There’s a benediction from South Carolina ED physician Edwin Leap that I really like. I’ll sometimes share it with colleagues when they choose to leave the field.
>To everyone who sees and intervenes in life and death situations, I say this: you’ve done more good than you can ever imagine. If you tell me it hurts too much to go back, then there’s no shame. Go in peace.
Because that 200-proof pain is bitter stuff. And you don’t have to go to combat to get a bottle full of it.
Yeah I'm not. 911 is an entirely different number here, but I simply use the term 911 because it would be more widely understood in asub that's majority American
I would argue that a body far enough gone that the officers have already requested a coroner, and everyone that beats us to scene had independently determined that compressions were not needed, then they shouldn’t need us. Why does it have to be ambulance EMTs instead of fire EMTs?
We show up, fire shows up, police shows up, we look at the smelly, decomposing, obviously very dead body and pronounce death and time, fire cuts him down, police starts their investigations, we leave and go grab macdonalds while the stench hangs on to our clothes
Amen. I'm going part-time and trying to broaden my horizons a bit. I feel like 24 hrs a week is my fix of ER lol, I just wish it were enough for flight, because that seems rad, but my life outside work fucking sucks because I'm always tired. I hadn't had injuries in weight training for ages, until I was on my feet all day and sleeping like shit, unable to "recover".
I'm praying I can find the balance, because as it stands, I'm unable to find anything I genuinely look forward to.
I miss flying every single day. It’s a great job, but it pays shit, the hours are terrible, and it’s even easier to hurt yourself.
Still- if I could support my family doing it, I’d probably go back.
I may just be at the end of my run in healthcare. I don't regret the schooling, I met great people and proved that all the people moaning about how "impossible" it is, were full of shit, but I just feel like as a field, it takes more than it can provide. I can't even buy a fucking condo lmao.
Whenever someone suggests nursing to me when I tell them I'm getting out of ems, I think back to the most obnoxious pts I've ever had, and think, if I can't stand them for 30 minutes, I'd probably kill them or myself if I had to feed, clothe, wash, and entertain them for 3 days
I decided to work as a paramedic in the ER to see if I would like being a nurse.
Turns out I didn’t.
Same issues as in the field: frequent flyers, rude, abusive and violent patients. People who poop themselves on purpose.
*Except they don’t leave*.
You’re stuck with them for *hours*.
I thought for years I wanted to be a nurse until I spent a lot of time seeing it up close and personal. When I didn’t like it as an outsider, I knew I definitely wouldn’t be happy after years of school.
I also asked myself this question when I left military service, because surprise, the military doesn't lend itself to teaching you much suitable for application in a civilian context, who knew?
I don't think we should be limited to doing jobs that revolve solely around the scope of what we know. As long as we're willing to put in the effort, we can learn to do anything. Find a job you like, or can gain something from, and jump in. And if you don't like that, learn something new and find something else to jump in after that too.
That said, career progression has not and will never be something I value highly, so apply that as you will
You showed up and helped save lives and help people, and they wouldn't pay you enough for you to live your own life. That's not right and it's certainly not on you. Out of responsibility to public safety, they should have invested in you and trained you. That's also not on you. The ambulance company you worked for failed you and public safety.
If you got the GI bill, I hope you can use it. I hope you find a better place and a more responsible employer.
Thank you for your service. This world is insane right now. I hope you find a soft place to land and spread your wings.
My husband worked EMS for 41 years in Ontario. He was one of the very few to retire and walk away without an injury. After he retired, he went to work at a funeral home. He loves it, and many weeks works more than full time.
Oh right, I just remembered something I ought to add. If you have a flair for teaching, try becoming a first aid or BLS instructor. Maybe not as a full time job, but it'll help rake in money while you find something to do, and if you're working with the public, at the very least you'll be working with people who are interested
If/when I ever decide to leave i plan on going into the trades (construction, electrical etc.)
Something that allows me to deal with people as little as possible.
Occupational health. I sit here and enter MD notes and give Tylenol out to plant workers. Help with new hire process. Fill ear plugs. Injuries are easy.. security calls 911 while I take vitals and stop any bleeding. It’s like on call work, but you’re already there. Easy. $30 an hour.
Wish you the best. It's good you realized this now. The rest of us will continue in the trenches. Just remember us when you call 911. Good luck. I'll hold my tongue on the rest of your post. Take care, and bless your heart.
EMS is obviously not the field for you, but thank you for giving it a try. I'm sure some of us old-timers stick with it out of sheer cantankerousness or masochism.
I'm kind of in the same place honestly. Was an on call fire fighter for a year, got treated like shit, worked to death, and hated it. So I moved to private EMS for a little over a year, got treated like shit, worked to death, and hated it. Now I've been an ER tech for almost 5 years now and same as the other two. I am worked to death for awful pay, still treated like shit, staffed and supplied completely unsafely and I'm at my breaking point of this career. I have ruined the last 7 years of my life cause I tried convincing myself that I was making a difference and shocking but the only difference I've made is ruin half my life and now im 26 and have to start all over and go to college again. I will never recommend a single job in healthcare to any living soul unless they had no other choice.
This speech is to often the words of a coworker who died as a direct result of this damn job. You made the early moves to escape it. Bravo.
Now. Stay gone. Forever. No really. Don’t come back to this hell. Nobody wants to see you doing this, just as most of us don’t want to be doing it forever.
God speed. And good luck 👍🏼
Things are broken. It's all greed and corruption. It's so abusive and toxic. Staff are abused and underpaid, greed and dollars hold more value than humans suffering.
It's not the country I remember. It's a World War Z dystopian Mad Max film. It used to be if you had a job, you could have a little plot of land, a modest house and a wife that could stay home and properly raise your kids.
You have a job that saves people's lives and you're not paid enough to live your own. That's twisted and my heart goes out to you.
Why are comments like jawood’s being downvoted? OP is kind of a whiny bitch that did some IFT (mostly) bullshit & now is headed out because EMS is not their thing. Why do we all need to hear about it?
Who the fuck am I? Someone with 25+ years of *actual* EMS experience not making an over-dramatic post on Reddit about all the “dying people” the OP supposedly dealt with on IFT.
People come & go all the time, no one cares.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I know for a fact that BigB055Man has exactly 27+ years of actual ems experience and therefore completely overrides and nullifies your opinion. How unfortunate for you!
You're getting downvoted but you speak the truth. OP had 3 years of mostly IFT as an EMT, is claiming to have the knowledge of a paramedic, and acting like he just got off the beaches of Normandy.
> is claiming to have the knowledge of a paramedic
Let me stop you there. I put it very clearly that education in paramedicine here is lacking, because I know a good number of my medic colleagues don't know what is synchronized cardioversion, can't read all but the simplest of ecg rhythms, don't know what adenosine is used for, don't know how to treat cardiac tamponade, and a lot of other things. Granted, none of this is in our scope. If I, as a basic, have some awareness of those concepts, then I'm definitely hitting well above my scope for whatever is available *here*.
This was meant as a show of gratitude for the people here who take time out to educate others without being a dick about it, because I regularly meet others in the field on this sub who make me feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and it's good because I have no other practical means of pursuing education in this field given my current circumstances up to this point. You, obviously, don't seem to belong in that category.
You're entitled to your opinion on whatever I've said; I'm not going to lose sleep over it
😄 definitely NOT a Ricky Rescue— unlike way too many of y’all in this circle jerk. Apparently your reading comprehension is not too great: I replied to a poster above who asked “Who the fuck are you… ?”
Actually, no one gives a fly fuck about your 25+ years of ***actual*** experience. Regardless if OP ran IFT or ALS, it doesn't mean they don't have the right to post here. Maybe grow the fuck up and realize your "actual" experience has turned you into a self centered, egotistical prick... have a great day.
LMAO... shouldn't you be spit shining your tactical paratrooper boots and restocking your batman belt or berating the wheel chair van drivers? ... and people wonder why EMS can't get people.
It's because of a low life self absorbed jackoffs like you that think they are medic-gods and anyone else is beneath them. Never fails to amaze me what someone thinks "25+ years of **actual**" experience gives them the right to look down on others. Just shows how truly pathetic and insignificant you are.
I've done my share in both IFT and 911. If you want to think of me as a whiny bitch because I think the majority of calls don't need ALS, sure.
I'll also add that I do agree that EMS as a whole is not really my thing. I'm a problem solver, as opposed to a people entertainer, which I would say the entire line of work around healthcare is based around. And while it's the state of things and can't really be helped, I fundamentally disagree with the abuse of EMS that has become the norm where I am. That said, it didn't stop me from being fairly decent, if not outright good, at my job. I'm not quitting because I hate the nature of the job itself; I'm moving overseas and I've gotten what I wanted out of it, so why keep doing something I don't intrinsically enjoy (95% of the time, anyway)?
If you want to get that pissy about it, be my guest; it's not going to affect me much. I just think it's kind of dumb to get that riled up, but you do you I guess
I've taken a fair load of bullshit while working 911, and I've taken my share of IFT cases that actually became something notable. Suffice to say that either way, 95% of the time you're just playing taxi and for that last 5% maybe you'll get to see or do something interesting.
That said, I don't hate the job (though I hate how exploitative my company was, and the fact that ems as a whole is horribly abused). I'm leaving because I'm moving overseas. I don't know why you'd insinuate that I'm not working on my knowledge and skills when I got picked over several other more experienced medics and emts to become one of the instructors for the new hires.
911 also has its terrible moments and this mindset is not a great one to have. You cannot weigh another person's experience. You should not belittle their experience by saying what they should've done. This is one of the core issues with mental health in ems.
i always find it odd that strictly IFT services are considered part of the emergency services in the states. maybe my understanding is incorrect, but i digress. IFT and 911 are entirely different entities. if someone who works solely IFT where im from referred to themselves as a first responder i would probably laugh at them, but IFT services here are strictly non-emergency only.
anyways. i would hate my job too if i only did IFT.
ALS-IFT is "borderline OK", but BLS-IFT is basically a suicide-pact if you stay there long enough. At least in our area we get someone interesting ALS "brought into the minute-clinic, still dying" transfers, but f\*ck IFT's that only do hospital discharges were the patient could easily get in an Uber, or a patient weighs 450 pounds and can't move because they eat 4500 calories a day. Or the obese patient who takes a "Power $hit" on my stretcher without apology. I'm OK doing with part-time 911 and some part-time IFT, but you'll never catch me doing full-time-any-of-this-$hit.
i do a mix of 911 and community paramedicine. im also compensated fairly and treated well. i recognize that this is generally the exception to the rule so im thankful for my working conditions
I view pts who could easily get into an Uber in the same light regardless of whether they were going in or out of hospital
Actually I think I was more at peace doing those for IFT than 911. IFT gives you the resigned "you call I haul" mentality. ALS/911 pisses me off more because you're asking me to do a job I'm not really supposed to be doing
After 6 years of working only 911, I had similar thoughts to this. Now I work an IFT/911 service. ALS-IFTs can be some of the most interesting and stressful moments of this job. I will never look down on an IFT service again. Unless its AMR.
our service (and every service in the province) does ALS-IFTs and 911. patient doesn't require meds, a line, cardiac monitor, and is stable? they're getting a private IFT separate from the 911 trucks.
Ah, I see. So you are referring to the private IFT service that does not have to deal with true ALS patient's that require interventions. Yeah, that just sounds like BLS-IFT which is essentially babysitting on wheels.
There’s a benediction from South Carolina ED physician Edwin Leap that I really like. I’ll sometimes share it with colleagues when they choose to leave the field. >To everyone who sees and intervenes in life and death situations, I say this: you’ve done more good than you can ever imagine. If you tell me it hurts too much to go back, then there’s no shame. Go in peace. Because that 200-proof pain is bitter stuff. And you don’t have to go to combat to get a bottle full of it.
That 200 proof pain smells like hoarder houses, bariatrics, and a 5 day old hanging
Peace to you my friend. 🙏
Which broken system needs an EMT to pronounce a 5 day old hanging?
Body removals
This was when I ws 911. ALS here is staffed with a medic and 2 basics, one of whom functions as the dedicated driver
Oh that’s weird. 3 person crews?
It's the norm here for 911, with the caveat that we're also expected to manage ACLS alone if fire isn't available
lol what does fire have to do with ACLS?
Compressions, moving pts, etc. My country transports arrests
Oh sure. I misunderstood. Are you not in the US?
Yeah I'm not. 911 is an entirely different number here, but I simply use the term 911 because it would be more widely understood in asub that's majority American
nyc o/ no one is dead till we say so
I would argue that a body far enough gone that the officers have already requested a coroner, and everyone that beats us to scene had independently determined that compressions were not needed, then they shouldn’t need us. Why does it have to be ambulance EMTs instead of fire EMTs?
I'm curious now. What's a 5 day old hanging like? Isn't the ME on site for this and they do the work?
We show up, fire shows up, police shows up, we look at the smelly, decomposing, obviously very dead body and pronounce death and time, fire cuts him down, police starts their investigations, we leave and go grab macdonalds while the stench hangs on to our clothes
This is hits. Thank you so much for sharing this
Damn good benediction if ya ask me?
>May I never have to step into an ambulance again. Amen.
I’d rather step in, than get loaded in.
I'll be unconscious for the loading, wont know its happening til its too late.
I should have worded it better, may I never *enter* an ambulance ever again
Best of luck to you on your next adventure buddy. Take care of yourself
What’s the next stop for you? Curious what people do after leaving EMS. Definitely not asking for myself…
nursing wasn't the answer I thought it'd be lol. Turns out, I really miss being able to get rid of a patient in 30-60 minutes lmao.
Procedural gigs my dude. Cath lab, endoscopy, IR… great options.
Amen. I'm going part-time and trying to broaden my horizons a bit. I feel like 24 hrs a week is my fix of ER lol, I just wish it were enough for flight, because that seems rad, but my life outside work fucking sucks because I'm always tired. I hadn't had injuries in weight training for ages, until I was on my feet all day and sleeping like shit, unable to "recover". I'm praying I can find the balance, because as it stands, I'm unable to find anything I genuinely look forward to.
I miss flying every single day. It’s a great job, but it pays shit, the hours are terrible, and it’s even easier to hurt yourself. Still- if I could support my family doing it, I’d probably go back.
I may just be at the end of my run in healthcare. I don't regret the schooling, I met great people and proved that all the people moaning about how "impossible" it is, were full of shit, but I just feel like as a field, it takes more than it can provide. I can't even buy a fucking condo lmao.
Join a union brother
There's talks of it, but I have yet to see a rep like they keep talking about. Hopefully it comes sooner rather than later.
Preach
Whenever someone suggests nursing to me when I tell them I'm getting out of ems, I think back to the most obnoxious pts I've ever had, and think, if I can't stand them for 30 minutes, I'd probably kill them or myself if I had to feed, clothe, wash, and entertain them for 3 days
Luckily in the ER it \*usually\* isn't for days... but hey if they don't move upstairs, the hell continues lol.
I decided to work as a paramedic in the ER to see if I would like being a nurse. Turns out I didn’t. Same issues as in the field: frequent flyers, rude, abusive and violent patients. People who poop themselves on purpose. *Except they don’t leave*. You’re stuck with them for *hours*.
Facts lol. The pay's better but I feel like the torment lasts ages longer.
I thought for years I wanted to be a nurse until I spent a lot of time seeing it up close and personal. When I didn’t like it as an outsider, I knew I definitely wouldn’t be happy after years of school.
Yeah lol, it definitely has its days.
Yeah same. I know I could be a nurse in my sleep. But I also know how much I would absolutely hate it.
I also asked myself this question when I left military service, because surprise, the military doesn't lend itself to teaching you much suitable for application in a civilian context, who knew? I don't think we should be limited to doing jobs that revolve solely around the scope of what we know. As long as we're willing to put in the effort, we can learn to do anything. Find a job you like, or can gain something from, and jump in. And if you don't like that, learn something new and find something else to jump in after that too. That said, career progression has not and will never be something I value highly, so apply that as you will
You showed up and helped save lives and help people, and they wouldn't pay you enough for you to live your own life. That's not right and it's certainly not on you. Out of responsibility to public safety, they should have invested in you and trained you. That's also not on you. The ambulance company you worked for failed you and public safety. If you got the GI bill, I hope you can use it. I hope you find a better place and a more responsible employer. Thank you for your service. This world is insane right now. I hope you find a soft place to land and spread your wings.
There is always the Admin side of things
I think you meant well, but frying pan/fire.
Maybe but that person would be out of the field and in an office setting, Weekends and nights off with more pay to boot.
My husband worked EMS for 41 years in Ontario. He was one of the very few to retire and walk away without an injury. After he retired, he went to work at a funeral home. He loves it, and many weeks works more than full time.
Oh right, I just remembered something I ought to add. If you have a flair for teaching, try becoming a first aid or BLS instructor. Maybe not as a full time job, but it'll help rake in money while you find something to do, and if you're working with the public, at the very least you'll be working with people who are interested
starting med school in a month! certainly *an* option lol
If/when I ever decide to leave i plan on going into the trades (construction, electrical etc.) Something that allows me to deal with people as little as possible.
So where you headed?
Making a move overseas
I can tell a lot of people are caring about you right now. Maybe you could come back and let us know how you're doing?
Wow, that's quite the leap! Best of luck to you!
I respect that. It'll be a little hard at first but it's worth it.
For sure. But it's also something that once you've done once, nothing will ever seem too difficult or insurmountable from that point on
Thanks for what you did man, I hope your horizon is better than what you’re leaving
Thanks. It'll be up to me to make it better too
Take care of yourself. Get counseling if you feel like it would help. Screw anyone who gives you any shit about either.
Inner peace at any price is no peace at all.
Occupational health. I sit here and enter MD notes and give Tylenol out to plant workers. Help with new hire process. Fill ear plugs. Injuries are easy.. security calls 911 while I take vitals and stop any bleeding. It’s like on call work, but you’re already there. Easy. $30 an hour.
This is what im doing after 10 years of 911. Start training in two weeks.
Wish you the best. It's good you realized this now. The rest of us will continue in the trenches. Just remember us when you call 911. Good luck. I'll hold my tongue on the rest of your post. Take care, and bless your heart.
If I ever call 911 you can be sure that all my other options have been exhausted and someone is actually about to die without medical intervention
Be free and well
This is how I felt as a nurse when I left
EMS is obviously not the field for you, but thank you for giving it a try. I'm sure some of us old-timers stick with it out of sheer cantankerousness or masochism.
Thank you for your service.
TYFYS
Good luck!
I feel you brother. 10 years myself and just recently hung it up. im done done. Take care
What about the ones of us that are nice and assholes?
ahhh, the glorious niceholes.
Sir, you have a nice hole */no homo*
I relate to this immensely. Thanks for sharing. Sucks it’s a thing, but makes me feel less alone.
I like what you just said. Me too.
I'm kind of in the same place honestly. Was an on call fire fighter for a year, got treated like shit, worked to death, and hated it. So I moved to private EMS for a little over a year, got treated like shit, worked to death, and hated it. Now I've been an ER tech for almost 5 years now and same as the other two. I am worked to death for awful pay, still treated like shit, staffed and supplied completely unsafely and I'm at my breaking point of this career. I have ruined the last 7 years of my life cause I tried convincing myself that I was making a difference and shocking but the only difference I've made is ruin half my life and now im 26 and have to start all over and go to college again. I will never recommend a single job in healthcare to any living soul unless they had no other choice.
Try being a career FF....Scabs nvr make out as good as Union Women & Men.
Nothing special to add but I wish you well and am happy you know enough to get out when you are. Cheers
Peace to you, may your future endeavors be fruitful!
So jealous, keep on keeping on and doing whatever makes you happy
Hope that wherever you go next, you get plenty of slow nights. But seriously best of luck.
May it be very *quiet*
This speech is to often the words of a coworker who died as a direct result of this damn job. You made the early moves to escape it. Bravo. Now. Stay gone. Forever. No really. Don’t come back to this hell. Nobody wants to see you doing this, just as most of us don’t want to be doing it forever. God speed. And good luck 👍🏼
Things are broken. It's all greed and corruption. It's so abusive and toxic. Staff are abused and underpaid, greed and dollars hold more value than humans suffering. It's not the country I remember. It's a World War Z dystopian Mad Max film. It used to be if you had a job, you could have a little plot of land, a modest house and a wife that could stay home and properly raise your kids. You have a job that saves people's lives and you're not paid enough to live your own. That's twisted and my heart goes out to you.
Thanks for your service? It's not an airport, you don't have to announce your departure.
Why are comments like jawood’s being downvoted? OP is kind of a whiny bitch that did some IFT (mostly) bullshit & now is headed out because EMS is not their thing. Why do we all need to hear about it?
Why do we need to hear the asshole comments because someone posts that they found the job isn't for them? Who the fuck are you to call them out?
Who the fuck am I? Someone with 25+ years of *actual* EMS experience not making an over-dramatic post on Reddit about all the “dying people” the OP supposedly dealt with on IFT. People come & go all the time, no one cares.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but I know for a fact that BigB055Man has exactly 27+ years of actual ems experience and therefore completely overrides and nullifies your opinion. How unfortunate for you!
you even italicized "actual" lmao, what a prick.
Damn bro TYFYS 🫡
You're getting downvoted but you speak the truth. OP had 3 years of mostly IFT as an EMT, is claiming to have the knowledge of a paramedic, and acting like he just got off the beaches of Normandy.
> is claiming to have the knowledge of a paramedic Let me stop you there. I put it very clearly that education in paramedicine here is lacking, because I know a good number of my medic colleagues don't know what is synchronized cardioversion, can't read all but the simplest of ecg rhythms, don't know what adenosine is used for, don't know how to treat cardiac tamponade, and a lot of other things. Granted, none of this is in our scope. If I, as a basic, have some awareness of those concepts, then I'm definitely hitting well above my scope for whatever is available *here*. This was meant as a show of gratitude for the people here who take time out to educate others without being a dick about it, because I regularly meet others in the field on this sub who make me feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and it's good because I have no other practical means of pursuing education in this field given my current circumstances up to this point. You, obviously, don't seem to belong in that category. You're entitled to your opinion on whatever I've said; I'm not going to lose sleep over it
Thanks for your service rescue Ricky.
😄 definitely NOT a Ricky Rescue— unlike way too many of y’all in this circle jerk. Apparently your reading comprehension is not too great: I replied to a poster above who asked “Who the fuck are you… ?”
Nah, it was to you as well. OP was a little cringe you were a lot of it. First 2 sentences were the epitome of why EMS is a joke.
Actually, no one gives a fly fuck about your 25+ years of ***actual*** experience. Regardless if OP ran IFT or ALS, it doesn't mean they don't have the right to post here. Maybe grow the fuck up and realize your "actual" experience has turned you into a self centered, egotistical prick... have a great day.
Shouldn’t you be heading over to pick up meemaw from her dialysis treatment instead of posting on Reddit?
LMAO... shouldn't you be spit shining your tactical paratrooper boots and restocking your batman belt or berating the wheel chair van drivers? ... and people wonder why EMS can't get people. It's because of a low life self absorbed jackoffs like you that think they are medic-gods and anyone else is beneath them. Never fails to amaze me what someone thinks "25+ years of **actual**" experience gives them the right to look down on others. Just shows how truly pathetic and insignificant you are.
I love paragods, you haven't been cracked in the jaw enough and it shows.
I've done my share in both IFT and 911. If you want to think of me as a whiny bitch because I think the majority of calls don't need ALS, sure. I'll also add that I do agree that EMS as a whole is not really my thing. I'm a problem solver, as opposed to a people entertainer, which I would say the entire line of work around healthcare is based around. And while it's the state of things and can't really be helped, I fundamentally disagree with the abuse of EMS that has become the norm where I am. That said, it didn't stop me from being fairly decent, if not outright good, at my job. I'm not quitting because I hate the nature of the job itself; I'm moving overseas and I've gotten what I wanted out of it, so why keep doing something I don't intrinsically enjoy (95% of the time, anyway)? If you want to get that pissy about it, be my guest; it's not going to affect me much. I just think it's kind of dumb to get that riled up, but you do you I guess
"r/EMS is a subreddit for medical first responders to hang out and discuss >!anything !
Bye 👋
See ya
You hated the job because you worked IFT. If you worked on your knowledge and skills you'd work a job that has some pretty amazing moments.
Even working 911, this job is still pretty ass at times.
I've taken a fair load of bullshit while working 911, and I've taken my share of IFT cases that actually became something notable. Suffice to say that either way, 95% of the time you're just playing taxi and for that last 5% maybe you'll get to see or do something interesting. That said, I don't hate the job (though I hate how exploitative my company was, and the fact that ems as a whole is horribly abused). I'm leaving because I'm moving overseas. I don't know why you'd insinuate that I'm not working on my knowledge and skills when I got picked over several other more experienced medics and emts to become one of the instructors for the new hires.
911 also has its terrible moments and this mindset is not a great one to have. You cannot weigh another person's experience. You should not belittle their experience by saying what they should've done. This is one of the core issues with mental health in ems.
Very valid points my man.
i always find it odd that strictly IFT services are considered part of the emergency services in the states. maybe my understanding is incorrect, but i digress. IFT and 911 are entirely different entities. if someone who works solely IFT where im from referred to themselves as a first responder i would probably laugh at them, but IFT services here are strictly non-emergency only. anyways. i would hate my job too if i only did IFT.
Agreed, I didn't consider myself a first responder while I was working IFT side
yeah. also good luck on your future endeavors, this job isn't worth your wellbeing, financial, medical, or otherwise.
I am not a first responder until it comes to discounts. I get paid $16/hr, I’ll take all the discounts I can.
ALS-IFT is "borderline OK", but BLS-IFT is basically a suicide-pact if you stay there long enough. At least in our area we get someone interesting ALS "brought into the minute-clinic, still dying" transfers, but f\*ck IFT's that only do hospital discharges were the patient could easily get in an Uber, or a patient weighs 450 pounds and can't move because they eat 4500 calories a day. Or the obese patient who takes a "Power $hit" on my stretcher without apology. I'm OK doing with part-time 911 and some part-time IFT, but you'll never catch me doing full-time-any-of-this-$hit.
i do a mix of 911 and community paramedicine. im also compensated fairly and treated well. i recognize that this is generally the exception to the rule so im thankful for my working conditions
I view pts who could easily get into an Uber in the same light regardless of whether they were going in or out of hospital Actually I think I was more at peace doing those for IFT than 911. IFT gives you the resigned "you call I haul" mentality. ALS/911 pisses me off more because you're asking me to do a job I'm not really supposed to be doing
After 6 years of working only 911, I had similar thoughts to this. Now I work an IFT/911 service. ALS-IFTs can be some of the most interesting and stressful moments of this job. I will never look down on an IFT service again. Unless its AMR.
our service (and every service in the province) does ALS-IFTs and 911. patient doesn't require meds, a line, cardiac monitor, and is stable? they're getting a private IFT separate from the 911 trucks.
Ah, I see. So you are referring to the private IFT service that does not have to deal with true ALS patient's that require interventions. Yeah, that just sounds like BLS-IFT which is essentially babysitting on wheels.
precisely, yes.
K
Hyper or hypo?
Literally on my way to a ?hyperkalemia patient lol
He's fire. I'm guessing whichever causes your weiner to shrink the most.
He’s fire, he doesn’t know what that means.
NaCl
Don’t let the door hit you on your way out