%#^*& Arrogant Ems

[AquaHump]

Hmmm... except I am an EMT, I work for an EMS service... actually I work for the same EMS service as the people I called arrogant. That's where I earn my living (I don't get paid to be a PSD or a swift water rescuer). I'm not giving out service names. That's the reason I was so angry. It was my off day. I was fully expecting a swift water page to go pull my friends and coworkers out.

Confidence is the nature of the beast. In a true emergency it is the job of the lead provider to turn kayos into order. Often when some one has to step on toes and take the wheel confidence can often seem like arrogance. When many providers, bystanders and police are on the scene of a true emergency they all have jobs and all tend to think that theirs is the most important. This is where After Call Cannibalism (ACC) accurse.
Oh, if there is a paramedic putting him self in harms way that is a clear problem. He or She should know his place and throw an EMT in harms way. They are expendable after all.

 

[crisis_12]

DaFireMedic hit it on the head. An old service with years of tradition and set in its ways. Well, not too set, because the protocols are okay with nice pilot programs and we have embraced a lot of fun specialty teams..... Still, in our neck of the woods the various subsets tend to run with scissors and some folks need to wear their trauma plates in the back....

Avatar, are you truly mad at the providers or the IC? The IC probably should have toned you out, but remember a lot of old timers (and I count myself well on my way to becoming one with 14 years on the job) aren't used to using door kickers, nippleheads, or dopes on a rope. They just weren't available in the day. I know this is no excuse for not evolving, but it is reality.

 

[Wildcard]

Ahhh, where to start? Docs on scene are seldom a help and almost always a hinderance. Im sure Snowbear rembers the MD on scene cards we used to have in Cali. Those were a big help when a "doc" insisted on helping. Street medicine is just not what most of them can do.
I spent many years playing both medic and rescue as there was just no one else around trained to do what needed to be done.
As for the power of water. You are so right. Called out for a drowning once on the middle fork of the American river in Nor Cal. River guide got fliped and ended up under a bunch of water comming over a rock. He was traped in an air pocket with plenty of fresh air but wasen't strong enough to push through the water. He was also a champion arm wrestler.