How do you deal with dinosaurs?

DrParasite said:
while that may be true, the standard is set at a certain level, and right or wrong, that is the level we should be providing to our patients. in 10 years when all the voodoo changes, I plan on doing all the new voodoo, until that gets debunked, because that's the new standard.

and if the FOG can pick up on the person's actual cry, great, my issue is when the dinosaur no longer has any clue what he is supposed to be doing, and as a result, either downplays every patient as minor, or panics because he has a sick patient and he doesn't know what to do.
that's the problem. they wrote the book, and I am trying not to throw that book out. but when they wrote the first edition in the 70s, and we are now working on the 14th edition, which completely contradicted everything they said, than what?

Their book, which helped lay the foundation for the current system, no longer applies, yet they are clinging to what it teaches, and using it as the standard.
That's pretty much the crux of the issue.

Just because you are old (like mycrofft) doesn't mean you are a dinosaur.

the dinosaur doesn't want to change; and sometimes holds back progress into the modern age.

I can respect an older, senior EMT or paramedic who has been doing the job for 30 years, who continues to stay educated on the up to date trends.

I have a very hard time respecting a 40 year veteran of EMS who is a volunteer EMT, thinks going on EMS calls in civilian clothes (and a squad jacket) is appropriate, has no problem letting other EMS agencies take calls in his primary, refuses to have helmets on the ambulance (and forbids me from bringing my own), forbids me from using my own stethoscope (says the cheap ones on the truck that everyone uses are good enough), and insist that his way is the right way, despite everyone else in the state (since that is the common standard) doing things a different way.

some stuff changes, some stuff advances, some things stay the same.

I hope to become a FOG one day (give me 50-60 years), where i can sit with the rest of the FOGs, complain about all the youngins, and remember what it was like back in the day. But I don't want to become a dinosaur, where my presence in the organization hampers it from becoming a modern top of the line agency, and I hope if that does happens, I have enough cojones to step aside and let the younger crowd do their thing.
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Sorry I was skimming. Why do you want a helmet on an ambulance?
 
bigbaldguy said:
Sorry I was skimming. Why do you want a helmet on an ambulance?
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ever been dispatched to a fall victim, only to find the fall victim was at a construction site, located 30 feet underground, and there was no easy way to get to him? I have, and had words with the dispatcher afterwards.

other reasons can include serious MVAs when extrication is going on, rescue assignments, structure fires, or any situations where having head protection would be good idea. Plus at two of my part time jobs the EMS agency has a heavy rescue.

As for my own personal helmet, I have 3 separate helmets that I own (1 FF helmet that has the features that I want, one old ambulances one, and one USAR rescue one that I got on ebay for good money). At my former job, there were questions of hygiene of some of my coworkers, and several helmets that were either missing eye protection, broken brackets, or missing parts (or missing from the ambulance completely). so I invested some of my own $$$ in a helmet, and always have one with me.
 
bigbaldguy said:
Sorry I was skimming. Why do you want a helmet on an ambulance?
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Off topic but my agency requires us to wear a helmet and high-viz jacket or vest on any scene on a public road.

Drparasite: if a coworker told me anything that you said he told you he'd hear it from me. Don't tell me how to do my job. If I want a helmet with me I'll have a helmet with me. If I want to use my own steth I'll use my own steth.

Being old doesn't give you a right to be wrong. Young or old if you're doing it then, well, you're doing it wrong.
 
DrParasite said:
ever been dispatched to a fall victim, only to find the fall victim was at a construction site, located 30 feet underground, and there was no easy way to get to him? I have, and had words with the dispatcher afterwards.

other reasons can include serious MVAs when extrication is going on, rescue assignments, structure fires, or any situations where having head protection would be good idea. Plus at two of my part time jobs the EMS agency has a heavy rescue.

As for my own personal helmet, I have 3 separate helmets that I own (1 FF helmet that has the features that I want, one old ambulances one, and one USAR rescue one that I got on ebay for good money). At my former job, there were questions of hygiene of some of my coworkers, and several helmets that were either missing eye protection, broken brackets, or missing parts (or missing from the ambulance completely). so I invested some of my own $$$ in a helmet, and always have one with me.
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So is there a belt hook or something you hang it on when you're not using it?
 
NVRob said:
Drparasite: if a coworker told me anything that you said he told you he'd hear it from me.
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If he hadn't been there for 43 years, and I had been with the agency for 7 days, I would have. but I felt it was better to bite my tounge, at least until I spoke to a supervisor (who said the dinosaur was wrong, and if he gave me any more grief, that I was free to give him a piece of my mind.
bigbaldguy said:
So is there a belt hook or something you hang it on when you're not using it?
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I have a small gym bag that has all my EMS equipment in it, and it goes with me in any ambulance I am working in. it usually stays in the doghouse between the front cab and the patient compartment.
 
I hear people distinguishing between attitudes. The age thing is irrelevant.

Young or old, what's important is to

1) Never assume you've got it down, seen it all, or know the absolute truth

2) Never cease being a student

3) Always remember you're there for your patient
 
firetender said:
I hear people distinguishing between attitudes. The age thing is irrelevant.

Young or old, what's important is to

1) Never assume you've got it down, seen it all, or know the absolute truth

2) Never cease being a student

3) Always remember you're there for your patient
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Agreed 100%

However, just because someone is younger or newer doesn't mean they can't be right.
 
They can and often are right, it's the impatient or insecure (or both) folks of all ages who have to show you their way, then stand on you and jump up and down until you call them Queen of the May or Overlord of Castle Grayskull or whatever.

I cite the knife threads. I reckon the median age for those chorusing rhapsodic for new or big knives is about 23, with a couple oldies counterbalancing the 19 y/o's. 'S OK, part of the learning curve. (I actually have my K-Bar somewhere in the closet...).

The thread is interesting since it is in opposition to those where we try to make blanket statements about how an 18 y/o can't handle EMS (when we and other countries have medics in their armed forces in combat near that age). Perfect team: old wise gal or guy, young energetic sinewy young person.

A thread about what is lost and gained with each wave of technology would be interesting....to an old FOGey. ;)
 
i always try to be respectful of their experience, but try to convince/educate/enlighten them to other techniques that may work better in various situations. if i go into it with an attitude that i am dealing with dinosaurs, i won't get anywhere.
 
As far as the helmet remark, we also are required to wear helmets and hi-viz jackets for MVA's or working on the roadway. AND we DO have a hook where they hang inside the rig where we can reach over our shoulder and grab on the way out the door.
 
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