RocketMedic
Californian, Lost in Texas
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Social Media
If you're reading this, you use social media. It is literally a paradigm-shifting tool, one that terrifies those who do not understand it even as it offers unheard-of access to information. Coupled with broadband internet, cell networks and mobile smartphones, literally everyone can communicate in real time. This is not something anyone can change without a calamity befalling us on a national scale.
Many agencies have restrictive social media policies, others are lax, some simply do not have them. As a rule of thumb, one should never post anything they are ashamed of or that will get them fired on Facebook or anywhere else. That is not simply information that could violate patient confidentiality, that also includes business operations, plans and even complaints against an employer. Personal insults, threats, and other statements also fall into this category- do you really want your prospective future employer reading your insults?
With the reality that everything we post is online essentially forever, why bother? Many people lurk or simply do not participate in discussions out of the very valid fear that they will face discipline at work or at the very least strife from coworkers who take undue offense. I myself will certainly once again be a target of prejudice and rumor simply for speaking out on a topic about which I am passionate, and that treatment will not be electronic. It is very real. So why bother?
Social media offers us a platform to communicate. Think about it- an outspoken young paramedic here can influence your thinking without travel, without difficulty, and at virtually no cost. Knowledge not available locally used to require effort to locate and absorb- no more. We can, as a profession, have debates and reach consensuses that previously were only possible with small groups of people. We can communicate best practices and mistakes freely, we can learn from one another, and we can learn about opportunities quickly. And that's just on a personal level!
Organizationally, Facebook is often seen as dangerous. Employers work hard to build a brand name, be it a private ambulance service, a corporation with multiple branches or a local fire department. The odds of an employee doing something stupid and leaving evidence on Facebook for customers to find are nearly a certainty, so most agencies crack down on social-media use. This is not the best answer either- policies that ignore social media ignore the massive potential benefits it offers, from community awareness to operations to simple funding. Social media is free advertising, show them what you do!
With all of these positives, let's look at ourselves. I was extremely disappointed yesterday that we came together as a community in the way we did. Although there were some reasoned counterarguments to my bold statement, they were drowned out by the shrieks and complaints of the righteously-indignant. Worse than that, though, was the reaction to the IV thread, and all of the ones like it before. Providers literally claiming that they would use tools in a harmful way, boasting about it, on a public forum. Statement like "depends on their attitude" or "pussies go for 20s". We might take it as a joke- but will your employer? How will your customers view that? What about the students who take those messages into consideration- after all, if you're doing it, why shouldn't they?
Lastly, there is the appearance we present to the customer and their opinion of us. Our employers and we ourselves can control our presentations, but we cannot control the opinions of our customers, only influence them. It would be the height of folly to assume our patients do not discuss our performance with their friends and coworkers. A negative care experience is now not something we can bury- it is the next scandal waiting to torpedo a contract, trigger an investigation or be leaked in real time to a voracious media. Our own actions are constantly up for review as part of those.
Please try and present yourselves professionally on the web. I know I work very hard at it myself. It is entirely possible to have civil disagreements and debates in a public forum in a matter that is appropriate. It will also make misunderstandings and rumors far harder to perpetuate. Think a little, people.
Robert Martin, Paramedic
If you're reading this, you use social media. It is literally a paradigm-shifting tool, one that terrifies those who do not understand it even as it offers unheard-of access to information. Coupled with broadband internet, cell networks and mobile smartphones, literally everyone can communicate in real time. This is not something anyone can change without a calamity befalling us on a national scale.
Many agencies have restrictive social media policies, others are lax, some simply do not have them. As a rule of thumb, one should never post anything they are ashamed of or that will get them fired on Facebook or anywhere else. That is not simply information that could violate patient confidentiality, that also includes business operations, plans and even complaints against an employer. Personal insults, threats, and other statements also fall into this category- do you really want your prospective future employer reading your insults?
With the reality that everything we post is online essentially forever, why bother? Many people lurk or simply do not participate in discussions out of the very valid fear that they will face discipline at work or at the very least strife from coworkers who take undue offense. I myself will certainly once again be a target of prejudice and rumor simply for speaking out on a topic about which I am passionate, and that treatment will not be electronic. It is very real. So why bother?
Social media offers us a platform to communicate. Think about it- an outspoken young paramedic here can influence your thinking without travel, without difficulty, and at virtually no cost. Knowledge not available locally used to require effort to locate and absorb- no more. We can, as a profession, have debates and reach consensuses that previously were only possible with small groups of people. We can communicate best practices and mistakes freely, we can learn from one another, and we can learn about opportunities quickly. And that's just on a personal level!
Organizationally, Facebook is often seen as dangerous. Employers work hard to build a brand name, be it a private ambulance service, a corporation with multiple branches or a local fire department. The odds of an employee doing something stupid and leaving evidence on Facebook for customers to find are nearly a certainty, so most agencies crack down on social-media use. This is not the best answer either- policies that ignore social media ignore the massive potential benefits it offers, from community awareness to operations to simple funding. Social media is free advertising, show them what you do!
With all of these positives, let's look at ourselves. I was extremely disappointed yesterday that we came together as a community in the way we did. Although there were some reasoned counterarguments to my bold statement, they were drowned out by the shrieks and complaints of the righteously-indignant. Worse than that, though, was the reaction to the IV thread, and all of the ones like it before. Providers literally claiming that they would use tools in a harmful way, boasting about it, on a public forum. Statement like "depends on their attitude" or "pussies go for 20s". We might take it as a joke- but will your employer? How will your customers view that? What about the students who take those messages into consideration- after all, if you're doing it, why shouldn't they?
Lastly, there is the appearance we present to the customer and their opinion of us. Our employers and we ourselves can control our presentations, but we cannot control the opinions of our customers, only influence them. It would be the height of folly to assume our patients do not discuss our performance with their friends and coworkers. A negative care experience is now not something we can bury- it is the next scandal waiting to torpedo a contract, trigger an investigation or be leaked in real time to a voracious media. Our own actions are constantly up for review as part of those.
Please try and present yourselves professionally on the web. I know I work very hard at it myself. It is entirely possible to have civil disagreements and debates in a public forum in a matter that is appropriate. It will also make misunderstandings and rumors far harder to perpetuate. Think a little, people.
Robert Martin, Paramedic
