How Far is Too Far...

[abckidsmom]

It's not just an educational problem . . . it's a pride problem. Look at all these posts "just an IFT company", "IFT No", "for IFT, I'd laugh at you". I didn't realize IFT patients didn't require medical care. This community looks down on IFT company's (and I'm not saying that it's not generally justified to do so), but how is a supervisor supposed to instill a sense of pride in their IFT employees so they don't fall into the pitfall of burnout? The answer, I believe, is to make this job something that is difficult to accomplish and the best way to do that is through discipline. If they have pride, they will want to have greater medical knowledge, want to be further educated, and want to grow as providers, not for the company but for themselves, because, honestly, the mentality of "just IFT" kills patients. I've seen it.

Well said.

My career is pretty EMS- and medicine- heavy, but I've also worked in "just a grocery store" for 7 years during high school and college. We were challenged to find situations we could effect, make customers happy to have come to our store, and keep our lines moving quickly. There were benchmarks to hit and recognition for jobs well done. Even though it was "just" a grocery store, it was a challenge, and the management appreciated and recognized good work.

Education, respect and greater hiring standards.

Sorry to have brought out the dead horse for us to beat a little more.

 

[JohnJ]

On the subject of enforced discipline and training within an IFT company. Do you all agree with or disagree with the following scenario:

EMT/Medic is hired and told that this job will be extremely fast-paced and paramiltaristic. Said employee is assigned a rank of Probie and expected to be working for the entire 10 hour shift (cleaning, studying, etc.) with minimal down time. Employees may test and promote to higher ranks with time and performance. Rank structure is strictly enforced and even includes lower ranks addressing superiors by "sir" or "ma'am".

The majority of the new employees have no idea about such strict discipline and get a little lost. Many feel intimidated by the structure and are visibly uncomfortable when superiors enter the room. However; overall performance and knowledge of the feild is improving dramatically.

What do you think? Too strict or full steam ahead?

It's not an environment I would want to work in. It seems like it would cause unnecessary stress; I believe it would be easier to ask your employees to be kind and respectful and to try to always be doing something productive. Also, I imagine that a rank structure would only cause people to become power hungry.

 

[Handsome Rob]

If you want an IFT company that people can take pride in, then have hiring standards. Have nice uniforms. Have well-trained supervisors and managers who encourage their employees. Have continuing education. Have tuition reimbursement.

Don't let the company be ran by middle-aged men with highly-inflated senses of importance (and low levels of everything else: manners, education, management skill, business sense) who insist on being addressed as "captain" or "rear admiral" or whatever. If that's the only way your supervisors can "instill a sense of pride" in their employees, then you need new employees, new supervisors, or both. Creating artificial difficulty doesn't instill discipline or desire for growth; it instills hatred for middle management who create needless hoops in a misguided attempt to improve their employees via mandatory jumping.

Excellently stated. That is the main goal, beleive it or not, of the system. This company is trying to repair a;ll of the problems that you stated, they are also mixing in a more structured and disciplined style of EMS.

The issue of asking your employees to be kind and respectful has been attempted and failed miserably. Half of the kids working here do not have EMS or medical aspirations and are mostly immature and lazy. Hiring standards are being attempted, yet the problem persists of people interviewing extremely well, then getting comfortable and performing horribly...