Major Issue With New Partner

[Milla3P]

Removed

 

[mycrofft]

I have been in this situation in the past, as a senior EMT with a new EMT, prior to me being a paramedic. best action is to write everything that you saw, heard, and said. sign it, and deliver it to both your direct supervisor and your risk manager, have them sign that they received said letter. I would also state that I am refusing to work with said individual due to safety concerns. get a copy signed by each individual whom you delivered it to. they are now on the hook and when you get paired together in the future you can refuse citing your prior notification that this person puts your safety in danger. I wish you the best of luck.

Perfect in my humble opinion. Carry a little notebook and make note of any conversations he has where he seems to be trying to intimidate or placate you, stuff he does. Don't let him leave a dirty rig or screw up the narcs count etc. to sabotage you, if you work with him keep an eye open and check everything after he leaves.

He may straighten out, but my quarter's on the square that says "Needs reemployment cure".

 

[waaaemt]

yeesh. isn't this guy on probation if he's new? as in he can (and should) get fired for any little thing? Also that's the stupidest thing i've heard, you "letting it happen" i mean you tried stopping it and hurt your hand!

 

[Youngin]

yeesh. isn't this guy on probation if he's new? as in he can (and should) get fired for any little thing? Also that's the stupidest thing i've heard, you "letting it happen" i mean you tried stopping it and hurt your hand!

If new EMTs got fired for "any little thing" that happened, every new EMT would be fired during their probationary period.

On the other hand, sounds like the OP's partner has had quite a few second chances to shape up. Hopefully you don't have to work with him again and your boss decides to listen to you and let him go.

 

[waaaemt]

If new EMTs got fired for "any little thing" that happened, every new EMT would be fired during their probationary period.

On the other hand, sounds like the OP's partner has had quite a few second chances to shape up. Hopefully you don't have to work with him again and your boss decides to listen to you and let him go.

touche! i guess not really any little thing i mean more so big things like dropping a Pt. but then again it's a county service so it would likely be union and etc etc.

 

[SeaFoam]

yeesh. isn't this guy on probation if he's new? as in he can (and should) get fired for any little thing? Also that's the stupidest thing i've heard, you "letting it happen" i mean you tried stopping it and hurt your hand!

He is on probation, I'm not sure what the deal is. Of course I saw my supervisor fall asleep in our refresher class yesterday, so....

touche! i guess not really any little thing i mean more so big things like dropping a Pt. but then again it's a county service so it would likely be union and etc etc.

Nope, no union. I don't normally care for them, since the only experience I've had with one wasn't good at all - but starting one may be a good idea at this point.

 

[SeaFoam]

Ahh another update...

He asked me, "do you want lights and siren????" at midnight, with a stable, DNR patient. I told him absolutely not, he waited until I was turned around doing stuff and flipped the lights on, throwing me all over the back of the rig.. Nothing was done, again.

Then the other night he decided to watch a sex scene, pausing it and leaving it in full view of anyone walking in the door. What did they do? Took the WiFi away from everyone, including patients and their families. No reprimand for him at all.

I think it's time to look elsewhere.

 

[Handsome Robb]

Ahh another update...

He asked me, "do you want lights and siren????" at midnight, with a stable, DNR patient. I told him absolutely not, he waited until I was turned around doing stuff and flipped the lights on, throwing me all over the back of the rig.. Nothing was done, again.

Then the other night he decided to watch a sex scene, pausing it and leaving it in full view of anyone walking in the door. What did they do? Took the WiFi away from everyone, including patients and their families. No reprimand for him at all.

I think it's time to look elsewhere.

Unauthorized use of red lights and sirens is a fireable offense here. Certainly would result in an unpaid vacation, that's for sure. Authorization comes from dispatch or the Paramedic In Charge, it's not up to the EMT to make that decision, sorry.

Might be worth going to the BBB and DOH about it if your company isn't doing anything about it. Not only about your partner but the company as a whole, that's downright scary they'd let someone like that continue to operate in the field after so many offenses without remedial training and disciplinary action.

 

[Medic Tim]

Ahh another update...

He asked me, "do you want lights and siren????" at midnight, with a stable, DNR patient. I told him absolutely not, he waited until I was turned around doing stuff and flipped the lights on, throwing me all over the back of the rig.. Nothing was done, again.

Then the other night he decided to watch a sex scene, pausing it and leaving it in full view of anyone walking in the door. What did they do? Took the WiFi away from everyone, including patients and their families. No reprimand for him at all.

I think it's time to look elsewhere.

Wow. Just Wow.
I would have have been done at the driving part. Refused to work another second with him. IF the bosses didnt like it. To bad. Not sure how it works there but here you cannot be reprimanded for refusing to perform unsafe work. Buddy needs to grow up.

 

[RocketMedic]

we have plenty of openings here...

 

[Handsome Robb]

Wow. Just Wow.
I would have have been done at the driving part. Refused to work another second with him. IF the bosses didnt like it. To bad. Not sure how it works there but here you cannot be reprimanded for refusing to perform unsafe work. Buddy needs to grow up.

Not to mention he blatantly disregarded instructions from a higher level provider, who is ultimately responsible for everything that happens on that ambulance, and directly endangered himself, his partner and the patient by his actions. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars, go straight to jail.

Sure, the paramedic is not technically their partner's supervisor, but like I said, we are responsible for their actions in the end. I hate to pull that card and be "that guy" but it says "Paramedic Unit" on the side of my truck, not "EMT Unit". Unless I'm telling you to do something that is harmful or dangerous what I say goes.

What happened to "Do no harm"?

As far as the unsafe work environment, I'm sure OSHA would love to hear what you have to say.

 

[Tigger]

I know the OP is a medic so this doesn't apply, but I will point out that these situations can be a massive pain on a BLS truck.

We do not have an "EMT in charge" position where I work. If both EMTs can drive, then both are in charge. Smart people defer to the partner with more company experience, but I've had a partner or two with weeks on that came from another company that was just hell to work with as I have no authority beyond my "advice" beyond "if you keep doing that the supervisor will be paying us a visit." And that's just the recipe for a crappy day.

Even 1 week experience guys will question everything because there is approximation of authority on the truck and everything can be backed up with "we both wear the same patch."

 

[Glucatron]

Give him another chance and then proceed to whatever you would like to do.

I wouldn't! He sounds truly dangerous. I would plain refuse and tell my captain that it ain't worth my life! Not only that, while my partner and might switch off on BLS calls I will never push a call on him! I'm still the EMT. This guy seriously sounds like bad news...

 

[OregonEMT]

Sounds to me if you are documenting all of this, and making sure you're superiors at the top of the chain are aware of his actions and doing nothing, it might be time to find a new job.

Or, if he is not getting terminated for his actions, it leads me to believe you won't either if you just flat out refuse to work with him.

 

[ZombieEMT]

I think the biggest mistake at this point is that you continue to stay. As many have said, if they company neglects to act, they are just as bad. I would say it is best to remove yourself from that situation. Is you life worth the job? There are others out there.

 

[emt11]

Ahh another update...

He asked me, "do you want lights and siren????" at midnight, with a stable, DNR patient. I told him absolutely not, he waited until I was turned around doing stuff and flipped the lights on, throwing me all over the back of the rig.. Nothing was done, again.

Then the other night he decided to watch a sex scene, pausing it and leaving it in full view of anyone walking in the door. What did they do? Took the WiFi away from everyone, including patients and their families. No reprimand for him at all.

I think it's time to look elsewhere.

Taking into account that you said you work for a hospital based service and everything you said. It sounds like your "partner" has a very good friend or family member somewhere in the hospitals upper management(ie. CEO, CFO, etc). While I have thankfully not had partners as bad as you have described, I have seen and had friends tell me of rather awful partners that got away with a lot due knowing the right people.

 

[rattlesnakejake]

You know, I'm a new emt myself. I guess you can call it being a kiss *** if you want to, but I try to do everything to make life easier for the medics. Eventually becoming a medic is my ultimate goal. I haven't spent much time riding with the medics(yesterday was the first) but I'll take all the experience and help I can get from them to be where I wanna be. At least that's how I look at it. I was told when I first started, to get really familiar with the stretcher. To pull it in and out of the aid unit 20 times a day. Dumping a patient is not an option.

 

[ZombieEMT]

You know, I'm a new emt myself. I guess you can call it being a kiss *** if you want to, but I try to do everything to make life easier for the medics. Eventually becoming a medic is my ultimate goal. I haven't spent much time riding with the medics(yesterday was the first) but I'll take all the experience and help I can get from them to be where I wanna be. At least that's how I look at it. I was told when I first started, to get really familiar with the stretcher. To pull it in and out of the aid unit 20 times a day. Dumping a patient is not an option.

I am the same way. I work for an IFT and occassionally work and a SCT truck with a nurse. I want to learn as much as I can while on the SCT truck. When on EMS calls with paramedics, its the same. I help as much as I can and ask questions, and ask them to teach. Most nurses/paramedics are on board. As for the stretcher thing, practice makes perfect. In my volly squad, I do a lot of training on the volly end and we regularly go over competancies at the BLS level.

 

[Lazer]

First of all, I'm new here - so, hello! I've been in EMS for 11 years now, straight out of high school and don't want to do anything else. Still love it just as much as when I started.

Anyways, I work for a county service. I like everyone, of course there's little annoyances here and there, but no major problems.

That isn't the case any longer. They hired a new EMT (first job new), who has made it through orientation and was placed with me for the first time this weekend. Now, I don't care what your personality is or what your personal life consists of, as long as you are safe, appropriately treat the patient and give them respect. I've had some real dirtballs for partners in the past (the last one robbed a gas station). This guy seems nice enough, very intelligent, but zero social skills - which is fine (though he told me he's a 'burned out type-A').

We had a patient walk into the ER with bad head trauma, everything came back normal, all the CTs were clear and his vitals hadn't changed in several hours. They wanted us to take the patient to the trauma center for neuro monitoring. There were no orders during transport, so it was an EMT level transfer. This is where the issues started.

The EMT actually said to me "I call driver", I *never* pull the Paramedic/seniority card, but I did on this. I told him that he isn't calling anything and that he's taking this patient. Now I don't know where he came off arguing with me, but I told him it was the end of the conversation. Apparently that wasn't good enough for him, so he ran to the RN and told her to make me take it... She told him she wouldn't tell me to do anything and that there's no reason for me to take it (there wasn't even an IV). So he started to pout about that... Whatever. They decided they wanted an IV and NS running, so I started that while we were in the ER (we are hospital based) - he's the new EMT level, so I had to take it at that point. Not a problem.

So, we get going on the transfer and it takes about an hour. He missed the turn to get on the freeway, so we went up the worst road in history. I happened to peak up front as we were coming down a hill, I have never thought I was going to be in a wreck before, but as fast as he was coming into this corner, I turned back around and braced for impact. The ambulance was all over the place trying to slow itself down, ice on the side of the road... That wasn't the end of it. He got on the Interstate and swerved all over the place, blaming it on the wind. Even my patient was yelling at him. I don't know what his problem is, but he ignored me when I told him to slow it down.

We did make it to the hospital, in one piece, but then the worst thing possible happened. I was standing at the back of the rig waiting for the head of the cot to come out and somehow, with the two front wheels still in the ambulance, he started to drop the patient. I tried to save it, but it didn't just drop straight down, he somehow dumped it on the side. The cot hit my leg on the way down and injured my hand. I've NEVER dumped a patient. I've had a cot fail and drop, but never flipped on its side, especially at the hospital. The cot is banged up, but it was checked over and it wasn't a malfunction.

I told my boss that I don't want to work with him any longer. My boss talked to him about his driving and the patient dropping, he (the EMT) still doesn't think either is a big deal. I'm at a loss of what to do here, I've documented everything (the patient already filed a grievance against us). I'm actually scared to work with this guy again, he won't take responsibility for anything, won't listen to orders, thinks this whole thing is a :censored::censored::censored::censored:ing joke. I honestly believe he's going to hurt or kill a patient or myself.

Sorry for the long post, it's just stressing me out pretty bad. What do you guys think I can do to separate myself from this guy?

My mind is totally blown. I haven't worked in EMS for very long but I have had plenty of other jobs NOT involving life-safety where that brand of reckless disregard/insubordination would not be tolerated, even when the worst you could do is mess up someone's lunch order. If these are the kinds of things that go on at ambulance companies I am horrified for the greater whole of humanity and simultaneously elated at the fact that I can stand out as a beacon of hope amidst a sea of slackers and walking catastrophes just by acting normal!

 

[dalmain]

I've seen some crazy stuff from other guys out there but not the guys I've worked with. Well once I almost got into a fist fight with one guy. Apparently he didn't want to work with me for some reason and came in with a really bad attitude. I'm usually very laid back, but I was not in the mood for this guys attitude. They separated us and I worked with someone else that day. I lack social skills myself just to be honest, but I respectful.