What Burns you out at times on EMS?

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Brandon275

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We have all been there, burnout syndrome. Rather it be from working tons of hours and running on sleep, to picking up the same patient over and over again or the low pay we have in EMS. It could be a combination of them all.

For me I would have to say it is the relentless b/s calls we get sent on. For example. Last night I went to the local shelter for a man with knee pain since june. He told me that he had a ride arranged to go to the hospital but he said the shelter told him if he went by private vehicle they would not let back in for the night because of liability issues. So we were called by them to take this man to the hospital for really no reason and right to triage he went all in the name of saving the shelter from liability. This is a constant type issue in the system I work in.

The abuse of the ambulance by people that should know better is infuriating to me. Right now it has been harder to ignore because like most EMS professionals I have been pouring in 70hrs a week. Anyway, what are some of the things that irk you?? Please share!!
 
Showing up to work.



Those BS calls are probably the only reason you have a job. If we only responded to legitimate calls we could cut our staffing by 95%. It isn't your system, it's every system. The wealthy rarely call for EMS and they are often less stricken by chronic disease.



The standards of EMS and the incompetency of 90% of the workforce is my major gripe. I would certainly like to be paid more quite honestly we haven't earned it and most don't deserve it. There plenty of people who work just as hard if not harder and don't make as much as our low wages. And our "training" is not an argument especially at the EMT level.
 
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Total and complete agreement with NYMedic.
 
Posting. There is only so much time a human being can expect to remain sane cooped up in the same environment day in and day out.
 
Working for AMR. In other words, working with burnouts that spread their virus of incompetence and laziness.

Other than that, nothing. I'll run whatever call I'm dispatched too, it's what I'm paid for. sadly, I have to do it with AMR.
 
VCEMT said:
Working for AMR. In other words, working with burnouts that spread their virus of incompetence and laziness.

Other than that, nothing. I'll run whatever call I'm dispatched too, it's what I'm paid for. sadly, I have to do it with AMR.
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That's not exactly fair to AMR- it's highly divisional.
 
Tomorrow is my last day with amr. Going to a better kept up first in department where i can actually feel like an emt rather than LaCounty fires taxi service. I have been running an average of 14-17 call in a 24 hr shift for the last year. I have not had one day where i didnt want to go to work. I dont mind the bs, the attitude i get from people (fire and pt). I love talking to people. If i can make them smile amd act like a normal person im happy.
 
Tigger said:
Posting. There is only so much time a human being can expect to remain sane cooped up in the same environment day in and day out.
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I have to say, Posting has probably done more to kill EMS camaraderie than almost any other great idea to come out of the minds of management. that and caused more good employees to leave the agency for non-posting places.

VCEMT said:
Working for AMR. In other words, working with burnouts that spread their virus of incompetence and laziness.
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it's not just AMR, it's many places. poor attitudes, laziness, and tolerance for incompetence all spread like a cancer, and unless management or the senior personnel stop it early on, it can destroy a once good organization from within.
VCEMT said:
Other than that, nothing. I'll run whatever call I'm dispatched too, it's what I'm paid for. sadly, I have to do it with AMR.
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I'm the same way, with one caveat; as long as I get my bagel sandwich in the morning, 20 minutes to both get or eat my lunch sometime before 2pm, and an end time sometime within an hour of my scheduled end time (unless I have class right after work, or have early relief coming in), you can run me all day (and give me the occasional little EMT's room break when I need it). don't give me BS admin jobs to do (pick up chairs, food for a meeting that I can't attend or eat, drop off backboards, etc, and btw if you get a call while you are doing that, go on the call), just let me do my job and "save lives."

Oh, and I don't like drunk calls. if you are drunk and you call an ambulance, don't expect compassion. You did it to yourself, and get absolutely no sympathy from me. but I will still do my job and take you to the hospital, just not with a smile on your face.
 
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I can promise you that if even 30% of our calls were legit useage of EMS (not even life/death, just legit) moral would be much higher. Infact, if I have one legit call a day, I'm content.



As far as "those BS calls keep you in work", if Medicare/Medicaid/insurance companies actually did as they should, and EMS crews didn't use the magic words, there wouldn't be reimbursement for those calls and there'd be a bigger push for community paramedicine. A good portion of BS users we never get reimbursed for anyhow.


Like DrP stated... give us some time to eat lunch / relax for a short period during the day, and get me off at or darn near my scheduled time, and I'm happy.



I've been at my current agency for a bit over a year now and still enjoy it, even though there are a good bit more BS calls. This is my third agency, so I KNOW what it can be like.
 
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I used to work an all-night schedule and liked it, but now that I have ten years ion the job, I strongly dislike getting woken up after 2200 hrs unless it's a true emergency. I work a fair amount of OT, I work a second job, and I would prefer that I not be useless at home the next day because I was up most of the night.

That crap ruins your health. If it weren't for CrossFit and Paleo, my physical health would be on the road to ruin by now.

Had I remained in the NYC 911 system, the top gripe would be having to sit on street corners every day waiting for calls. Having a station with beds, a kitchen, day room, showers, and a gym is much better.

Had I remained with Charleston County EMS, my main gripe would be having to be available as soon as we showed arriving at the hospital. Really, we would have a call on our screen before we could turn the bus off, let alone even wheel the pt into the ED. At times it would take me until after midnight just to catch up on all the unfinished reports, and then we would get called to post on some street corner for an hour and a half at 0-dark-30. Then get held for another 12 or 24 hours (24/48 schedule).

Try working a 24/48 that has busy nights, with frequent forced OT, and no Kelly days. See how long it is before you crack. I was lucky and got a better job offer four months in, just before I was going to call my old employer to maybe get re-hired.
 
Linuss has a great point. The b/s calls we go on are now not being covered by medicare/medicaid. The knee pain since june at the shelter I had the other night is going to be on the hook for the bill despite having medicaid and he will not pay it of course so now my company is out that money. So in reality it keeps us on the truck but it drains our company financially. Its a lose lose.
 
Linuss said:
As far as "those BS calls keep you in work", if Medicare/Medicaid/insurance companies actually did as they should, and EMS crews didn't use the magic words, there wouldn't be reimbursement for those calls and there'd be a bigger push for community paramedicine. A good portion of BS users we never get reimbursed for anyhow.
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I think there is a lot of truth to this and I mostly agree.

However, nobody is going to pay for community paramedicine until providers can actually do it. That is going to mean an increase in education. (not to be confused with a mandatory degree)

As it currently stands, the EMT-B and Paramedic curriculum is simply not geared towards treat and release or alternative destinations.

It is my opinion that an actual degree on the part of EMS providers with push that agenda faster. However, the degree program also has to be set up for it. I suggested simply copy and paste an existing one from another country.

Then, following the well worn path of other providers, EMS can demonstrate knowledge and value to not only medicare, but the community, and insurance companies.

The sad fact is US EMS is not paid for medical care, it is paid to drive people to the hospital.
 
Chief Complaint said:
Burns me out? Nothing.

Annoys me? 4am calls for something non emergent.
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What he said.

If ya'll hate your job so much why are you still working in EMS? I hope people with some of the attitudes in this thread never run on any of my family members or friends.

Bums using us as a taxi around the city makes me mad but whatever. I had an urban outdoorsman tell me he was cold and wanted to go sit in the waiting room because they have heat the other day, that was a hoot.

If I had to pick one call that "burns me out" it's patients with a documented seizure disorder who are noncompliant with medications and their friends call when they seize. Or even better, when they are compliant with their medications and they seize but their family still calls and greets us with "their doctor told us not to call unless it lasted for longer than x amount of minutes but s/he was having a seizure!"
 
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Tigger said:
Posting. There is only so much time a human being can expect to remain sane cooped up in the same environment day in and day out.
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This. I work 12 hour shifts and all we do is post all day. I am not super tall (around 6 foot) but I have no room inside the trucks at all. Then we have trucks like the one I was in yesterday that did not have a working A/C so me and my partner spent all day sweating in the truck. That is why as soon as I get out of paramedic school I am moving somewhere with 24 hour station based shifts.

Otherwise nothing else really burns me out yet.
 
JDub said:
This. I work 12 hour shifts and all we do is post all day. I am not super tall (around 6 foot) but I have no room inside the trucks at all. Then we have trucks like the one I was in yesterday that did not have a working A/C so me and my partner spent all day sweating in the truck. That is why as soon as I get out of paramedic school I am moving somewhere with 24 hour station based shifts.

Otherwise nothing else really burns me out yet.
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It still shocks me how shiesty some of these companies are. I work for a private company contracted under a Public Utility Model and if we have an issue with a rig like no A/C or heat we get pulled in and they put us in a different one that isn't having issues, albeit we have a decent stable of units to draw from.
 
agreed. Also there appears to be some terrible areas and agency's to work as a Paramedic in the states. Nothing wrong with moving for better pay and working conditions.


Chief Complaint said:
Burns me out? Nothing.

Annoys me? 4am calls for something non emergent.
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What used to make me go ballistic (and not in the good sense) was the ablity and propensity for management to calmly announce a new policy which make patient care lessen and ignored the laws of physics, time and space as well as legal and professional ethics then reply to all queries "We are sure you will be able to rise to this professional challenge". Like they used psychological Botox.^_^

If you're going to sell me down the river, at least twirl your moustache or look the least bit uncomfortable. Using a supreme poker face tells me the following:
1. You don't give a damn about patients or your "subordinates".
2. AND/OR you are supremely ignorant but are convinced listening to the peons who actually do the work just encourages them to expect to give input when the job needs fixing.
3. You are on meds or fooled the tox screen when they hired you....which since it was a "buddy" thing, wasn't hard.

They all eventually quit, were forced to resign, or were turned out by grand juries, I retired....I won.
 
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NVRob said:
It still shocks me how shiesty some of these companies are. I work for a private company contracted under a Public Utility Model and if we have an issue with a rig like no A/C or heat we get pulled in and they put us in a different one that isn't having issues, albeit we have a decent stable of units to draw from.
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We have an excellent fleet but that still doesn't make posting my favorite thing. A brand new ambulance is still far inferior to a station.
 
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