RICollegeEMT
Forum Crew Member
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I decided to post this thread to see what the general consensus is amongst providers about the future of our field.
As I'm sure many of you have, I myself have found myself wondering how long it is until the paycheck dries up and the job disappears. I'm looking to hear everyone's opinion from their respective area, below the personal reflections I share may not be applicable in your area, but I'm curious how you feel.
I've noticed in speaking to several doc's, nurses, coworkers and patients, our field is a mash up of "broken, misunderstood, and misused". For the doc's when they hear private EMS they unfortunately hear "here comes a sh*t show circus act". The nurses hear "i may as well have gone and picked them up myself". The coworkers hear "bend over, here it comes again". And the patients see us as "that taxi with a bed".
And this may just be in my area.
Unfortunately the manpower shortage is so bad that these companies have lowered their requirements to the point of "pulse required, brain optional". And partly that's due to the fact that they're so money hungry that they're simply driving away those who can run-- "5th floor walk up, 500lbs? No problem we'll send a crew", or god forbid you arrive at a nursing home and question a nurse... "you were doing CPR on someone saying 'ouch'? No problem--Because if I question you and you complain, I know I'm going to get fired!". And if you're lucky enough to get that far, management then demands you commit medicare fraud to make an unbillable run thus billable--- your walky-talky "call me the amber-lamps drivers" patient suddenly is billed as "vegetative" with your signature attached through some crafty editing that you didn't know about. Oh and those protocols which the state says you have to follow when providing medical treatment to patients? Yeah good luck-- 12 lead really means "which ever ones still work" amongst other things.
And after all that is complete, and you haven't wound up behind bars or have your ticket pulled by the state, you get to look forward to minimum pay with minimum benefits.
At the rate it's going in my area, its far from sustainable. And sadly it's all cyclical. How is it in your area?
As I'm sure many of you have, I myself have found myself wondering how long it is until the paycheck dries up and the job disappears. I'm looking to hear everyone's opinion from their respective area, below the personal reflections I share may not be applicable in your area, but I'm curious how you feel.
I've noticed in speaking to several doc's, nurses, coworkers and patients, our field is a mash up of "broken, misunderstood, and misused". For the doc's when they hear private EMS they unfortunately hear "here comes a sh*t show circus act". The nurses hear "i may as well have gone and picked them up myself". The coworkers hear "bend over, here it comes again". And the patients see us as "that taxi with a bed".
And this may just be in my area.
Unfortunately the manpower shortage is so bad that these companies have lowered their requirements to the point of "pulse required, brain optional". And partly that's due to the fact that they're so money hungry that they're simply driving away those who can run-- "5th floor walk up, 500lbs? No problem we'll send a crew", or god forbid you arrive at a nursing home and question a nurse... "you were doing CPR on someone saying 'ouch'? No problem--Because if I question you and you complain, I know I'm going to get fired!". And if you're lucky enough to get that far, management then demands you commit medicare fraud to make an unbillable run thus billable--- your walky-talky "call me the amber-lamps drivers" patient suddenly is billed as "vegetative" with your signature attached through some crafty editing that you didn't know about. Oh and those protocols which the state says you have to follow when providing medical treatment to patients? Yeah good luck-- 12 lead really means "which ever ones still work" amongst other things.
And after all that is complete, and you haven't wound up behind bars or have your ticket pulled by the state, you get to look forward to minimum pay with minimum benefits.
At the rate it's going in my area, its far from sustainable. And sadly it's all cyclical. How is it in your area?