Sometimes a person needs to be able to say “enough is enough.” In my years in EMS, I have seen a number of people come and go. Â  The wear and tear of being a field provider ends up being too much for some bodies both young and old, some decide to move on to other careers (nursing, physician’s assistant, fire fighter, police officer etc) and even more still are overcome by burnout. We all know those people that I am talking about: the ones that just can’t seem to have a good day; the ones that are crispier than burnt bacon.  They act like their motivating factor for continuing to work is that leaving would be admitting defeat to a job, an organization or even an individual person like a boss or a supervisor.  Some may think that the only casualty suffered in this scenario is the person themselves, but these crispy individuals usually cause a lot of collateral damage.  I’ve seen good EMT’s dragged down by cynical, burnt out partners, becoming a clone of the person they sit next to for forty hours a week and that makes me sad.  People should be allowed to enjoy their job, and do it at their own terms, but exposure to people like this make that difficult. Then, there are the patients.  How can a person give their best at a job when they are miserable day in and day out?  It does not seem possible to me.  Our job is a very serious, vital one, and the people we encounter every day deserve nothing short of a caring, competent, compassionate individual coming to their aide.  When a provider starts putting their patients second, third, or even forth, or worrying more about how their employer is “screwing them” or this particular 9-1-1 call is going to make them late for this or that, it stops being about the patients, and when it stops being about the patients, it is time to question one’s motivations and desire to stay in the field. Don’t get me wrong, everyone has a bad day.  The problem arises when that bad day turns into a bad week, or that bad week...

As I sit here early on this Monday afternoon, I have realized that I have not posted anything in the past week.  It’s a great example of the fact that this blogging thing?  It ain’t easy! I love writing, and it has really gotten me through a lot over the last year.  It has been an outlet for me to share my ideas, and it has allowed me to vent out a lot of my frustrations both with my job and with the field in general.  My ideas for what I write though come from a lot of different places: 1.  What I see that is going well — I constantly read about other services, and due to my position, I have an insider view into what is going on with the service that I work for.  Best practices are something that we all must understand and embrace if we are going to take EMS to the next level, and their stories need to be told. 2.  What I see that is not going well — I had someone ask me a question about one of my blog posts once.  They thought that based on what I had written, my service had a PIO.  Well, sadly, we do not.  I see a great need for one, as well as a great need to tackle other challenges both locally and nationally.  Not everything is all “puppy dogs and butterflies” in EMS, and just as the good needs to be talked about, so does the bad. 3.  Past experiences — There is always time to reminisce about the good ole days, and there are a lot of reasons to do it.  It lets us learn from our mistakes, and sometimes it’s a great way to put a smile on someone’s face.  Much like the fire service, there is a certain degree of tradition built into the field.  We are much younger than the fire service, but there are still lots of stories to be told. 4.  Moments of inspiration — Take a look at my post entitled Camaraderie.  I wrote that whole thing while sitting in a bar having breakfast.  There were lots of topics in...

A state realizes it is in trouble so they call in a group to do a comprehensive study of their EMS system. After a year long study complete with focus groups lasting 8 hours a piece and evaluations of systems, what kind of group would turn up their noses at the results of the study? One that is blinded by their own ignorance, of course. I am once again firing a shot across the bow of the New Jersey First Aid Council. I took some time over the last couple of days to reread the EMS study done in New Jersey and am once again left shaking my head at what I see. It is no surprise to me that when asked for data about member squads of the NJFAC, they refused to provide any information. When the consulting firm asked the NJSFAC to help facilitate meetings with member sfqeuads to ask their opinions of the direction of EMS in New Jersey, they once again refused to provide any assistance. The goal of the study was to improve EMS in New jersey and an organization that claims to be dedicated to that exact mission refused to participate. So the study went forward, and sound recommendations were made to help improve the system state wide based on established proven best practices and what do they do? They throw a tantrum declaring that the changes could hurt the volunteer EMS system in the state which for the most part is on life support already. . News flash: It’s not 1966 anymore and we are not just talking about turning herses into ambulances and driving them as fast as possible to the closest hospital. Emts and paramedics are now clinicians with decision making ability and interventions potentially at their finger tips that could save lives. None of that matters to the New Jersey State First Aid Council though. Expanding the scope of practice would require more training and training takes time. That is something the NJSFAC doesn’t seem to think it’s members have. They are content with the job they are able to do now and think the general public should be as well because they do...