shorthairedpunk
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So, I am an Intermediate, in an advanced system, and Im happy where I am at for the time being, I have no reason to go ALS in an ILS system that offers me the opportunity to do most everything within my scope, ALS would atrophy in this area. Down the road, if my system goes ALS or I work elsewhere I will become a paramedic, what I will not become is a Paragod.
There is a distinct difference between a paramedic and a paragod. For one, both will question a doctors decision, but only one is asking to learn. Granted there are some MDs out there that i wouldnt trust to have diagnose a scratch to my finger, let alone any serious ailment, but for the most part, Doctors are skilled and more knowlegable in their profession than the average EMS provider. I find it highly unlikely that the 1 to 2 year progam, 2 to three days a week is comarable to the education that MDs are required to undertake. So I really question how it is that these medics always second guess physicians (in the worst case, in front of the patient).
There is absolutely no reason to treat lower level care providers (ILS, BLS, FR, First Aiders) like they are ignorant and incapable of handling the majority of medical calls. We recently got berated by a paragod for transporting a cardiac patient without calling for an ALS intercept, which made no sense, since there was absoutely nothing they could have done that we did not do, other than bill for the intercept. The vast majority of EMS runs are in fact BLS from the emergency care standpoint, so ALS is essentially just icing on a cake that is already good without it.
My sister is an exceptional Paramedic (I use her as an example because shes handy to me) She is well versed in the ALS curriculum, she has all the neccessary letter (ACLS, PALS, etc...), She is stable, thoughtful, and caring. She questions treatment provided by other caregivers on a regular basis, in an effort to better understand the various perspectives to the static environment that is healthcare. (sadly, she must often explain this rationale for questioning people because of the Paragods out there who have created aterrible image of EMS providers, much worse than any movie like Bringing out the Dead could dream of). She is comapsionate, and talks to hetr patients like people, not patients. She has an excellent reputaion as a caregiver among her colleagues, including the higher levels of care, she has earned their respect, thereby earning respect for the profession.
Above all else, she has accepted and embraced the fact that she is a high level of care in a low level of care environment. Not everybody needs ALS, or ILS for that matter. She also has not forgot that she is a member of a team, not just her partner, but starting with the patient and ending with the person who wheels the patient out of the hospital when they are well or they are dead. She understands the ideals of continuum of care, in that what she does in the field has a long term effect for that patient in their course of care. Just because something she does now fixes the immediate symptom, she understands she has not cured the underlying cause and that there may be repercussions that would harm the individual.
EMS as a profession has a lot of growing up to do, and it has many many many obstacles ahead of it. One of the greatest obstacles is the attitude of those who are percieved to be the best in the field. And for every Paragod out there it takes three or four of my sister to undo the damage to the respect of the profession. If we ever want to realistically shake the label "ambulance driver" we need to first accept the fact that we are in fact, little more than glorified ambulances drivers with expensive toys and a few tricks up our sleeves that sometimes save a life. What we dont need is more paragods out there creating an image of people who wear bigger shoes than their feet to look cool.
EMS will never be considered as true field of healthcare, like nursing or doctoring because we have such little interaction with our patients, we just get a really good assesment and begin treatment for the long term providers. But we can strive to show that what we do is in fact an important, and integral part of the continuum of care.
So when you meet up with a paramedic who thinks they are god, dont let them get away with it, dont bow down to them, point out to them the damage they are doing to the profession as a whole. Sure that may cause conflict, but in the long term, it may help further the proffession into legitamacy. And if, by confronting these individuals, they come off their high horse long enough to look at themselves realistically, maybe they can change their ways and become a paramedic once again. That adds one more person to the battle for good against the paragods.
There is a distinct difference between a paramedic and a paragod. For one, both will question a doctors decision, but only one is asking to learn. Granted there are some MDs out there that i wouldnt trust to have diagnose a scratch to my finger, let alone any serious ailment, but for the most part, Doctors are skilled and more knowlegable in their profession than the average EMS provider. I find it highly unlikely that the 1 to 2 year progam, 2 to three days a week is comarable to the education that MDs are required to undertake. So I really question how it is that these medics always second guess physicians (in the worst case, in front of the patient).
There is absolutely no reason to treat lower level care providers (ILS, BLS, FR, First Aiders) like they are ignorant and incapable of handling the majority of medical calls. We recently got berated by a paragod for transporting a cardiac patient without calling for an ALS intercept, which made no sense, since there was absoutely nothing they could have done that we did not do, other than bill for the intercept. The vast majority of EMS runs are in fact BLS from the emergency care standpoint, so ALS is essentially just icing on a cake that is already good without it.
My sister is an exceptional Paramedic (I use her as an example because shes handy to me) She is well versed in the ALS curriculum, she has all the neccessary letter (ACLS, PALS, etc...), She is stable, thoughtful, and caring. She questions treatment provided by other caregivers on a regular basis, in an effort to better understand the various perspectives to the static environment that is healthcare. (sadly, she must often explain this rationale for questioning people because of the Paragods out there who have created aterrible image of EMS providers, much worse than any movie like Bringing out the Dead could dream of). She is comapsionate, and talks to hetr patients like people, not patients. She has an excellent reputaion as a caregiver among her colleagues, including the higher levels of care, she has earned their respect, thereby earning respect for the profession.
Above all else, she has accepted and embraced the fact that she is a high level of care in a low level of care environment. Not everybody needs ALS, or ILS for that matter. She also has not forgot that she is a member of a team, not just her partner, but starting with the patient and ending with the person who wheels the patient out of the hospital when they are well or they are dead. She understands the ideals of continuum of care, in that what she does in the field has a long term effect for that patient in their course of care. Just because something she does now fixes the immediate symptom, she understands she has not cured the underlying cause and that there may be repercussions that would harm the individual.
EMS as a profession has a lot of growing up to do, and it has many many many obstacles ahead of it. One of the greatest obstacles is the attitude of those who are percieved to be the best in the field. And for every Paragod out there it takes three or four of my sister to undo the damage to the respect of the profession. If we ever want to realistically shake the label "ambulance driver" we need to first accept the fact that we are in fact, little more than glorified ambulances drivers with expensive toys and a few tricks up our sleeves that sometimes save a life. What we dont need is more paragods out there creating an image of people who wear bigger shoes than their feet to look cool.
EMS will never be considered as true field of healthcare, like nursing or doctoring because we have such little interaction with our patients, we just get a really good assesment and begin treatment for the long term providers. But we can strive to show that what we do is in fact an important, and integral part of the continuum of care.
So when you meet up with a paramedic who thinks they are god, dont let them get away with it, dont bow down to them, point out to them the damage they are doing to the profession as a whole. Sure that may cause conflict, but in the long term, it may help further the proffession into legitamacy. And if, by confronting these individuals, they come off their high horse long enough to look at themselves realistically, maybe they can change their ways and become a paramedic once again. That adds one more person to the battle for good against the paragods.
