Time to Make Some Changes?

Years ago we enacted legislation to protect our patients, improve professionalism, and improve the standards of care. I’m old enough to remember the shoddy ambulance practices that existed here in Portland. We had the best of intentions – we wanted to get rid of those funeral home operators who were only trying to squeeze a little more profit out of their vehicles. We wanted people to get the best of care. We wanted to stop the crazy madness of call jumping, fist fights over patients, and scoop and run transport – without any standards.

[Note: This post is inspired by This Post, by The Happy Medic.]

Credit: Flickr

Interestingly, in those days, we, the paramedics, could refuse to transport someone who didn’t need an ambulance – it wasn’t in the protocols, but it was easy to do. Also, most of us really, really cared about being professionals, and we didn’t really need these regulations.Now, 35 years later, those laws are cast in stone. Most, if not all of the shoddy ambulance operators have sold out and moved to warmer climates, and the profession has changed – substantially. Now, those concrete laws are like shackles around our feet. Eight minute response time requirements are only needed for a small percentage of our calls. Eight responders on every call – the same.

There needs to be changes, but it feels very daunting to even begin that process.

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Ductus Exemplo!

Image by lumaxart via Flickr

It’s easy to complain about stuff.  In fact, without trying to hard, you can find something wrong with almost everything.  So, when one stops to think about it, complaining doesn’t take much skill, art, or imagination.  And yet, everyone seems to want to outdo everyone else in their powers of complaint.  Why is this?  What is it about our culture that makes complaining so ubiquitous?  What is it about our lives that make us unable to appreciate the good and instead focus on the negative?

If you are reading this, most likely you live in the United States – the most prosperous and richest nation in the world.  According to some researchers, even the poorest Americans are richer than 99% of the world’s population.  Yet, we still grumble, bitch, and moan.

We attribute our lack of happiness to our employers, our spouses, or our government. We seem to think that if we made more money, had a better job, or had lower taxes, our lives would suddenly become pristine journey’s of joy.  I don’t believe this is true however.  I don’t think higher wages, a better boss, or the perfect government is going to solve your problems.  Indeed, the issues of happiness probably go much deeper than this – and I’m not going to try to address them here.  However, I would like to propose one simple idea that we can all employ to better our home, work, and social lives.

I’m Going to Die

Image via Wikipedia

As I walked into the bedroom, it looked like there was more drama than necessary – more than I cared to deal with on this laconic Thanksgiving Day.  Our 55-year-old female patient was sitting on the floor, propped against her bed.  She was breathing fast and her CO2 levels were down – it looked like an anxiety attack, so I squatted down and tried to convince/coach her to slow her breathing down.  But something didn’t look right.

She was trying to cooperate with me, but there was no way her breathing was slowing down.  It was fast, about 40 respirations a minute, and deep.  Her eyes were closed and I discovered she had some chest pain – which she was unable to describe.  In fact, all of her concentration went into her breathing and I, as with the other medics in the room, were just a distraction.

It was at this point that I got very concerned.

How to Deal with a Grumpy Partner

Image via Wikipedia

In the old days, we would have quarters to retreat to and many distractions from one-on-one interaction. Whether it be chores, fire inspections, drills and training, or just TV – at least one wasn’t forced to interact with their partner all day.  Times have changed and employers are getting more calls out of their medics through that great invention of System Status Management.  Consequently, we spend our entire shift locked in a cage and chained at the hip to our partners.  Depending on the situation, this can be a good thing, or a bad thing.

Assuming you draw a good partner, a friendship usually unfolds and going to work can  be quite pleasant.  However, given the opposite situation, this doesn’t always work out so well.  How does one deal with endless minutes, hours, and shifts with the partner from Hell?  Dismiss the fact that we all have bad days, and overlooking some minor personality defects – which we all possess, what do we do with people who are just plain hard to be around?

The Next Step: EMS 2.0

We can’t keep doing things the way we’ve always done them, or we’ll keep getting the same results over and over again.  That’s called insanity.  We have to keep moving forward.

I ran my first EMS call in the early 70s.  I’ve been involved in this profession since I was a teenage, snot-nosed, kid.  Those early days of EMS were incredible.  CPR, Hurst Tools, Advanced Life Support, and even the 9-1-1 system brought radical life-saving to the prehospital setting.  But now I have to ask, what have you done for me lately?