Is lifting a necessary job for volunteers?

[Handsome Robb]

Are you serious or joking? When has a primary care pediatrician ever had to lift a patient? I know MANY physicians who have my same metabolic condition and work fine at their job. I find it funny that some of you would find me useless for not be able to load a stretcher into an ambulance by myself. It makes no sense. My service allows people to do 'observation' shifts where they sit by and just watch...talk about useless. Not every single call is ALS, half of my calls on my last shift were BLS. That means even if you are a paramedic, your scope of practice will not exceed mine during that call. Remember this is EMS, and it's not like the movies. I contacted the supervisor, and she was perfectly okay with it (by the way).

Thanks for the helpful comments from some of you. Others were just unhelpful, rude, and false.

You my friend just burned a bunch of bridges. You asked a question and we answered. Just because you eventually want to be a doctor doesn't make you any better or smarter than any of us. Quite to the contrary actually you sound like a whiney little teenager, and that's coming from a 22 year old. How long have you volunteered for? You don't know everything about this job so don't act like you do.

Honestly in my opinion I am not a fan of 3rd riders. It makes my job harder, not easier, because I have to watch you and make sure you aren't doing something dumb or putting yourself or the rest of the crew in danger. It adds one more thing for us to have to pay attention to.

Don't ask for help then lash out when you don't like the answer you get.

Sure a call can be BLS but the medic is still responsible for everything that happens on that truck, not you. You are to a degree but in the end it's all going to come back on that medic, so yes their "scope of practice" far exceeds yours.

 

[JPINFV]

Are you serious or joking? When has a primary care pediatrician ever had to lift a patient?

You still have to get there, and that involves 2 years of rotations where the majority of the time you aren't in a pediatric rotation. There's also the off service rotations during your residency.

I know MANY physicians who have my same metabolic condition and work fine at their job. I find it funny that some of you would find me useless for not be able to load a stretcher into an ambulance by myself. It makes no sense. My service allows people to do 'observation' shifts where they sit by and just watch...talk about useless.

Yes, someone who is just sitting by and observing isn't being useful and isn't a member of the team. When I did my ambulance and ER clinicals, I didn't immediately assume that I was a member of that crew just because I was there for 8 hours.

Not every single call is ALS, half of my calls on my last shift were BLS.

...and how many of the BLS calls could just as easily been handled by a taxi driver?

That means even if you are a paramedic, your scope of practice will not exceed mine during that call.

The call does not determine scope of practice, the license does. Just because a paramedic level intervention isn't necessarily indicated doesn't mean the scope of practice changes.

Remember this is EMS, and it's not like the movies. I contacted the supervisor, and she was perfectly okay with it (by the way).

 

[jjesusfreak01]

I'll answer the original question...

I have ridden with a variety of partners. I am perfectly happy, and often prefer, to do lifts into the stretcher myself (I know that I will do it right). That said, some of my partners prefer to do 2-person lifts all of the time. If they want to do that, I am happy to oblige. My advice would be to be honest with your crewmates, let them know that you would prefer to have assistance when doing lifts into the truck, and see how they react to that. If you always have three people, then its pretty dang easy, so there shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Bullets]

Just because you volunteer or get paid has nothing to do with whether you lift or not. Lifting and moving is a integral part of EMS, should you be unable to lift then you are effectively useless as a crew member. I can do everything short of CPR by myself in the back of a truck, it just requires a little more thought management.

At the agency i FTO, we have recently included a lifting and moving portion of the entrance exam, and people have failed and not been hired because of it despite excellent written and practical test scores. It is a package deal and moving a patient is part of EMS treatment.

If you are looking to gain experience through volunteerism, expect to be assigned some form of movement or lifting role. I have worked many special events, Marathons, multi-day music festivals, ect and volunteers are usually assigned to move coolers, equipment, supplies or even patients from triage to treatment to transport areas. Those with some medical training like First Aid may be used in the tents, but mostly to take vital signs, or record stuff.

Though you intend to become a pediatrician, you are not currently, and even so, unless you are my medical director or a paramedic, you will not be the highest authority in the field. Even as a MD or DO, unless your my medical director, unless you are willing to transport with me, you do not outrank me.

As said before, if you are near it, grab it.

 

[AlphaButch]

If you're on an ambulance, lifting and loading is one of your primary skills. It's also the one you'll use the most.

At my agency, even an EMT-B's scope of practice would exceed a volunteer (or any third party who hasn't been cleared by our med control). IF an MD is riding and they want to assume full patient care, they have a higher scope due to their licensure but not necessarily a right to practice in my truck (think of it similiar to the "rights" an MD gets to work at certain hospitals).

That said, like jesusfreak, I prefer that myself or one of my partners who have gained my full confidence do the loading and unloading of patients, as well as the rolling of the stretcher from point A to point B. I've found that alot of people consider it the simplest thing to do and don't put much thought into it, which causes a higher amount of errors to occur. Most of the accidents and injuries that occur at services in my city are during patient loading and unloading (to/from the stretcher, to/from the ambulance).

If you're a ride-along with me, you'd better be useful in some way or you'll spend the whole time doing gopher work or waiting in the truck (and I don't care what your cert/license level is). If it's a big patient, sure, ask for help. If it's a 110 pounder, and you can't handle it, you're just another liability.

I would recommend that if you want to do clinicals that don't involve the level of physical activity required in EMS or even IFT work, go do them at a hospital. Not everyone is suited to ride on a truck, just like not everyone is suited to work on a floor (I know I don't fit in there). It's not good or bad, but it just is.

 

[RocketMedic]

EMS is not an equal-opportunity field, Futureparamedic12. Some people can't do this job. If you have a problem that physically keeps you from meeting fundamental job requirements, you're useless at best, a liability at worst.

If you really want to continue in health care, at any level, you have 2 options.
1. Some sort of obscure specialty where you literally never have to do anything physical- perhaps in medical administration?
2. Suck it up and work around it. I can't think of very many metabolic disorders that would leave a person completely functional until a single lift, at which point it puts them in mortal danger. (Protip- if your lifting is putting you in mortal danger or even making you sweat on a routine basis, you're doing it wrong).

 

[RocketMedic]

Are you serious or joking? When has a primary care pediatrician ever had to lift a patient? I know MANY physicians who have my same metabolic condition and work fine at their job. I find it funny that some of you would find me useless for not be able to load a stretcher into an ambulance by myself. It makes no sense. My service allows people to do 'observation' shifts where they sit by and just watch...talk about useless. Not every single call is ALS, half of my calls on my last shift were BLS. That means even if you are a paramedic, your scope of practice will not exceed mine during that call. Remember this is EMS, and it's not like the movies. I contacted the supervisor, and she was perfectly okay with it (by the way).

Thanks for the helpful comments from some of you. Others were just unhelpful, rude, and false.

Last night, at my part time job, three times. ER doc helps us move a lot of folks.

 

[bigbaldguy]

A volunteer should be held to the same standards as a paid employee because

A. It's the only fair thing to do.
B. If they aren't the paid folks will make your life absolutely miserable

I'd look for a way to gain experience off the truck.

Oh and just FYI my gf is a pediatrician and the meer thought of her not helping lift a patient makes me giggle. She can probably lift more than I can and I wouldn't be surprised if she could tear a phone book in half.

 

[heatherabel3]

I walked into the fire station on base a few days ago to talk to them about our Cub Scout pack coming to visit and I had been in the bay about 2 minutes when one of the guys yelled at me to "toss me that bag" and I was there as a parent. So, yeah, pretty sure as someone actually on duty lifting is going to be expected of you.

 

[abckidsmom]

A volunteer should be held to the same standards as a paid employee because

A. It's the only fair thing to do.
B. If they aren't the paid folks will make your life absolutely miserable

I'd look for a way to gain experience off the truck.

Oh and just FYI my gf is a pediatrician and the meer thought of her not helping lift a patient makes me giggle. She can probably lift more than I can and I wouldn't be surprised if she could tear a phone book in half.

Tearing a phone book is more about technique and less about strength. It's a remarkable party trick, though.