It’s amazing how quickly one’s professional life can change. One moment you’re working, the next moment you’re fired and charged with a crime. A single slip of the professional demeanor is all it takes to get into a lot of hot water.
Being an EMS professional ultimately means adhering to a code of conduct that is in line with both industry standards and the expectations of the public. It has very little to do with your personal views, or any rationalization you might offer to vindicate your unprofessional actions.
You can dislike your patients. You can even dislike your job. But you are obligated to act in a manner that resolves an unpleasant situation in a professional manner.
Call security. Heck, call the police - from the scattered reports it seems that the patient was being combative and abusive to the crew. Certainly there would have been justification to remove the patient from the gurney with the appropriate level of force.
Busy system? The other calls will have to wait. Regardless of how trivial or demeaning the situation is, this is the patient that you are dealing with now. All the more reason why having the patient forcibly removed by security or law enforcement personnel would be most appropriate, as the patient’s actions may be endangering the public’s safety by keeping the unit out of service.
And that’s the rub, isn’t it? The patient is likely the one behaving badly. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is well known to the EMS crews in the area. Chances are good that there is some history which caused the situation to flashover in a heartbeat.
And it’s still an unacceptable action on the part of the EMS provider. We are expected to be better. Try to keep that in mind when, in the heat of the moment, you are tempted to do something that’s you’ll regret later. That short-term satisfaction won’t replace the long-term consequences.
