Identify yourself as an EMT to dispatcher when off duty?

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MikeEMTB

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I know how most of you feel about identifying yourself as a medical professional while off duty to people on a scene, if you so choose to stop and render aid whether it be MVA/Cardiac arrest etc. I'm not looking to open the already beaten discussion of whether or not you stop, but if you do stop or at the very least call 911, do you see any reason or benefit to identifying yourself as an EMT/Paramedic/FF to the dispatcher while off duty? If there are any dispatchers here to weigh in would that make you more likely to listen if the person requested specific resources I.e. extrication needed/Air ambulance needed?
 
I don't carry a radio while off-duty, so there is no reason for me to speak to the dispatcher in the first place. I'm not going to use the radio of the personnel who were dispatched.

Should I be making the call over the phone, there is no reason for me to ID myself. Because I'm outside of the system while not working, I'm acting strictly in the first responder role.

From the point of view of a dispatcher, an unknown person IDs as an Emergency physician/nurse/whatever. Is that enough to make you deviate from the disptach protocol, or are you going to wait until the boots on the ground make it to the scene?
 
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Actually, in that case I would. I know in instances when I've been responding when the dispatcher informs me that there is an off-duty paramedic on scene I tend to give that information a little more weight
 
If I'm out of my area the no, I will just call 911 directly. It doesn't make a difference if you say your John Q Citizen or an off duty medic/EMT.

If I'm in my area then I will just call my dispatch center directly. I can get whatever resources I need from that.
 
I have at times. I have generally just used the line, "I'm an off duty paramedic with (company)" They know the local companies and departments, and I get what feels like more credibility when speaking to them - generally because once I start telling them what is going on it flows as their dispatch notes would like a mini EMD triage. I've called and also not identified myself, and why I try to speak I get the typical 17 million details questions. There is only a slight difference with the crews... If it is a crew from a private agency... Its smooth. If it's a fire crew I've had mixed dealings; either you get the ricky rescue perception or they are interested in what limited info you can give them.

Generally, if anyone else is on the scene I will not stop... I don't have equipment, and am off duty with no role but a first responder. I'm not talking about fender benders either, I'll never call unless someone would actually benefit from my intervention. The experiences I'm talking about only happened about 3-4 times that I've either witnessed or been the first to roll up on just by coincidence.
 
I worked as a dispatcher for a small public agency for many years. One of the "advantages" of my job was that I had all the non-public allied line phone numbers. I wouldn't call 911... I'd call one of the direct lines in and identify myself appropriately and I wouldn't get the 17 million questions, I'd get to simply give a report of info that I knew and that I could relay any questions necessary. If I was off-duty at the time, I'd do essentially the same thing and provide the report. The dispatcher would save me the 17 million questions and it would make the whole process go much more quickly and smoothly. On the response side, I usually could sense a bit of a difference in how the dispatcher would provide info. It would usually sound more like a report from the field than the triage card-generated stuff. That would prompt me to give a little more weight to the info I'd gotten over the radio...
 
If I am in the relatively rural area that I usually work in I'll call the dispatch center directly once I know about how many patients there are, "Hey it's Tigger with EMS, got a traffic accident for you, highway 24 mile 277, start fire and an ambulance please, 2 patients." They usually let me hang up then and realistically that's all the crews care about. If it's non-injury I'll have them advise the responding crews of that and they can cancel. In general though if I stop I just tell someone to call 911 while I go do vaguely EMS/ricky rescue things. "Your neck hurts? Ok sit tight an ambulance will be here soon."

In the city I work part time in I just call 911 or let someone else, there are too many dispatchers and I doubt any would recognize me.
 
Some of you guys are saying you would call your dispatch center directly.. so instead of 911 if you're in your immediate area you'd call your local emergency communications center?
 
MikeEMTB said:
Some of you guys are saying you would call your dispatch center directly.. so instead of 911 if you're in your immediate area you'd call your local emergency communications center?
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Yes.

Calling 911 on a cell phone here will put you thru to the highway patrol. Highway patrol will then transfer your call the the fire dispatch center. Fire will ask a lot of questions and start you on their EMD protocols (if chest pain give ASA. If no pulse start CPR).

Calling my dispatch directly is much faster and easier. "Hey its medic Jon, I'm off duty, can you start me fire, PD, and 2 ambulances for a TC at this intersection? Thanks, bye".

No matter what a normal 911 caller states we only send one ambulance to the call (the amount of fire engines will vary)
 
As above. In my local area I would call the dispatcher direct and ID myself and give a report.

When out if area I might go so far as "I have some first aid training" and let them know any pertinent findings. But generally no, not any more than your average 911 caller.
 
Only have once because I was in the middle of nowhere in my district and knew the patient needed to be flown out based on their presentation and condition. Had the bird there before our ground unit was there.
But that was also a service that at the time required all providers to carry a kit up to their level and had full authority to perform als/micu statewide, with the expectation that you would stop if in district and saw an event
 
When I stop and am the initial caller to 911, in the state of FL I do identify myself. If 911 has already been called but I realize something more is needed than what the initial caller knew, I will place a second call, identify myself and request the appropriate resources.

We do have state wide trauma alert protocols so this would typically be the only time I do this. Calling a Trauma Alert helps with faster and more appropriate access. While off duty, I have activated a helicopter simply by giving the size up, my name and license number and then issuing the command.

I have also requested second transport units and second engine on confirmed entrapments.

At the end of the day, no matter what you say, ultimately it will be up to the dispatcher to make a decision based on how you sound, how quick they might be able to verify you, pass to a supervisor for final decision or simply take your info "under advisement".

There is always the risk of an idiot calling for massive backup due to over reaction, ignorance or both...and causing major issues for all.
 
Like everyone else has said, if I am in my area I will call the direct line and tell the dispatcher who I am, most of my dispatchers know me because we are all in the same building and they tend to come over for food when we make a lot. and request exactly what I need. If I am not in my area, I normally dont call because someone already has (If I cant confirm that anyone has called I will call as the initial) unless I know additional resources will be needed, and I give them that information and an update on the scene so the responding units can request what they need.
 
Clinical Control Call Handlers use a modified triage process for Doctors, Registered Nurses, Midwives and Ambulance Officers who are call 111 provided that a complete patient assessment and clinical diagnosis has been made.

It's called the SEND Protocol.

It asks something like: what is the diagnosis? do you need an under lights response? how quickly do you need a response> (8 minutes, 20 minutes, up to two hours).

Have not used it personally.
 
If I call 911 for an ambulance I identify myself so I don't need to go through the MPDS hassle.
 
I do as others have described... with that said, I know the call takers and dispatchers must follow EMD procedures, and don't want to force them to break their workflow or be dinged in compliance. With that said, I'm familiar enough with MPDS that I prompt in the order of their questions. Unless in my own district, I see no reason to identify myself, but hope the calm, confidence and organization of my call lends the call taker to trust my report. I'd rather earn the respect than demand it.
I learned this the hard way a few years ago, when calling in a bicyclist struck outside my district. I knew all the relevant information to say, and gave it all, but it was in an order that was not useful for the call taker and was inadvertently labeled as a difficult caller - and could hear the frustration at the other end of the line. As soon as I shut up and let them direct the conversation, everything went smoothly. That delayed the call and activation of resources.

Around where I work, we have exceptional call takers and dispatchers-- just like we get frustrated when given incomplete or seeming contradictory information by the "voice in the black box", they are limited by the information they can access-- and are only as efficient as their procedures. I know dispatch undergoes as much (if not significantly more!) continuous quality assurance as I do in the field, and have confidence in the systems to work with the goal of optimizing care.
 
Only time I'll identify myself is if I need something special like a helicopter or extrication. Otherwise just give them a run down of what's going on and be on my way. Only called a handful of times.
 
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