ambulanceperson:

“Mayor de Blasio, asked during a press conference about the wide gap in salaries between Emergency Medical Service workers and other first-responders that accounts for a high turnover rate at EMS, replied, ‘We are trying to make sure people are treated fairly and paid fairly, but I do think the work is different.’ So EMS doesn’t compare to The Work that PD and FD does?.. my job isn’t as dangerous or strenuous as other first responders? So your telling me I don’t run up with PD when shots have been fired? I don’t fight off attackers because of the environment we’re forced to work in. I don’t stand right next to the “fast team” waiting for a “mayday” to come over the radio on a structure fire? I don’t put on a bullet prof vest on a scene of an active shooter or a barricaded EDP with a weapon? I don’t get mistaken for a police officer wearing a blue uniform in a bad neighborhood; possibly get attacked for it? I don’t drive by a building on fire, which people are trapped on the fire floor and rescue those civilians, then containing the fire from spreading to other floors or potentially another building because FD aren’t on scene yet ? Well I can tell you right now Mr. Mayor, I have done all those things in EMS. On every FD call, EMS is there. On high priority PD jobs, we are there. Listen to FD & PD radio frequencies, count how many times they say “request EMS” “what’s the ETA for the bus” “RUSH THE BUS TO THIS LOCATION !!” The roles may be different, but the work is the same. It’s time we get recognized for our contribution to the work we do along side our brothers and sisters in FD & PD. In our profession, we get injured, assaulted and die. On 9/11 the 8 EMTs/Paramedics didn’t think “the work is different” they also ran into those buildings to save civilians. How can it be justified that the crew that picks up your garbage makes 40k more than the crew who goes through all of this every single day. So, are we “treated fairly and paid fairly”?”

-Rich Ard

Midwood Ambulance, NYC

dreamer0688:

ouremssite:

dxmedstudent:

chiribomb:

blitzkriegfritz:

low-budget-mulan:

logantheanimal:

One of my old partners got pulled in for an investigation today. The photo is not of him - it’s of a paramedic in California trying to eat something for the first time in nearly ten hours.

My old partner was told that a member of the public took photos of him and his current partner. My buddy was sleeping, and his partner was eating. This member of the public sent the photos with an email that both complained about how “unprofessional” it appeared - and a threat to send the photos to the media.

Thanks to Prop 11 in California, first responders no longer have a right to breaks. AMR lied to the public in a huge way. California was the only state where emergency crews had been granted a legal right to breaks to use the latrine and have a meal. Shifts run a minimum of 12 hours, often 24, and AMR runs their crews into the ground.

My buddy and his partner are in trouble because they were trying to get rest and food while posted on a street corner because we don’t get breaks. This is what AMR tells us to do. Please don’t see something like this and assume that we’re being lazy or not doing our jobs. Don’t take photos or send them to the press. That crew is probably exhausted and overworked.

Not to mention they hold us 911 coverage units over regularly “for just one last transfer call that will be really quick.” When there are plenty of transfer only units posted at hospitals doing nothing at the beginning of their shifts. It also tanks our levels and leaves a lot of the city uncovered for emergency calls.

The thing is everytime you complain about something like people taking breaks, it’s not that you gain something from It, you just make life worse for other people. How about minding your own damn business?

Seems like common sense that people doing a high-stress job that requires a lot of good judgement on matters of life and death should be able to eat and piss when they need to

That really sucks, I can’t imagine what anyone would actually gain by not allowing first responders to have breaks, but it seems ultimately unsafe and unfair, as well as unnecessary.

It reminds me of when we had something similar in 2014, when certain trusts in the UK banned NHS staff from drinking hot beverages in any visible areas in case people thought they were slacking.

Spokespeople at the time said that  “Clearly this activity has given the wrong impression to staff and the public that clinic staff are not working as hard as they might be.”, “Members of the public are frustrated by long waiting times during clinics and for appointments and are inflamed by seeing members of staff enjoying hot and cold drinks at the reception desks.”  and “Our priority must be to ensure that we are not compromising our high standards by presenting a poor impression to the public and staff who visit our departments.”

But the thing is, people drink something on the go precisely because/when they are too busy to eat or take proper breaks. And it’s not always possible to drink fluids in a  space which isn’t exposed to patients; not every GP practice or ward has work spaces where staff can work out of sight of patients. And whilst there’s usually some kind of staff room somewhere, if you’re too busy to take a break then having a quick coffee at your desk whilst you type or between patients can make your life a lot less horrific.

I feel that if a trust has lots of staff drinking hot drinks on the go in front of patients, that’s the symptom and not the problem; ensure adequate staffing levels so people can take breaks, and ensure there are plenty of spaces close by to their work environments that are out of sight of patients that they can take a break in or grab a quick drink in, and they won’t be drinking in front of patients.

But I honestly don’t see why patients should be offended by a cup of tea on someone’s desk or at a reception desk, and I think that attitude arises from a misunderstanding of why people are drinking beverages in front of patients. Most people understand that staff are busy, and in reality having a quick coffee whilst you keep working is the literal opposite of lazing around at work; if you are seeing someone at a workstation, and they don’t even leave it to drink their beverage (which in all honesty is probably growing cold whilst they are working), it’s only construed as lazy if you inherently see inbibing fluid as a lazy activity, or believe that people at work should be working literally 100% of the time with no breaks.

And although I try to avoid eating or drinking within eyesight of patients as much as possible; I avoid the hospital canteen wherever possible, to avoid running into them, lest spending my break catching up on news on my phone be misconstrued as ‘doctors being lazy’, I don’t believe encouraging this line of thinking is inherently correct. By bowing to these kinds of complaints rather than addressing the fact that the real issues are understaffing, delays in services or staff not being able to take adequate breaks, we’re encouraging the view that having a drink or taking a break is inherently lazy, and something that should be done with utter secrecy. Like it’s a weird secret. When, really, patients and visitors should be able to understand that staff are entitled to drink something or take a break. And that although things should be kept as professional as possible (and treating patients comes first), hytrating yourself shouldn’t be seen as inherently unprofessional.

Reblogging for the comments.

nutmeggersunion:

a-team11:

An elementary or middle school student shouldn’t have to know how to stop the bleeding of a classmate or themselves. Think of what else they could be learning if this wasn’t needed. They take funding for arts, music and after school programs and pay teachers so little, but this will become required curriculum.

So they shouldn’t know what to do in case of a emergency? Stop The Bleed is not just for gun shot wounds you learn CPR/AED and Stop The Bleed at least in the classes I’ve helped teach. This is a community class taught by First Responders and other medical staff. All ages are allowed to attend. Everyone goes through a power point and then gets hands on training on how to properly do chest compressions on adult-child-infant, use a AED, wound packing, use of different kinds of tourniquets. Everyone should at least attend one Stop The Bleed class because you never know when you might find someone who accidentally stabbed/cut themselves on something or someone next to you goes into cardiac arrest. At least you have some knowledge of what to do during these kinds of emergencies.

(Source: twitter.com)