a relationship. You certainly cannot work on the same ambulance, and if you are a supervisor you cannot be a supervisor on that shift because you cannot supervise/disipline those you are in a relationship with.

 

[EMT424]

Certain topics don't come to work. Period.

In my dept is is that I often get paired with females who don't think that they should have to help lift patients. I am 6'3" and 250 but when having to put a 400 pounder and the 150 pound power cot into the bus, I would love a little team work.

Also our female staff feel that any repairs/PMCS on the rig is my job by virtue of being male. We have one who always *****es about windshield washer fluid and will make no effort to put it in herself.

So I think that their is BS that cuts both ways.

 

[Aidey]

Not to totally sound like a typical female, but I leave all the vehicle maintenance stuff up to the guys I share the amb with. I know NOTHING about cars. I could manage windshield washer fluid and changing the headlights, but that is about it. I'm a little too short to do the oil because of where the dip stick is. I do however make sure to let someone know if I think there is something up.

I don't really see that as sexism, so much as playing the strengths of different people.

 

[JPINFV]

I don't support couples working together on a truck. Why would they want to? Don't you need time away from your significant other? Dang.

There was a married couple that worked at my first EMT job and that was exactly the reason why they didn't want to work with each other.

This thread came along because I had trouble reporting harassment due to my religious beliefs because I didn't want to be a whiner or appear too sensitive.

He sang religious songs in the truck, piped gospel into the patient compartment, told me he would pray for me, told me I wasn't happy because I wasn't a Christian and that I feel god with me but ignore it.

Finally snapped last week and reported it when he started off the shift as "hey still atheist?" And that was the least offensive thing out of his mouth for the little bit of time we worked together after that.

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You should have used the response I gave you for him...

 

[Sasha]

Not to totally sound like a typical female, but I leave all the vehicle maintenance stuff up to the guys I share the amb with. I know NOTHING about cars. I could manage windshield washer fluid and changing the headlights, but that is about it. I'm a little too short to do the oil because of where the dip stick is. I do however make sure to let someone know if I think there is something up.

I don't really see that as sexism, so much as playing the strengths of different people.

I just don't want to get that car crap on my hands or under my finger nails.

But as I take all the patients I see it as things to do with patient care at mine. Things to do with driving are theirs. I will help wash the truck at the end but I don't think I should have to.

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[JPINFV]

But as I take all the patients I see it as things to do with patient care at mine. Things to do with driving are theirs. I will help wash the truck at the end but I don't think I should have to.

So do you expect your driver to help carry bags or reset the gurney at the end of a call or decon the patient compartment after a patient requiring isolation precautions?