Be The Change You Want To See.
Before you open your mouth to complain about the way you are treated…
Before you whine about the low pay…
Before you bitch about working long hours…
Before you dare open your mouth to speak….
Do this.
Make sure you are doing your job and doing it very well.
Tuck the shirt in, tie the boot laces and put a damn smile on your face. Even if you’re exhausted, your spouse is bitching at you through text messages, your back hurts and dispatch is riding your backside. These are people we’re dealing with, not just “another dialysis run” or “BS 911 call”.
And quit bitching about the company you work for to anyone who will listen. It’s not going to help things. Trust me. I’m guilty of it, I’ve done it, I know how easy it is. We can bitch and whine to each other, but we need to keep our business in our stations.
And while you’re at it… Get out there and learn something. Keep up on your skills. Take some CEU’s and attend a conference or two. Don’t become so comfortable with the level that you’re at… You should always want to know more. You should always want to be better.
Just be better.
Be the change you want to see.
Comments
This is your best post ever! This is one of those posts Steve Whitehead would write. What’s awesome is Steve didn’t write this you did! Please keep writing awesome positive pro-active posts like this one. I’m going to apply this at work starting tomorrow and I’m going to keep my whining mouth closed in general
Thanks Epi!
Great post as usual
Sandi
Amen. Preach it, sister.
I think every EMT and Paramedic should put this on their mirror so that when they get dressed for work, they see this as a reminder that they ultimately decided to get into this line of work and no one held a gun to their head to get them to apply.
Before I turn this into a long rant of my own, let me just end by saying, “Thank you,” for saying the perfect thing at the perfect time.
You forgot to tag this with “EMS 2.0″ – Other than that, this is a great post Epi. BE the change you wish to see in your organization.
“Stop thinking, stop worrying, and BE the ball, Danny. Just BE the ball. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na!…”
Sorry – couldn’t help it. Awesome post!
Well said epi! The burn out need to either leave or recharge…. We often forget that the patients we treat are people too, people who are at their worst, and we bring them hope….. I love this post! JS
I love your blog, but I will call the bluff here. Fifteen years in the business, shirt is tucked in, I have learned and taught a lot, I have tried as hard as I could…and there is something terribly wrong. I also see many people with their boots unlaced and shirts untucked. They haven’t learned anything and they don’t intend to. Part of the problem is that the low pay attracts people like this.
Please don’t take this as critisism. Thanks for being professional and doing what you do. No one should bitch until they have really done it. But I am one of a LONG LINE of people who have really done it and are completely capable of bitching up a storm.
Thanks.
*…thoroughly humbled after bitching about not being awarded a shift bid…*
Absolutely noted, Buckman. I couldn’t agree with you more, and I should have been clearer when I wrote the post.
[...] everyone needs to be involved. The new EMT all the way up to the chief officer in the service. Be the change you want to see Explore posts in the same categories: [...]
after my week – thanks for the kick in the pants.
True words, some unadulterated words man. Totally made my day!!