|
What the public doesn't know about EMS
Most folks are unaware of the safety issues EMS workers are exposed to on a daily basis
By Art Hsieh
|
Editor's note: With an inquest in Canada looking into the death of a man who suffered a heart attack, Art Hsieh looks at the issues behind the story. |
This report highlights a standard practice of EMS systems being misunderstood — or underreported — by the press. I can interpret the news report this way:
1) The dispatcher followed triage guidelines and, based on the information provided by the caller, categorized the incident as a lower priority patient.
2) The EMS crew arrived on scene in a timely manner. However, they followed established guidelines in awaiting law enforcement to secure a scene. They didn't "choose" to do so.
3) The fact that the system's EMS providers were on strike at the time of the incident, is not really at issue here.
The story signals the importance of well thought out protocols and operational guidelines, and the need to follow them closely.
The public does not really know the safety issues EMS workers are exposed to on a daily basis. Being physically assaulted, stabbed or shot on the job, while remote, is of serious concern.
This is rarely reported by the press, since it doesn't generate news until someone is seriously injured, dies, or sues.
Stay on top of your organization's operational policies. They will help to keep your legal rear out of a sling.
Comments
The comments below are member-generated and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of EMS1.com or its staff. If you cannot see comments, try disabling privacy and ad blocking plugins in your browser.
Peter LoRe Thursday, January 26, 2012 6:14:38 PM On strike huh? Funny an issue arises that questions how good they are at their jobs... 
Jamie Bingham Thursday, January 26, 2012 6:38:01 PM Art, this is always a difficult question and answer situation ethically - and more personal than system wide - and always seems to ruffle my feathers. In this case, or let's take the case of the Bay Area crew that watched the man wade off who eventually drowned yet who did what they were "told" to do, we logically, and with some wisdom of course, are bound by protocol, we are obligated by leadership to follow a chain of command, whether that leadership is good or bad, and we have "lines in the sands" where "this here" is my response area and this here your response area, and for the most part this system works good and well. We focus rightfully so on scene safety because a dead medic is not a medic anymore.
But lest we always interpret the idea that only by, and absolutely adhering to protocol is our only saving grace, I suggest that we do not have the right then to self-proclaim ourselves "heroes" because we wear a patch or carry a hose. Look at statistics. Our jobs are no more dangerous than a retail clerk - who by mortality standards lost far more lives last year than did the fire profession, thus making it much more dangerous to be a store clerk. And yet that store clerk serves others too, so is he or she a hero? Or is that person a lower rung on our proverbial social ladder wherein we in EMS place ourselves up "there" and not down there with the clerks and nursing home workers? And thus because we are a 3rd generation fire fighter who knew all the right things to say and do to get "picked up" we gained the sudden moniker of hero without ever doing anything heroic.
Most of us are drawn to this profession because of excitement. In the case of the fire service and some EMS agencies it is good pay, good hours and good benefits that also become as very incredibly enticing, as the usual I like helping others. I have met many many a medic and firefighter, and nurse etc for that matter, who actually DON'T like helping people and show it every day in their work, so the stock answer, "I like helping people" never sat well with me in interviewing new hires or new recruits. I say "Duh, most humanity likes helping their fellow man." But that draw doesn't define and never defined me as a hero (I can't think of something heroic I really ever did in 25 years in this biz and not sure opportunity like that ever presented itself - but I would like to think I was a good man and a good medic).
If one of my precious 7 children were dangling on a cliff, and had but mere seconds before a fall to their death, I would like to think there would be a hero in the crowd, uniformed or not, who knowing if they didn't act, even though they may fall too, a life would undoubtedly be lost. A hero does not and cannot hide behind protocols and rules, or they are merely an employee. They are a good one, a great one, and one doing the right thing in the big picture, but I would like to think, that among my colleagues there is an Arlan Williams, who in 1982, in the Air Florida 90 crash that I watched as a young teen on the news over and over again as it unfolded, handed life jacket upon life jacket to someone else, and who, when he once had the safety rope wrapped around himself, turned and gave it to a struggling flight attendant, and then slipped beneath the Icy Potomac. Arlan Williams was the only Air Florida 90 passeneger to drown (the rest were trauma) (I suggest EVERY medic youtube the scenes).
Safety said put your life jacket on. Safety said secure that safety rope. Survival said do all of the above.
I write too long and I apologize, but as I grew older and in the profession I realized the sirens, the exctiement, the thrill of the scene, the adrenalin rush of anticipation, never made me a hero. Will my day come? Maybe. I guess I could say I hope not, but I don't know. This article, while not the best example, is of employees doing the right thing. Your right, the public doesn't understand, and we know what you mean and understand the gyst of the article, but it seems we sometimes are just afraid to say it like it is. Maybe this is why EMS stays down in the grand scheme. We want to sugarcoat everything, make it pallitable, and when we veer off course, even a little, we can talk about how we get to "intubate" or "start lines" or turn to something appealing. Sadly, some things need to be said.
But I hope the public, or any of us, would understand, and be happy no one tried, that if that were our child, or our wife, or even a colleague, that the person who just went up in the safety harness as your daughter slipped through the icy waves, was just "doing his job."
I propose that it is not only the public that doesn't understand, but that we don't always understand either. 
Leo Robillard Thursday, January 26, 2012 6:52:59 PM And your point being?
Let's be safe out there! Arm-chair quarterbacks like Peter Edwards, are story writers for tabloids, not news papers. 
Dwight Jones Saturday, January 28, 2012 7:08:44 AM The public expects an EMT to assume some danger, just as it expects that of police or the military. If we're going to focus on safety, let's think 'heart safety' and put some resources (AED, volunteers) in high rise buildings, where the public aren't at the mercy of a single Maginot line. The survival rate of SCA's is single digit and we must do better, not stand off for our own safety. Leo Robillard Monday, January 30, 2012 7:58:05 PM Dwight you make a good point and I will argue that one with you. Go to a high rise and ask security where the AED is when you're off duty (or on duty for that matter) and you may get the deer in the head lights look. By continuing to convince the public to help themselves, we will eventually reach town halls and AED's will become mandatory in high rises and apartment complexes. It worked for smoke detectors.
When I say 'Let's be safe out there' I don't mean operate on monkey memory (protocols), I mean use good judgment. If the situation dictates act, if it does not reassess. Dwight Jones Wednesday, February 01, 2012 5:58:47 AM Leo Robillard Thanks Leo. One of my pet projects (there are so many...) is to get AED's into the fire codes - mandate one for elevator lobbies - see my website at Elevaed. My thinking here is that EMS is a rescue agency, the bldg/fire codes are a safety agency - it's time for them to take charge and harmonize AED deployment. A fire extinguisher is there because, like an SCA, it's irretrievable after a few minutes - fully analogous. Let get that AED in-house where anybody can find it, in a standard location.
Donna Graham Hammond Thursday, January 26, 2012 9:17:37 PM Hope both sides of the story get published! 
George Yaworski Friday, January 27, 2012 5:49:04 AM As indicated in a comment to the story, #1 the call was given low priority, #2 the unit staged this is what the inquiry is examining, during the strike the staffing level of 75% allowed for a 9 minute response. Toronto is not like many cities that have 'ghettos' as one commenter suggested. The triage guidelines as you suggest in this case were incorrectly applied due to "what?" this is what the inquiry is examining. There have been inflammatory comments that the medics were SCABs and the city was at fault, no, the medics were union medics providing a required staffing level during the stike, the city was as allowed by collective bargaining agreements trying to get the taxpayers the best service for the dollar, the union was also doing as allowed and taking strike action. As a person from the GTA, it seems that limited knowledge is allowing people to be extreme in their comments. Examine as much as possible as often as possible. 
Paul Silva Friday, January 27, 2012 11:37:19 AM Let's see also how often they would have adhered so closely to policy and guidelines had a labor dispute NOT have been going on. Would they have staged for law enforcement? Is that a high risk neighborhood or area? Frankly, if you are in EMS, Fire, Police, Military or other public safety fields you should not have the right to strike. 
