What do you look for in a partner?

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"We like our coffee bloody!"
:wacko:
 
A sense of humor as sick as mine
doesn't mind frequent coffee stops
competent
would feel like you're in a "buddy cop" movie (get along well, know each other well, have each others backs)
 
The times when I have a steady partner are rare and usually the best. In the meantime I work with lots of different people, and therefore came up with a list of things that drive me nuts, so I reversed it to make this one.

Is a self starter.

Shows up to shift on time does his/her share of truck checkout (back or mechanical).

Is qualified to drive and does so safely so that we are able to come up with a good system for sharing the call volume. Wears seatbelt at all times when possible. Does not transport everyone emergent because we are "just BLS."

Cleans the ambulance properly and doesn't mock me for cleaning more than the written policy asks for.

Respects the fact that I am 21 but that does not make me incompetent and on a related note, never uses the "I've been doing this for 15 years and we've always done it this way." line.

Does not yell into the radio so we are not known as the truck that is always screaming like someone got shot.

Lets me be OCD about how the stretcher is setup.

Doesn't take all day and a half to write a decent PCR and doesn't ask me to write the narrative for him.

Is learned enough to not give o2/backboards to everyone.

Brings something to entertain herself so I am not the only of distraction all shift (oops forgot my phone, book, kindle, and mancala board!)

Has a sense of humor when things do not go exactly as planned and is able to occasionally laugh.

Understands that Dunkin Donuts is the only place to stop for ice coffee (except the south shore where Marylou's is also acceptable).


This looks long now that I write it out. In real life, it is really not much to ask I don't think. My partners don't either, most of them are great and I don't pick up shifts with people that I don't get along with if I can help it.
 
Better be able to read my mind.
 
Tigger said:
Cleans the ambulance properly and doesn't mock me for cleaning more than the written policy asks for.
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This!

Call me whatever you want but I like keeping things clean and organized. I had one partner a couple of weeks ago tell me "You care too much man" when I was trying to find a pillow case for the pillow I was going to put on the gurney.

I felt like I was getting mocked the entire shift. God forbid I want to clean the gurney and have a fresh pillow, with nicely tucked straps.

Like my EMT teacher once said "Treat your patients like you would want your family members to be treated"
 
A parent (mothers > fathers). They tend to have a sharper eye for detail enabling them to pick up on things I might not.

Proactive. If they see a question that I'm not asking, I want them to ask it. A procedure I'm not doing? Do it.

Not read my mind but he/she and I are easily on the same page up to and including having an unspoken communication.

Safe driver (obviously).

Confident without being overbearing.

Commands respect. Doesn't "demand" it.

Able to enhance everyone's calm just by being there.
 
I'll second the safe driver comments. I've had partners that drive trucks like they're sports cars. Scary stuff.
 
Competent across the board (especially with lifting). Likes to drive, sarcastic/wicked sense of humor, good patient care attitude. Knows how to balance conversation and quiet time. Appreciation of movie/tv show quotes.

Ideally, within a few inches of my height; I'm 6'2, working with people a lot under about 5'9 usually gets old really fast. Not a deal-breaker, though, because I know some shorter folk who lift really well, and that's all I care about there.
 
i like nice positive people. when i got my first EMT job, the guy i was stuck with for training was the most cynical, pessimistic person ever! all he'd talk about is how much he hates his job, his pay, and the company. granted he did teach me quite a bit, but lots of times he would just leave me in the break room and go take a nap instead of going through training stuff with me. and his negativity started rubbing off on me and i started hating my job until i was off training haha.

also, someone who is helpful and not afraid to give me tips.

and most of what everyone else said.
 
Not being a cocky bastige. I prefer working as we call it here, for an unknown reason, limited MIC (1 EMT / 1 Paramedic). An excellent EMT-B is better that a hald assed Paramedic that is a tool bag. I have 2 basic partners and both are incredibly compentent. One is a little cocky but a good friend of mine so I just tell him to shut the hole under his nose and he usually conforms.:rofl: Seriously, a good driver, has a brain, like educating themselves w/o being forced too.

325.
 
oogemsquagger said:
i like nice positive people. when i got my first EMT job, the guy i was stuck with for training was the most cynical, pessimistic person ever! all he'd talk about is how much he hates his job, his pay, and the company.
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I had to admit, this is probably the biggest thing for me. If you hate your job that much, just quit. Find something else you want to do.

Poor attitudes are contagious, especially when they come from the senior people. We all have bad days, but when all you do is complain about your job, than I start asking why even bother to come to work? why did you even apply for and accept a full time position here?

I might not like everything about my job but I am not going to spend every moment complaining about my job.
 
I'm really able to work with anybody, but there are two people in our company that I just absolutely can't work with, due to arrogance and lack of caring.

That being said, I like a partner who actually wants to be there, it gets really old when your partner spends the entire shift whining about getting calls, or about the company, coworkers, pay, etc. I understand a bit of whining is necessary, but it's quite annoying when it becomes the context of every conversation.

Probably one of the biggest things that I look for in a partner is the willing to learn. There's one particular new EMT that asks questions about drugs, procedures, treatments, and other things while we're doing rig check. It shows me that he wants to learn more, and that he really cares about what he's doing...plus it helps freshen my memory when I get to teach someone something. I just enjoy those types of things, especially when they know when NOT to ask questions as well.

Similar interests and an ability to drive well are always appreciated as well.
 
How Do I DEAL with my partner?

My new partner has been an EMT for 10 years and a paramedic for 4 months, yet refers to himself as a "seasoned" paramedic. I have been a paramedic for 10 months and I'm going through nursing school. Granted he has been in the business longer than I have but he thinks he is para-almighty. We were unloading a cot and thanks to his ego and lack of communication (since he knows EVERYTHING) I now have a broken finger. No else at the station can stand him. He's a typical Randy Rescue. I don't know how I got the sh*t end of this stick but I have to deal with it and I just need help on how to talk to him when he lays his "wisdom" on a little to thick.
 
MotleyMindedMedic said:
My new partner has been an EMT for 10 years and a paramedic for 4 months, yet refers to himself as a "seasoned" paramedic. I have been a paramedic for 10 months and I'm going through nursing school. Granted he has been in the business longer than I have but he thinks he is para-almighty. We were unloading a cot and thanks to his ego and lack of communication (since he knows EVERYTHING) I now have a broken finger. No else at the station can stand him. He's a typical Randy Rescue. I don't know how I got the sh*t end of this stick but I have to deal with it and I just need help on how to talk to him when he lays his "wisdom" on a little to thick.
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For some reason some people think that basic experience = paramedic experience. Does he try to play the seniority card on you? Even though you are at less than a year you are still the senior Medic.

I am in no way hating on emts but you really can't compare the two. Emt experience can help in some situations as does life experience but as I said apples and oranges.
 
Medic Tim said:
For some reason some people think that basic experience = paramedic experience. Does he try to play the seniority card on you? Even though you are at less than a year you are still the senior Medic.

I am in no way hating on emts but you really can't compare the two. Emt experience can help in some situations as does life experience but as I said apples and oranges.
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Yes he tries it all the time. He never takes my suggestions. He does everything the hard way not the smart way. That's why I'm typing with a broken middle finger. But it does feel good to flip him off to show him what he did to me. Hey seasoned paramedic, Don't break your f*ckin' partner's finger!!!!!
 
Working as an EMT-I in Manchester NH(911) I work with a Paramedic at all times and I have a couple musts when it comes to a partner.

#1. They are competent and treat their patients to protocol. AKA are not lazy medics.

#2. They have a good sense of humor and can laugh about calls and other parts of the job.

#3. They are clinicians not technicians. One of the biggest things that bothers me about providers is putting a non-rebreather on every patient when they have no clinical findings of shortness of breath also taking spinal precautions on every patient due to MOI.
 
The innate ability to put the patient at ease.




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....and instantly stifle bystander interference.
 
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