I read a column on EMS1.com the other day that posed a
question; “Why are paramedics not given the same recognition as firefighters
and police?”. The contributor gave his
reply about EMS being new, and still defining its’ role in the world, and then
opened it up for comments. The comments
were what you’d expect:
“Because fire departments and the IAFF are trying to absorb
us to pay for their shiny things!!!”
“Because those idiot volunteers keep public expectations
low!!!”
“Because we don’t play well with the media and the public!!!”
(and my personal favorite)
“If you’re in it for the glory….you’re in it for the wrong
reasons…”
I’ve listened to and participated in discussions/debates/passionate
arguments about all of these issues, and I definitely have strong opinions for
each, but I’m here today to tell you that if your mind wanders to any of these when
this question comes up, you’re wrong.
Dead wrong. Let me show you what
our problem is…
I’m working in a different part of the country for the
moment, taking a break from trying to combine education and clinical work
(which also explains why this blog has been silent for a while). A copy of an email was posted on the bulletin
board of the EMS station (a 3rd service one) from a member of the
city fire department. To summarize, “Brother”
XXXXX, a member of the fire department, had a heart attack and was in the ICU
recovering. His coworkers were keeping
him company in the hospital while he recovered, were assisting his family with
the bustle of daily life while making sure that they had time to spend with
their husband/father, and were setting up an account at a local bank so that
Brother XXXXX’s family would have some financial assistance while he recovered
from his heart attack (I assume this in addition to whatever sick time and
short-term disability insurance they already had).
This morning, I received a text from my friend and former
partner on the truck about a former coworker.
I’ve not really seen or talked to this coworker in at least a couple of
years; he was working his normal shifts one day and just disappeared the
next. I heard through station chatter
that he had suffered a work injury, something with his back. That was it.
Turns out, worker’s compensation missed the spine fracture he had
suffered and cut his compensation off.
He summarily ran out of what little money he had managed to save for his
family, lost his house, and is now staying with family along with his wife and
son to avoid being on the streets. I’m
told he’s in litigation with worker’s comp, but I also imagine it’s difficult
to do that when you’re broke. I was a
little shocked to hear this update, because I had no idea; no one had let me
know what he was going through.
Do you see the contrast?
Our basic problem isn’t about big fire, or large private
ambulance corporations, or volunteers, or media relations, or education, or
whatever else is being hotly debated in social media right now. We don’t receive the attention, recognition,
and support that the fire and police services do because we don’t care for each
other like they do. We don’t look out
for each other like they do. When one of
our own needs a hand, most of us look to someone else, like management, an EAP,
or worker’s comp to step in…let me rephrase that. We look away from the “brother” or “sister” (we
all like to say that EMS is a big family, right?) that needs help, and to
someone else to assume the responsibility of helping out. If we don’t change that, no amount of
legislation, advocacy, or education will truly give us the appreciation and
recognition that we deserve, and deep down crave (not for ourselves, but rather
our profession).
We have no right to demand respect and appreciation from
others until we demonstrate that we respect and appreciate ourselves.
