Hate being called ambulance drivers!

Izaya64

Izaya64

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Am I the only one who absolutely hates being called an ambulance driver? I find that to be one of the best ways to make somebody in EMS really angry. What are everybody's thoughts on this?

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EMT = Earn Money Transporting

Why get mad, just enjoy getting paid to drive.
 
I only hate it cause im a non driver. A more accurate term would be ambulance report writer.
 
Thankfully it happens very infrequently where I work and I'm quick to politely correct it when it happens. If anything we get "EMS People" from well meaning family members who are trying to be correct. I expect that over the next two years we'll see even that decline as the service is doing a major rebranding. As we move into more community based care and expanding out from our core mission the service name is being changed to "___ ____ Paramedic Services." EMS will be phased out off of our vehicles and uniforms.

The City of Ottawa did this a few years ago and saw significant increase in media and public recognition of Paramedics.

Still while I think this is useful for PR and promoting and advancing the profession, I try not to take it personally when a member of the public calls me something other than Paramedic. I do get annoyed when I get it from Nurse's (usually at a nursing home).
 
I only get annoyed if it is another medical person saying it. If its the general public I just chalk it up to them being uneducated and go about my day. I could care less about titles or what Im called. I know what I do. Thats all that matters.
 
Just try to let it roll off your back. Just realize the person is either inconsiderate or trying to get a reaction from you. Kill her/him with kindness and they will stop.
 
Sasha said:
I only hate it cause im a non driver. A more accurate term would be ambulance report writer.
Click to expand...

EMTP = Earn Money Taking Pulses

EMTP = Even More Terrible Paperwork
 
Usually the general public are uneducated in the proper names and levels of EMT's, so generally people find it hard to be angry when they know no better, which is sad that they don't, so educating them in the proper terms would be a good idea.
Now when you have other healthcare providers, usually that leads to those who are ignorant in the profession or don't care to get it right, either is sad also.
 
Can we blame them though, we can't even agree on acceptable nomenclature amongst ourselves.

What shall we call our service?
EMS? Ambulance service? Paramedic services? Fire-Rescue? ;)

What shall we call our transport vehicles?
Ambulance? Medic Unit? Rescue? Rescue Ambulance?

What do we call our staff?
EMT? Paramedic?

To the public:
Fire Departments, staff fire fighters, in fire trucks.
Police Departments, staff police officers, in police cars.
EMS Services, staff EMT's or Paramedics, in Ambulances.
 
I'd rather be called an ambulance driver than fire fighter.

:D
 
A lot of floor staff announce our arrival to one another and the patient by saying "The ambulance is here". I'm always tempted to say that we left it outside, as it was too small for the elevator, but that seems too needlessly snide and nit-picky even for me.

It's evidence for my suspicion that I'm really just a piece of equipment put on the ambulance because the state requires it, though. Once Joerns/Hoyer and the DARPA Urban Challenge teams manage to produce an ambulance that can load and drive itself, we'll all be out of a job.
 
Haha I agree once they make that were back to minimum wage

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I was called an ambulance driver by a doctor's hand maiden...I mean nurse, the other day. -_-
 
I have noticed a fairly clear link in my area between areas of health care we liase with regularly and have built professional, collaborative relationships with and how they refer to us. No one in the cath lab or CCU ever calls us anything but Paramedics, same with the ED, but we work closely with these areas with our regular patient load and a extremely successful STEMI and STREAM trial programs. In other words, the more we build a professional relationship and earn the respect of our colleagues in different disciplines the more these petty issues will fade away. But the onus is on us to build this trust and mutual respect.
 
They can call me whatever they want as long as I'm not referred to as a firefighter.
 
I really dont care.
 
MrConspiracy said:
A lot of floor staff announce our arrival to one another and the patient by saying "The ambulance is here". I'm always tempted to say that we left it outside, as it was too small for the elevator,
Click to expand...

Lol!!!! Next time I see a nurse I don't like and they say that I'm gonna use this.
 
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