Immature EMTs

When I was 18 years old I'm sure that I wasn't exactly a shining example of maturity either. That said, I'm 34 and still a kid inside (although Mr. Professional outside of course).

Remember - Men don't grow up, we just get bigger. ^_^
 
MrBrown said:
Brown thoroughly believes that people who are older and have gotten some life experience make exponentially better Ambulance Officers.

Those who do not have the appropriate amount of experience for such a role are disproportionatly represented by the young
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I agree there are a lot of younger immature people. However not all. Just because I'm 21 does that mean I shouldn't be the lead medic on my truck? As well as a lieutenant for my shift?
 
emtchick171 said:
I agree there are a lot of younger immature people. However not all. Just because I'm 21 does that mean I shouldn't be the lead medic on my truck? As well as a lieutenant for my shift?
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I got my paramedic license when i was 19. I turned out allright
 
Lifeguards For Life said:
I got my paramedic license when i was 19. I turned out allright
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I got my medic when I was 19 also, busted my butt to get to where I am today...and apparently my shift supervisor saw something in me to give me lieutenant position. There's a 17 year old that has just finished emt class and she is also very mature for her age, so I think it's all a case-by-case situation. I don't think someone can accurately decide that all "young medics/emts" are immature
 
You know there is also the argument that no matter how mature, professional and qualified you are if you look like a kid people won't take you seriously. I am by far the least qualified, least experienced person on any of the crews I run with but because I am generally the oldest and biggest in any given situation I'm usually the one people come to for info be it police or family on scene or a nurse or doctor in the ER. This isn't always a bad thing as I'm often able to distract family members by speaking with them while my far more qualified partners work on the patient. I can see that it can be very frustrating for very young looking EMS professionals though. I see this especially when I run with small framed female medics. On scene it must sometimes feel like they are invisible because even after I make it as clear as possible that "she's in charge" the first responders on scene and often bystanders still default to me as the person to run things by. This is not unique to the EMS field though. I run into this all the time in my airline job. I will be standing at the front of the plane in my flight attendant outfit saying good bye to people with a female captain in her pilot uniform complete with stripes on shoulders fancy jacket and even a nifty hat and invariably someone will look at her look at me then reach out to shake my hand and say something along the lines of "nice landing captain".
 
emtchick171 said:
I agree there are a lot of younger immature people. However not all. Just because I'm 21 does that mean I shouldn't be the lead medic on my truck? As well as a lieutenant for my shift?
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Brown doesn't know you so can't say

Our experience (as well as Australia and the UK) has been for nearly the last four decades that we only employed older people who had gotten work and life experience which we believed (rightly or wrongly) made them better at the core functions of an Ambulance Officer: people skills, decision making, maturity and self accountability.

Brown (and the majority of AOs) believe that we were right because in our collective experience the introduction of mandated higher education over vocational training has seen an influx of young students and graduate paramedics who are about 22 years of age.

Again, the collective experience put forward at the ACAP/IRCP conference from Charles Sturt University (NSW), the Justice Institute (BC) and here in NZ is that many problems stem from a lack of maturity in young students and applicants.

Brown knows several Ambulance Officers including an Intensive Care Paramedic who are young (comparative to what was considered the norm) and they are bloody fantastic so its a bit hit and miss.

Truth be told Brown was once turned down from the Ambulance Service for needing more "life experience".
 
I often think that "mature" can be a strong word for anyone in this field :P
 
I think it's best to be able to take almost anything seriously,
and to be able to take almost anything not seriously.


I really respect the type of guy that can keep a straight face through almost anything, and one that remembers that...a lot of times.... it could be you on the other end.
 
Personally, I feel age has made me far better at the non-clinical aspects of patient care. I'm far less judgmental, am more tolerant of non-emergent type calls, and generally put more emphasis on what we can do "for" the patient rather than "to" them. Most GOOD paramedics I know who started at a young age share similar stories. There's no way in hell you could have told me this at 20 though.

Ask me if age has made me more tolerant of bad paramedicine though ;).
 
I can certainly understand OP's frustration. I was in the situation the other day where our pt had to be transported from his nursing home to the oncology center at the local hospital for radiation. when we got there, we found that his cath bag was completely full. I, never surprised when a CNA fails to do his/her job, just grab a urinal and empty the bag. No biggie, not causing a fuss, just doing what needs to be done for the pts good. My partner didn't seem to agree and said that I was wasting our time in front of the pt. UG.
 
I would certainly say that working in EMS requires a certain standard of maturity. It's very high visibility, very exposed to public perception, and the last thing you want to do is give the impression that you aren't taking your job seriously, or worse, not competent to perform it. A patient needs to be reassured that you're a professional in every capacity. All civilian EMS personnel I've ever dealt with have been excellent, professional, courteous, and so on. Keeping this perception is important, especially at city/county agencies where EMS budgets are decided by the voters. Something to keep in mind.
 
usafmedic45 said:
That's what happens when you have a "dozen" or so 16-17 y/o EMTs. About 0.01% of EMTs under 18 y/o are anything I would even begin to approximate as "mature". Hell, only about 5% of EMTs under 30 y/o are so....
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I'd like to think I fall into that five percent.. at least some times.
 
Well to me it all depends on where you are. When we're at the station or alone in the rig we joke around and do some pretty "immature" stuff but never reckless. The second we're with a patient it's nothing but professionalism, sometimes we'll try to get some humor out of the situation but only if the patient starts the joking. We also watch ourselves out in public like @ dunkin doughnuts or wawa. We're mostly twenty-somethings on for 10-12 hours in a town where it can either be non-stop calls or dead silence for the entire shift, we need something to occupy ourselves.
 
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NVRob said:
Don't blanket statement younger people please. There are plenty of younger EMTs and medics on here that are very mature for their age.

To say that a 'twentysomething' emt/medic have no maturity, is disrespectful and rude, to be honest, borderline immature as well.
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Thank you Rob! You beat me to it. lol
 
Life skills are the most important aspect of being a good Ambulance Officer. Young people Brown has seen often struggle and have difficulty relating to patients.

You need life skills, experience and maturity which a lot of young people just do not have. This also has an impact on people who want to just rip in and do everything to everybody when clinical conservatisim may in fact be best and again, this is disproportionately seen in young people who are overzealous and gung ho.

Sorry if this sounds negative for the young people who are keen but when you sit there staring across the back of the vehicle from a patient and cannot strike up a conversation or relate to them or understand them, say inappropriate things or can't do the dishes on station because Mum has always done them for you perhaps you are not in the right place.
 
if there is a crap job in the medical field I have done it. The thing most people in the medical field tend to forget is that we are here to help and make a positive difference in peoples lives. You may not like wiping up after people but you do it anyway. There is a little saying we throw around here "Saving lives and Making a Difference", and our county FD's motto is "A Concern for Others." When you stop wanting to make a difference and stop having a concern for others IMO you need to find a new line of work. It is one thing to let off steam in the truck but its another to disrespect someone to their face.
 
MrBrown said:
Life skills are the most important aspect of being a good Ambulance Officer. Young people Brown has seen often struggle and have difficulty relating to patients.
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I think a huge part of the problem is that older people(patients) simply do not place as much trust in younger medical workers as they do older ones. Face it, one of the last shreds of control over a bad situation for a patient might be to distrust or condescend a younger looking emt.
 
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