“Why are paramedics not given the same recognition as firefighters and police?"

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 3^rd 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.