Nursing Home 911

[bogart1]

Hello everyone,

Let me start by saying that everything I post on this forum will be related to the private ambulance service industry in the Chicagoland region. The reason for this is quite simple... "I work for a private ambulance service based in Chicago. I hope there are other EMT-Basic, and Paramedics from my region who visit this forum, because I feel it is necessary for our views to be expressed. So, at this time I say thank you to the administators of this forum for allowing me to "express myself". (properly of course) Briefly, the private ambulance service industry in Chicago serves various Nursing Homes primarily; hence the title... "Nursing Home 911". There is nothing glorious about the job we do, and subsequently we receive little respect. But over the years, I have come to understand that most Chicago private based EMT`s and Medics don`t really care. Most of them just care that they get paid. More on this later.

 

[EMT.Hart]

That was alot to read to get so little out of it...

 

[VFFforpeople]

Just kinda wondering..what was the point of this post? Did I miss something or will it be elaberated on in the future?

 

[Shishkabob]

I, for one, love to get paid.

 

[firetender]

I believe he's not happy hauling Lizards

 

[bunkie]

I, for one, love to get paid.

Wow. Inappropriate but I read that as "laid".

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

Wow. Inappropriate but I read that as "laid".

Linuss get "paid"? LMAO.... :lol::lol::lol:

I believe he's not happy hauling Lizards

Someone doesn't like modern medicine and the laerning opportunities that abound in that area of EMS? Solution: Get out of Pure EMS and go Pure Fire...

 

[MMiz]

Lets keep this on track and appropriate. I've already had to remove some posts.

 

[bogart1]

Man, this place is brutal!

All I`m trying to say is a lot of of people employed by private ambulance services in Chicago (full time employees), don`t care that they are not respected as EMS providers.
Don`t we work for a living? Don`t we pay taxes? And a lot of times, don`t we run calls that require a lot of mental as well as physical application? I didn`t mean to insult anyone. I was just requesting that more EMT`s and Medics in our area command (not demand) more respect from our peers in the industry.

 

[karaya]

Man, this place is brutal!

All I`m trying to say is a lot of of people employed by private ambulance services in Chicago (full time employees), don`t care that they are not respected as EMS providers.

Respected by whom? What people, departments or whatever are you experiencing this lack of respect from?

 

[VentMedic]

There is nothing glorious about the job we do, and subsequently we receive little respect. But over the years, I have come to understand that most Chicago private based EMT`s and Medics don`t really care. Most of them just care that they get paid.

Man, this place is brutal!

All I`m trying to say is a lot of of people employed by private ambulance services in Chicago (full time employees), don`t care that they are not respected as EMS providers.
Don`t we work for a living? Don`t we pay taxes? And a lot of times, don`t we run calls that require a lot of mental as well as physical application? I didn`t mean to insult anyone. I was just requesting that more EMT`s and Medics in our area command (not demand) more respect from our peers in the industry.

You've left out someone in you posts: THE PATIENT.

Why did you become an EMT?

Health care is more than just you getting your ego stroked. Out of the thousands that enter any health care profession, most know they aren't going to get patted on the back every day or their face in the newspaper praising them.

Also, for the price the cities, counties, states and insurances are paying for the ambulances, the patients deserve much better than someone with 110 hours of training in first-aid that actually has little to do their with medical issues. The same goes for the Paramedics in the U.S. who can skirt by on a few hundred hours of training but complain like someone made them go for years to get that patch. So here's your reality check: it is easy to get an EMT or Paramedic patch to get a decent job and wear a uniform while playing with the lights and sirens. There is not much educational commitment.

You are judged by your weakest link. If that link is a 110 hour first aider who cares crap about that patient and just wants their ego stroked or a pay check, then it isn't too difficult to see why YOU or anyone else with similar attitudes might be treated as you are.

And this coment:

I believe he's not happy hauling Lizards

If this is what you think of your patients, particularly the elderly, you should not go near a patient. That is about as disrespectful as you can get. The patients and especially the elderly deserve much better.

It is very sad this forum seems to attract such very poor attitudes about patient care.

 

[DaGonz]

Man, this place is brutal!

All I`m trying to say is a lot of of people employed by private ambulance services in Chicago (full time employees), don`t care that they are not respected as EMS providers.
Don`t we work for a living? Don`t we pay taxes? And a lot of times, don`t we run calls that require a lot of mental as well as physical application? I didn`t mean to insult anyone. I was just requesting that more EMT`s and Medics in our area command (not demand) more respect from our peers in the industry.

Respect is a two way street... you have to give it in order to get it.
Commanding respect is like demanding respect.
Respect has to be earned.

 

[Tincanfireman]

Man, this place is brutal!

Not "brutal", more like "to the point".

You complain that you are experiencing a lack of respect from your peers. What have you done lately to change their opinion? How's the uniform looking today? Boots are polished, I assume, and your shirt is clean and tucked? Grooming shouldn't even be an issue, but is your hair (head and/or facial) trimmed and clean? Do you have breath mints or spearmint gum in your pocket right now in case you get a call after that double onion cheeseburger lunch at RocketBurger? Do you make sure that the spelling on your PCR's is accurate? Do you go out of your way to do all that you can for your patient? Did you remember that you may be the only non-SNF face your patient will see this week, and that spending a few minutes just chatting with them may well be the highlight of their social interaction for the entire week? Do you walk in the door with a smile on your face and a bounce in your step, or do you give the impression you are little more than a shuttle service for human cargo?
Why are you doing this job? I'm a full-time FF working part-time for a county EMS service. I know that some will never respect me because I'm not a medic, but I'd rather be known as a guy who tries to deliver first-rate patient care within the limits of my cert than worry that others aren't giving me the respect that I think I deserve. I worked for a private service for two years before moving to the county 911 service, and I'm fully aware of where you're coming from. We all draw a paycheck, we all pay taxes, and everyone deserves respect for what they do. If you want to do well in this job (or any job, for that matter) you have to accept that your sense of self-satisfaction will have to come from within; put on those big-boy pants and quit expecting people to be impressed that you sat in a classroom for 110 hours. Our job isn't supposed to be glamorous, it's supposed to be about taking care of the sick and injured. If your make patient care your primary concern, the respect you so desire might just come your way. Then again....

 

[Seaglass]

What they all said. If you became an EMT to be respected, here's your reality check.

I believe he's not happy hauling Lizards

For someone who talks so much about connection with the patient, I'd expect better.

 

[firetender]

For someone who talks so much about connection with the patient, I'd expect better.

I really appreciate you were paying attention! No kidding.

...and You Got Me!

I don't deny the Flesh Mechanic part of myself any more than I can deny the healer in me. The paramedic's world is full of those contradictions. My world certainly was.

In this case, I was speaking in terms of the new medic's dilemma; believing they are there to save lives when, in fact, most of the time they're a horizontal taxi service.

"Hauling Lizards", for me, was transporting those shells whose spirits seem to have left already; the poor people who just weren't there anymore and derived no benefit whatsoever from my skills training or even presence. They were the ones modern medicine was able to keep alive long after any semblance of "aware" life made its exit

I felt in conflict with "what I'm really supposed to be doing with my training and experience" and also despised having to push back the thoughts that someday, that could be me, too, every time I handled one.

Perhaps I'm off base here, but when I use the term "lizards" in speaking to other medics, I figure they're reading me on the whole "experience", which includes sadness at the part we play in the whole demeaning drama.

 

[VentMedic]

I don't deny the Flesh Mechanic part of myself any more than I can deny the healer in me. The paramedic's world is full of those contradictions. My world certainly was.

In this case, I was speaking in terms of the new medic's dilemma; believing they are there to save lives when, in fact, most of the time they're a horizontal taxi service.

"Hauling Lizards", for me, was transporting those shells whose spirits seem to have left already; the poor people who just weren't there anymore and derived no benefit whatsoever from my skills training or even presence. They were the ones modern medicine was able to keep alive long after any semblance of "aware" life made its exit

I felt in conflict with "what I'm really supposed to be doing with my training and experience" and also despised having to push back the thoughts that someday, that could be me, too, every time I handled one.

Perhaps I'm off base here, but when I use the term "lizards" in speaking to other medics, I figure they're reading me on the whole "experience", which includes sadness at the part we play in the whole demeaning drama.

It is unfortunate that some in EMS have difficulty with the whole patient care thing but to consider the elderly as "lizards" is just unspeakable. It isnt the process that is demeaning. It is those who enter that profession and could care less about their patients when they find out not every call is a cool trauma as seen on the EMT school ads. For you to further try to justify the use of this term just gives them all the more reason to treat patients as objects and not humans.

However you are correct in that the patients did not benefit from YOU being there. Obviously EMS or any form of patient care was not your calling if you can not see patients as human beings and the role of EMS providers is that of patient care.

Even if the patient is in a comatose state or deceased, their body should still be treated with respect with or without a heart beat. What special training do you need for that? It is clear Paramedic school failed to provide you with any patient education. There is a whole lot more to patient care than just what you think of as being a "flesh mechanic".

 

[mikeN]

most of my "better" calls come out of nursing homes or nursing home residents that are at doctors or dialysis appointments. They will be some of your sickest patients