Hazard Pay

[Peak]

Yes, and I was ignored. I brought it up as early as January, and I’ve previously brought it up. I’ve even been written up for taking “too long to clean the truck” before and refusing to put a dirty one in service without proper cleaning. I’ve always been a bit of a clean freak and safety guy. But “gloves are enough”.

Then if you knew the risk of transmission of disease and the relatively poor availability of medical PPE for EMS why did you stay in the field and not transition to another area of practice or another field?


I am going out on a limb and assuming that you are fairly young and healthy. Are you not concerned that you will suicide, get involved in a fatal MVC, or become seriously injured by a member of the public? Those are probably far more likely for most people in EMS.

 

[RocketMedic]

Then if you knew the risk of transmission of disease and the relatively poor availability of medical PPE for EMS why did you stay in the field and not transition to another area of practice or another field?


I am going out on a limb and assuming that you are fairly young and healthy. Are you not concerned that you will suicide, get involved in a fatal MVC, or become seriously injured by a member of the public? Those are probably far more likely for most people in EMS.

those are all threats I can mitigate fairly well with the gear at hand, and if everyone left EMS or other fields for the possibilities, no one would ever venture out. To quote James Kirk, “risk is our business.”

but that risk is here now, and we can’t ignore it.

 

[RocketMedic]

And if Coronavirus gets more lethal a lot of us are going to stop showing up at current rates...or at all.

 

[DesertMedic66]

And yeah, I am jaded. I’m also a better paramedic than most of you and don’t really have an abundance of concern for what random Internet dudes think.

If you feel you have to state that you are a better paramedic than most of us, the odds are that you are not. That would be insecurity. I would seek out some professional help if I was you.

Hazard pay isn't going to change anything important for what is currently going on. All it sounds like is that you are unhappy with your pay and are trying to use this as an excuse to boost it up. Just because my paychecks would be bigger doesn't mean that my risk is eliminated or reduced at all at all. It doesn't mean that I will have all the PPE that I need. It doesn't mean anything at all aside from a bigger paycheck. If I make $200 more per shift doesn't mean I am now immune to COVID. COVID does look at your paycheck and say "oh ****, he's getting hazard pay. He is safe from me now".

If you are not satisfied with receiving no hazard pay during this time, then please quit and return back to EMS when its all over. Everyone on the form knows you have absolutely no issue with quitting EMS agencies.

 

[Monday]

Rocket, dude, it's nice you got all that anger and resentment out, I'm told raging at the system time to time is good for the heart...

But no need to attack people here.
Who clearly care enough to be honest, and from the posts knew you and cared for your life and work going well for years.

No one here knows real hazards is just plain insulting, condescending nonsense.

You don't know where people typing these letters been or what they seen.

And kicking into people who try to help others, you don't sound like someone people who worked and lived tragedies years in and out would want to pour their hearts out to.

That and some bits bite.
Plus there may be many operational and contractual reasons to not really even think of mentioning some times on an internet forum. So for that.

 

[Peak]

those are all threats I can mitigate fairly well with the gear at hand, and if everyone left EMS or other fields for the possibilities, no one would ever venture out. To quote James Kirk, “risk is our business.”

but that risk is here now, and we can’t ignore it.

Sorry but you can't really mitigate for the suicides that we see in EMS, police, fire, the military, or healthcare. Once that damage is done changing the neuro pathology back is almost impossible.

You can't mitigate a drunk driver hitting you or really your partner making a mistake when they are driving.

And how do you think you can mitigate a member of society who decides they want to shoot someone that day are you're the victim?

 

[Seirende]

Sorry but you can't really mitigate for the suicides that we see in EMS, police, fire, the military, or healthcare. Once that damage is done changing the neuro pathology back is almost impossible.

You can increase protective factors and decrease risk factors

 

[RocketMedic]

And those are routine problems of society.

 

[Seirende]

And those are routine problems of society.

So's infectious disease. Is your main concern the inadequate PPE?

 

[Peak]

You can increase protective factors and decrease risk factors

That's certainly true to an extent, but mostly relies on systemic changes and not something one person can do by themselves.

 

[ffemt8978]

And that's enough of this thread.