I can't stand being a paramedic.

Welcome to the world of ems! <_<
 
OregonEMT said:
I'm confused. You can't stand being a paramedic due to this one isolated incident? Or could it be that you can't stand the person that you work with? Can you give us a little more detail including specific aspects of working as a paramedic that has led you to "hate" your chosen profession.

your partner texting while driving is not a very common isolated incident that leads to instant hate of a profession.
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I agree, and that is why I am here. If I get this upset when a partner freaks out on me what will happen to my view of this job (or even life) when I am unable to resuscitate my first pediatric arrest?

I do not have a set partner. Since I pick up all of the unwanted shifts I have a totally different partner every shift.
 
Montbell said:
I agree, and that is why I am here. If I get this upset when a partner freaks out on me what will happen to my view of this job (or even life) when I am unable to resuscitate my first pediatric arrest?

I do not have a set partner. Since I pick up all of the unwanted shifts I have a totally different partner every shift.
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These things are all part of the job, from the partners who text and drive to having 3 cardiac arrests with 0 saves in one shift you deal with it, talk to your partner if she blows up on you like that then she's obviously unprofessional and shouldn't be given respect or the time of day, I'd talk to management if my partner was unwilling to cooperate. As for the code you don't bring back, do what you can, know that you can't save everyone and figure out a constructive way to release stress.
 
Montbell said:
I agree, and that is why I am here. If I get this upset when a partner freaks out on me what will happen to my view of this job (or even life) when I am unable to resuscitate my first pediatric arrest?

I do not have a set partner. Since I pick up all of the unwanted shifts I have a totally different partner every shift.
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Unfortunately a situation we all face, Cardiac arrest of all ages. Pre-hospital arrests are rarely successful. I know for a fact I have probably ran hundreds of cardiac arrests in my career. I got return of pulses on 5 as far as extubated and walking out of the hospital and living a productive life

My first peds arrest freaked me too, I just took a step back and breathed deep and worked to the best of my ability, If your partner has a problem with that she is of the same level of certification I would gladly say if you don't like the way I do it. Your more than welcome to come over and be the lead tech on this call..
 
The first pedi arrest wasn't he hard one. The last one I ran messed me up though.
 
I had a pedi code on Wednesday. The baby was a month younger than my 4 month old. It rocked me. :/
 
DEmedic said:
I had a pedi code on Wednesday. The baby was a month younger than my 4 month old. It rocked me. :/
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Caught that the other day, in the no topic thread. It does mess with you. My kids are older now 9 and 6 but it always hits home when I get a pediatric patient. The worst one for me was a CO poisoning that had a 8 and 6 yr old the 8 yr old was less responsive but the 6 yr old reminded me exactly of my son kinda happy go lucky. and rambunctious
 
Does anyone else get the sense that cumulative stress may be a big factor in the OP's life? Granted, they haven't been in the field that long, but I have a hard time believing that one partner's behavior is responsible for the way they are feeling.

Until recently, I hadn't given a lot of thought to the whole stress/PTSD aspect of the job. I figured that we all had some really :censored::censored::censored::censored:ty experiences that we had to work through, and that was that. I mean, I went through my own period of burnout through the years, and still have calls that haunt me to this day. There were absolutely times that I dreaded going to work, and I can remember attributing that feeling to something that a coworker did or some other incident.

But the more I reflect on my career, the more I realize that most of those burnout/dread moments are probably attributable to high-stress calls that I went through rather than what I was actually blaming as the cause. My wife has become fairly adept a seeking out the source of my psychological unease over the years, and I am learning that it can take weeks, months or sometimes even years for my stress to manifest. Perhaps the stress of being in a new career where we routinely see people on the worst day of their lives is affecting the OP? Maybe their partner's behavior was the so-called "last straw" that finally punched their stress button.
 
It sounds like like you are experiencing a reaction to stress. This is a stressful profession, not only because of the things we see and deal with, but also because of the hours, shifts, random work patterns, sleep depravation, etc. etc.. We all have worked with that person you had the driving issue with, but don't let that affect you or your dedication to work. There are unprofessional and rude people in every job.
I doubt your patient care skills have been affected but your empathy towards some has been. That's completely normal. We all see the patients that have caused their own medical issues through years of excess and we have all picked up the drunk that really doesn't need an ambulance and will ring again tomorrow and the next day and so on. I will be the first to admit that I have looked at some of these patients as a waste of my time but it never affected my treatment of them. It's part of the job and in time you'll accept that we not only treat acute cases if illness and injury but we see loads of social cases also.
Don't let these incidents cloud what drove you to become a paramedic.
 
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OP, a few hipshots:

Hard as it sounds, you must be able to disengage your emotions. If you were at BurgerKink, you wouldn't feel angry selling a burger to a heavy person. That's part of professionalism and doing what you are paid for. Besides, impartiality is implicit in what health care providers do. Don't identify with patients, don't judge them against either you aspirations or fears.

Your co-worker (NOT a "partner", by far!) needs to have another co-worker. Like maybe one of the managers. Just tell them you request not to be scheduled with that person anymore, don't drop the dime on what's happening unless it can be done anonymously or it seems to be a good idea to you (such as if that person begins to make your "workplace hostile", hint hint).

Ask if "bottom scraping" (getting all the leftover shifts and doubling-back a lot) is part of getting into the staffing rotation or is it part of life there. If it's for newbies, ask how long it usually lasts, then mark your calendar.

PS: enlist your boss as a mentor, or get your boss to suggest one.

With 100 employees, that is a wide expanse of control for presumably one or two managers. Nonetheless, start to look around especially as you accrue more experience so if another company gets your attention, go for it with no hard feelings, not waiting for a crash (literally).
 
Montbell said:
I am anonymously requesting your feedback because I am unable to discuss this topic with any friends, family, or employees.

I recently graduated paramedic school and have been working with my current employer for less than seven months (we are an ambulance service on the outskirts of a big city with ~100 paramedics, ~5 calls in a 12hr shift). I did not work as an EMT prior to medic school. Even though medic school was very tough and frightening at times I enjoyed almost every minute of it. I was so happy to get hired at such a great service as a fresh medic and I LOVED coming to work for the first 6 months until one really terrible shift:

I was working with a veteran paramedic that I have never worked with before and the night was going great until I noticed that she was doing something VERY unsafe and I requested that she stop what she was doing (there was no patient in the ambulance). This person’s reaction was very unprofessional and we both were angry at each other for the rest of the night.

Ever since this occurrence I am sickened with the idea of going back to work. Now I can’t stop thinking about all of the things that I hate about being a paramedic. For example:

---Driving emergently at 0300 while trying to decipher what is reality and what are remnants of my dreams.

---Pretending to feel sorry for a patient with COPD due to 60 years of smoking.

---Being unbelted in the back with a partner who thinks code-3 driving means that they should drive like they are in a rally race.

---Working an overnight shift one day then working a day shift the next and then getting called in at 1am to work a shift at 4am.

I can’t stand being a paramedic. Is this just a phase that all new medics go through? Because I went through a lot of work to get where I am and I am considering throwing it all away.
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No this usually sets in after a year or so. If you are feeling this way already, get out now!!!! I am at 4.5 years and actually have an exit plan now and I couldn't be happier about it!!
 
emschick1985 said:
No this usually sets in after a year or so. If you are feeling this way already, get out now!!!! I am at 4.5 years and actually have an exit plan now and I couldn't be happier about it!!
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Please check dates of thread before replying.
 
OregonEMT said:
your partner texting while driving is not a very common isolated incident that leads to instant hate of a profession.
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Having gone through something similar, as a new employee, your first big argument with a partner can be the moment when the bottom drops out and you realize you're working in a toxic culture: no one cares about your safety concerns, no one's there to advocate for you, and all management sees is two employees arguing, one senior and one new.

That will make you hate your job almost instantly. The solution is to find a new company quickly (without quitting), or if you won't do that, find a new partner immediately.
 
MonkeyArrow said:
You and I have both responded to the thread you linked and there is no general consensus, as seen by the wide array of answers.
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The consensus of the Community Leaders is that if people wish to make on topic responses to old threads, they are free to do so.
 
beano said:
I just wonder how people even find these threads.
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The search function. Another tool we berate people for not using.
 
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