Dear Professional Billy Bad Ass Fire Medic,
Today someone called 911 for some reason, let’s just say it was a back injury.
Someone ON YOUR END, in dispatch, decided that it was a code two response (ie, no lights or siren). We were enroute in one minute and on scene in six. For a BLS run that YOUR fire department couldn’t take because all of your trucks were out (or because the patient didn’t have insurance, but that’s up for debate.)
Keep in mind that the city has in the last few years decided that the FD would transport ALL of the BLS runs, putting several of my friends out of work, resulting in less private service trucks on the road. That’s all well and good unless you’ve suddenly realized that 911 runs are not where the money is. Or you realize that you don’t have enough trucks, but that’s another post entirely…
That being said, you called, and we came. And we didn’t drag our feet.
And then you went and said it. When a coworker of yours questioned whether or not the patient should be going BLS you said it. You said, “It’s a BS run anyway, let the mickey medics take it.”
Oh hell no.
Look here, kiddo.
I went to the same EMT-B school you went to. Quite a few of your coworkers work on a private service in addition to working on a full time fire service. We’re all in this for the right reasons, so why cut someone down because they couldn’t get one of the zero slots on the fire department this year?
I can guarantee you this. I am light years ahead of you when it comes to talking and listening to a patient. I guarantee you that.
So while you’re out there splinting bilateral femur fractures (and for the record, I’ve been there done that) and I’m out there holding someone’s hand (Yeah, I heard what you said as your partner dragged you away) and communicating with my patient and their pissed off family, I will say this. I pick to be a people person. I choose to be the person who knows how to communicate. You might make three times what I do, but that doesn’t mean an effing thing to me at this point. And it certainly doesn’t mean that I’m less of an EMT than I’d be if I were employed by a fire department.
So quit making so much out of that fact. We’re all in this for (at least initially) the same reasons. We’re supposed to be on the same team.
All my love (and yeah, you kinda piddled in my cheerios),
Epijunky
For the record Epi,
I’d rather be taken by “the mickey medics” any day :-)
I’ve heard you speak of these Neanderthals before.
So the next time one of them calls you a “mickey medic,” smile sweetly at them and say…
“Listen, you knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing hosemonkey, ‘push one of the tan box and one of the purple box ACLS provider’ fucktard, don’t you have a fire apparatus that needs washing, or a recliner and a pint of ice cream waiting on you somewhere? We’ll take this one for you, so you can get back to your book with lots of pictures and very short words that you left sitting by the crapper in that wretched hive of ignorance, arrogance and testosterone you call a firehouse.”
Or, you know, words to that effect.
Just consider the source Epi. Don’t let these less than professionals get you down.
You go girl!
Guess their grocery shopping got interrupted and their panties were in a wad about it…
LOL at AD’s post.
Remember, “Real paramedics don’t roll hose.”
Chin up, kiddo. This too, shall pass.
Oh hell no. HELL no.
Mickey Medics? BS runs?
I’m surprised you didn’t snap the firefighter’s neck and turn him into an ALS run.
And DON’T refer to trying to get a slot on the fire department. That just encourages them. When I worked for the paid service, EMS was my “side job”, and they’d say “What’s wrong? Couldn’t get on the FD?”
I’d smile sweetly and reply, “No – I’d love to be just like you guys – but I couldn’t afford the pay cut.” And walk away.
Drove them nuts. :)
I will look into this. I think this person “got their license” so they could get hired, then thought they can just let it go.
The Mickey Medic line is inexcusable. But don’t count me out because I double majored. Each service has jerks like this. Judge each as a practitioner. I’ve met many on the private side just like him. They’ll never get the EMS mission.
“Real paramedics don’t roll hose.” Would you rather we sleep in the bus zone in between runs?
?Real paramedics don?t roll hose.? Would you rather we sleep in the bus zone in between runs?
No, I’d much rather prefer a clear delineation between EMS providers and Fire Suppression specialists. Pick one, and do it well.
Medic 7,
I choose both and do them both well. Until this system decides what it is, I will stay in the middle. All I’m saying is that those of us who choose both and hold up our end deserve respect, not just a wave and a grunt.
EMS alone can’t handle the call volume waiting for us as the bulk of the baby boomers get ready to hit 65.
We need to figure out how to do this thing right and do it, soon. If that means forgetting all the fire stuff in my head then so be it. If it means going the other way, then so be it, but I refuse to accept that I have to choose one and do it well. I do both.
Sorry, epi.
I’ve got news for you: it’s already starting.
As for the “Private EMS vs. Fire-based EMS” fight thing, we don’t have time for that. Not now. Not ever. Civil discourse, okay – that’s fine. Discussion works incredibly well towards settling differences. But it’s just not worth fighting over, especially because all of us here who comment all have the same philosophy about our work: we all subscribe to “First Do No Harm.”
Sure – there definitely are knuckle-draggers in the fire service. And they exist on the private side, too. Seeing that I work both sides of the street, I can see it as plain as day, and not only do I know of no way to fix the problems associated with it, I also think it will continue until inequities that exist at levels beyond any of our control are dealt with.
So before it gets out of hand, can we try to keep it civil?
Thank you!
As someone who is frequently a patient, I want to reassure you that “holding someone’s hand” makes a huge difference, and your patients care! I’m not qualified to get into the fire vs private EMS debate, but I can tell you that on a call-by-call basis, your attitude is going to help a lot more patients than that guy’s.
But of course, there are good guys on the fire side and bad guys on the private side too. Don’t look at it as a battle between two giant forces, just you vs some asshole medic.
I have seem this many times. I’ve been on the recieving end in the privates and I have yelled at my fellow firefighters for acting like that. It’s all egos! JS