2011: The year of Occupy EMS

The occupy movement was born of Canadian parents, the Adbusters. This organization stands against advertisement induced consumerism, a society's preoccupation with acquiring consumer goods. To spread their message they used the same media responsible for such presumed excesses.

The occupy movement spread across the U.S. after Occupy Wallstreet. The basic premise was economic equality, i.e. the one percent with the most money should share with the 99 percent with less money. Whether there is a real inequality or this is an attempt at self-entitlement will need to be answered elsewhere. If one looks at where that 1 percent or top 5 percent or top 10 percent put their money, it appears that most of it stays in the good old USA, with at least some amount invested in businesses that provide jobs.

So what does occupy mean? It probably came to us from Middle English. You may recall Middle English from one of those high school or college classes you had to take. Okay, so maybe you don't remember. Anyway, it started the transition to modern English seven or eight centuries ago as the word ‘occupien' which means ‘to take possession of'. And it means the same today.

For those not familiar with the term EMS, it has a dual meaning. Emergency Medical Services overall describes a system of emergency care beginning with that 911 call to dispatch and ending in the emergency facility. EMS can also refer specifically to the individuals that provide medical care in the field or out-of-hospital environment and is the target for this discussion.

So is there an Occupy EMS movement? Yep and it has existed ever since early humans took possession of the care provided to their ill or injured in the field. This is documented in ancient writing such as the Good Samaritan story. However it existed before written history. There is prehistoric evidence that medical care was available even if not highly successful. And in early human times everyone lived out in the open so the chosen practitioners of medicine were all field providers. And they worked with the knowledge, skill and technology available to them at that time.

Og (lead responder): "Grog fell down"

Bog (partner): "Leg's bent"

Og to Bog: "Make it look like the other one"

Bog to Grog: "This is gonna hurt"

So who are our modern day EMS providers? EMTs and paramedics make up the majority with a sprinkling of nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and physicians that are drawn to the out-of-hospital environment.

In my opinion, the most amazing field provider is the Emergency Medical Technician-Basic recently renamed without the Basic tag at the end.

The Emergency Medical Technician is a dedicated individual with 110 hours of initial training and a few hours of initial exposure to clinical medicine who willingly gets into a response vehicle and arrives on the scene of illness or injury that can range from the simple upper respiratory infection to a full blow mass casualty situation.

We expect them to be calm and calm their patients; we expect them to provide care in situations that in my experience can make non-emergency medical providers very uncomfortable if not downright fearful. And many, many EMTs are volunteers across this country and serve in isolated areas and experience long transport times and have little backup and get minimal or no compensation for their service. And they'll get out of bed in the middle of the night to do this!

So what is the essence of the Occupy EMS movement? Simply the willingness of EMS providers to take possession of the ill or injured they encounter regardless of the patient's location or condition while ignoring any personal inconvenience.

All EMS providers occupy a special place in the continuum of medical care we are fortunate to have in our homeland. So for the participants in the Occupy EMS movement I leave this simple parting message:

Thank-you!