MedicPrincess
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"Be advised" I don't know what I am going for here, but yous guys get a cup of whatever you drink and settle in before you read it and tell me what you think. As it stands, I have no intentions of EVER riding with this guy again. EVER, EVER, EVER!!! I won't sign on for any overtime shifts with him.But at what point is his partner, whether regular or someone filling in while the FT EMT on the shift is off, at what point does the partner also become liable when he does hurt or kill someone. I don't mean hurting another employee. That would be handled internally I am sure, but a member of the public. So anyway....heres the deal....
My partner yesterday, absolutely terrified me. He's been a medic for "years now." He is going to kill someone someday. Maybe not next shift, or next year. But if it keeps up, he will. With his driving.
Geez, where to start on his driving....
I was driving, while we responded to one of our Tramautic Injury calls. The guy with the broken ankle while drunk skim boarding. Why we were actually responding is still a mystery, as our beach safety units were on scene and they are about 90% EMT's and the rest Paramedics. The are our road EMT's/Medics who pull overtime shifts on the beach for the most part. Anyway, they had him in their vehicle, ankle wrapped and splinted. Vitals all WNL, patient in NAD (ETOH and Darvocet status was unknown to them at that time). Patient was laughing and joking with them. So anyway, I am not going to kill us or anyone else for a broken ankle. So we were responding and I was driving about 55 in a 45 zone. Didn't need to use the airhorn or play with the siren at all. Traffic was pulling over, people at the lights were waiting. We were getting down the road easy. I think we were getting along better than if we sped up real fast, only to have to get on the brakes at lights. He looks over and says "Look, your driving like my Grandma, pick it up a lot." We were approaching a heavily congested area that is before a bridge that leads to the beaches. Its 25 MPH there. I told him I didn't think I would drive any faster as our EMT's on scene are reporting a stable patient, who only requests EMS transport b/c his friends are to drunk to drive him, there is a ton of holiday/schools out/lets party at the prettiest beaches around traffic, and I am not jepordizing myself, the general public, or him just to hurry up and reach the bridge a couple seconds faster (the bridge is a huge PITA to get over anyway, let alone when trying to get people to move). He responded with Fine, he is going to drive from then on.
Now I am friends with his regular partner. He has told me that his driving is less than desirable. But, when he gets back from vacation, I think I might have to smack him for being so vague.
In a nutshell, he gets in, puts the peddal to the floor, and doesn't let up unless there is a car in front of him that will not pull over. In which case he rides up on their bumper and forces them over and even off the road in some cases. Red lights mean nothing. I can't tell you the number of red lights he drove through without even checking up to make sure the cars would stay stopped or one wouldn't come out of nowhere. We went through the downtown area, which is 25 MPH posted, at 80 MPH for an assault, called in by SO. Patient with Lac to cheek. We had at least 3 VERY NEAR misses with other cars.
One of them, as we were pulling out of station, I was putting my seatbelt on (he doesn't allow time for it to be done before he starts moving) when I told him "Don't go. Its not clear." He kept going. I said "Theres a car coming, don't go!" He sped up. So now I am hitting his arm and sounded something like "No No NO!! Theres cars! STOP!! STOP! STOP!" The car that was coming realized he wasn't going to stop, and they couldn't, so they jerked their wheel and drove into the grass. He decided to find the brake peddal at the specific moment. He stompped on it. And since I hadn't got my seatbelt fastened, I hit the dash and front window with my right side. He said, "Oh, oops. They were in the damn blind spot" (umm, hello?!?! could he not hear me yelling to stop, or feel me hitting his arm???) Spent the rest of the day with that numb tingly feeling from my elbow to my fingertips and a HUGE headache. Today, hurts pretty good, still have a bit of a headache and have numerous bruises. We weren't even responding to a call. We were pulling out to go for a station move for coverage.
At that point I jumped out, went around and told him to get out. He said No, I drive like his grandma and he will be driving for the day. So I told him, either he gets out and I drive everything for the rest of the shift, or we are out of service because I need to be enroute to the ER to get checked out. He got this stupid confused look and asked if I had gotten hurt on a call. I was like, NO you just threw me into the window. Now Get OUT! He held his ground one more time. So I got on the radio and told dispatch we would be out of service and asked where Medcom was so we could call him.
Dispatch, being dipatch, responds with "But we have emergency traffic for you." Negative. We are out of service for an injury. And as soon as I said that, our trucks Nextel rang. My partner looks at it and says its Medcom (our CPT). At the same time my personal Nextel beeps. Its our LT. And they are both yacking, What happened? Whose hurt? One of us better answer them? Where are we Dammit, answer the Nextel!! My partner looks at me and says "I have to ride the BLS calls too? What if we get a psych transfer?" Yes, unless your ready to drive me to the hospital, sit and wait with me (its what we do. if our partner is hurt, we sit in the ER with them, unless they have something immediate to be done.) and explain to Medcom now and the Chief on Monday how I got hurt, OH and put the busiest truck in the county out of service on a Saturday of a holiday weekend.
So out he gets. He gets on the truck Nextel, me on mine. We won't be out of service, but I am the one with the injury and need to see one of them asap. My medic for the day, asks me at least 4 times during the rest of the shift, what I am going to tell them happened when we talk. At first I was like, "I dunno" or "Haven't decided," but finally I told him I plan on telling them the truth.
Well asap didn't happen. Not for the talk anyway. Between calls, they were able to get the paperwork done so I can get looked at if I want. By 4 a.m. I was tired, hurting, and pissed off. Picked up our last unconscious patient. We unload the drunk chick, our Med Director is working in the ER. BLAH BLAH BLAH....hes really chatty sometimes. BUT, he helps us transfer patients from our stretcher to their beds, so I will not complain one bit. So he's chatty, wants to know what happened (haven't even give the details to our Medcom, so he got the same short answer - hard stop), wants to know if I need anything (a gun, maybe - to shoot the medic), how is my arm/head/neck (it hurts. thanks for caring) , do I want anything for pain (morphine please!), don't over do it (so can I decline to transfer those 400+lbers for awhile, b/c thats overdoing it everyday), do I want to go home (hell yea! when my relief gets in at 0700)
I called my LT this morning, but he was almost home. I didn't want to talk about it via Nextel, and I didn't want him to drive all the way back in. He lives about 40 miles from my regular station. So he agreed to make sure he got with me next shift. Which is Tuesday. He did ask me why the medic was driving, his partner always drives.
I talked with a friend about it today. He was on another truck and had heard I'd gotten hurt and felt bad b/c he was supposed to be with the medic I was with and Me with his, but I traded him to make it easier on him (he was pulling an 84 hr shift between EMS and FIRE, the station was closer to his FD station and is normally like the 2nd slowest in the county). Anyway, he says its apparently common knowledge (uh, apparently NOT!!) this medics driving sucks and that is why his regular partner does all of the driving. He only drives if he has a relief EMT that doesn't know any better (another reason to smack his regular partner). He's not so sure the entire truth is necessary. Just the hard stop, car in the blind spot created by the mirrors is sufficient.
One other person that was with the LT when he called me, called me at one point and asked me if I had gotten hurt b/c of something the medic did while driving. I didn't answer him with anything other than the hard stop line. He says, "Well thats him. He cant see sh*t"
Ok, I guess I am done. I don't know. Would any of you say anything? It seems like they already know and handle it by him not driving. And if thats the case, shouldn't it be partly his responsibility to tell the person he is working with that he doesn't drive? And partly the shift supervisors? Some-freakin-body!
My partner yesterday, absolutely terrified me. He's been a medic for "years now." He is going to kill someone someday. Maybe not next shift, or next year. But if it keeps up, he will. With his driving.
Geez, where to start on his driving....
I was driving, while we responded to one of our Tramautic Injury calls. The guy with the broken ankle while drunk skim boarding. Why we were actually responding is still a mystery, as our beach safety units were on scene and they are about 90% EMT's and the rest Paramedics. The are our road EMT's/Medics who pull overtime shifts on the beach for the most part. Anyway, they had him in their vehicle, ankle wrapped and splinted. Vitals all WNL, patient in NAD (ETOH and Darvocet status was unknown to them at that time). Patient was laughing and joking with them. So anyway, I am not going to kill us or anyone else for a broken ankle. So we were responding and I was driving about 55 in a 45 zone. Didn't need to use the airhorn or play with the siren at all. Traffic was pulling over, people at the lights were waiting. We were getting down the road easy. I think we were getting along better than if we sped up real fast, only to have to get on the brakes at lights. He looks over and says "Look, your driving like my Grandma, pick it up a lot." We were approaching a heavily congested area that is before a bridge that leads to the beaches. Its 25 MPH there. I told him I didn't think I would drive any faster as our EMT's on scene are reporting a stable patient, who only requests EMS transport b/c his friends are to drunk to drive him, there is a ton of holiday/schools out/lets party at the prettiest beaches around traffic, and I am not jepordizing myself, the general public, or him just to hurry up and reach the bridge a couple seconds faster (the bridge is a huge PITA to get over anyway, let alone when trying to get people to move). He responded with Fine, he is going to drive from then on.
Now I am friends with his regular partner. He has told me that his driving is less than desirable. But, when he gets back from vacation, I think I might have to smack him for being so vague.
In a nutshell, he gets in, puts the peddal to the floor, and doesn't let up unless there is a car in front of him that will not pull over. In which case he rides up on their bumper and forces them over and even off the road in some cases. Red lights mean nothing. I can't tell you the number of red lights he drove through without even checking up to make sure the cars would stay stopped or one wouldn't come out of nowhere. We went through the downtown area, which is 25 MPH posted, at 80 MPH for an assault, called in by SO. Patient with Lac to cheek. We had at least 3 VERY NEAR misses with other cars.
One of them, as we were pulling out of station, I was putting my seatbelt on (he doesn't allow time for it to be done before he starts moving) when I told him "Don't go. Its not clear." He kept going. I said "Theres a car coming, don't go!" He sped up. So now I am hitting his arm and sounded something like "No No NO!! Theres cars! STOP!! STOP! STOP!" The car that was coming realized he wasn't going to stop, and they couldn't, so they jerked their wheel and drove into the grass. He decided to find the brake peddal at the specific moment. He stompped on it. And since I hadn't got my seatbelt fastened, I hit the dash and front window with my right side. He said, "Oh, oops. They were in the damn blind spot" (umm, hello?!?! could he not hear me yelling to stop, or feel me hitting his arm???) Spent the rest of the day with that numb tingly feeling from my elbow to my fingertips and a HUGE headache. Today, hurts pretty good, still have a bit of a headache and have numerous bruises. We weren't even responding to a call. We were pulling out to go for a station move for coverage.
At that point I jumped out, went around and told him to get out. He said No, I drive like his grandma and he will be driving for the day. So I told him, either he gets out and I drive everything for the rest of the shift, or we are out of service because I need to be enroute to the ER to get checked out. He got this stupid confused look and asked if I had gotten hurt on a call. I was like, NO you just threw me into the window. Now Get OUT! He held his ground one more time. So I got on the radio and told dispatch we would be out of service and asked where Medcom was so we could call him.
Dispatch, being dipatch, responds with "But we have emergency traffic for you." Negative. We are out of service for an injury. And as soon as I said that, our trucks Nextel rang. My partner looks at it and says its Medcom (our CPT). At the same time my personal Nextel beeps. Its our LT. And they are both yacking, What happened? Whose hurt? One of us better answer them? Where are we Dammit, answer the Nextel!! My partner looks at me and says "I have to ride the BLS calls too? What if we get a psych transfer?" Yes, unless your ready to drive me to the hospital, sit and wait with me (its what we do. if our partner is hurt, we sit in the ER with them, unless they have something immediate to be done.) and explain to Medcom now and the Chief on Monday how I got hurt, OH and put the busiest truck in the county out of service on a Saturday of a holiday weekend.
So out he gets. He gets on the truck Nextel, me on mine. We won't be out of service, but I am the one with the injury and need to see one of them asap. My medic for the day, asks me at least 4 times during the rest of the shift, what I am going to tell them happened when we talk. At first I was like, "I dunno" or "Haven't decided," but finally I told him I plan on telling them the truth.
Well asap didn't happen. Not for the talk anyway. Between calls, they were able to get the paperwork done so I can get looked at if I want. By 4 a.m. I was tired, hurting, and pissed off. Picked up our last unconscious patient. We unload the drunk chick, our Med Director is working in the ER. BLAH BLAH BLAH....hes really chatty sometimes. BUT, he helps us transfer patients from our stretcher to their beds, so I will not complain one bit. So he's chatty, wants to know what happened (haven't even give the details to our Medcom, so he got the same short answer - hard stop), wants to know if I need anything (a gun, maybe - to shoot the medic), how is my arm/head/neck (it hurts. thanks for caring) , do I want anything for pain (morphine please!), don't over do it (so can I decline to transfer those 400+lbers for awhile, b/c thats overdoing it everyday), do I want to go home (hell yea! when my relief gets in at 0700)
I called my LT this morning, but he was almost home. I didn't want to talk about it via Nextel, and I didn't want him to drive all the way back in. He lives about 40 miles from my regular station. So he agreed to make sure he got with me next shift. Which is Tuesday. He did ask me why the medic was driving, his partner always drives.
I talked with a friend about it today. He was on another truck and had heard I'd gotten hurt and felt bad b/c he was supposed to be with the medic I was with and Me with his, but I traded him to make it easier on him (he was pulling an 84 hr shift between EMS and FIRE, the station was closer to his FD station and is normally like the 2nd slowest in the county). Anyway, he says its apparently common knowledge (uh, apparently NOT!!) this medics driving sucks and that is why his regular partner does all of the driving. He only drives if he has a relief EMT that doesn't know any better (another reason to smack his regular partner). He's not so sure the entire truth is necessary. Just the hard stop, car in the blind spot created by the mirrors is sufficient.
One other person that was with the LT when he called me, called me at one point and asked me if I had gotten hurt b/c of something the medic did while driving. I didn't answer him with anything other than the hard stop line. He says, "Well thats him. He cant see sh*t"
Ok, I guess I am done. I don't know. Would any of you say anything? It seems like they already know and handle it by him not driving. And if thats the case, shouldn't it be partly his responsibility to tell the person he is working with that he doesn't drive? And partly the shift supervisors? Some-freakin-body!
