JJB531

Very nice metaphor Chris, I think one solution is more public awareness through public information. Law Enforcement agencies have PIO's, FD's have PIO's... I don't know of too many EMS agencies that "aggressively" pursue media attention. Then EMS workers wonder why the only mention of them in that cardiac arrest save they had last week is typically the last line of the article... "patient was transported to the hospital by ambulance workers"... meanwhile the Police or Fire Department look like the heroes in the article. Because they have PIO's who disseminate this information, and who are they trying to make look good? Their agency. I think that's just a start. The communities have to start realizing that we are not the "ambulance drivers" of the 1960's anymore... now EMS providers in some parts of the county are serving as speciality medics, trained beyond the scope of normal EMS practice... but does the community know that? No, they don't. There was a nice article in the Daily News a while back about FDNY's new rescue medics.. huge page article.. it brings a lot of positive attention to the field, and makes the public see that we're not just a glorified taxi.

FYI there is a Westchester Coutny Association of Paramedics... it was started many many years ago, incorporated and everything, and it never went anywhere. I thought a few years ago about starting it up again, but regretfully never did. I actually just returned all the paperwork to it's rightful owner, but can get it back at anytime. If anyone is interested in such a venture PM me.

Obviously we all know that there is definetly no parity between EMS and Police/Fire. What I don't understand is why locally we aren't doing anything about it. No one is going to lobby for us, except for us. No one is going to raise public awareness when it comes to EMS other than EMS providers. Even the "higher ups" around here barely do anything for us. I can't help but laugh everytime I see a paramedic sitting on a couch at work complaining about how much EMS sucks because the FD and PD make more, have a pension, retirement, decent benefits, etc. God forbid they get off their lazy a** and do something to promote the field, increase public awareness, lobby local politicians for more funding, training, and recognition. I always tell medics I still work with, I have a lot more pride being a medic than I do a police officer....

Are you kidding me? Last meal as a free man? He knows he's guilty and going away? Indictment is not a presumption of guilt... this officer went out for dinner. Whether it was a four dollar dinner, or a 4,000 dollar dinner, it doesn't matter. The news made it sound as if he was out there dancing on Sean Bell's grave chugging bottles of Cristal throwing hundred dollar bills to everyone that passed.

Everyone knows that it is very clear that EMS has issues of parity of law enforcement and firefighting, and a part of the problem starts right with us, EMS providers! First, there is no unity amongst EMS providers in this county (Westchester). Firefighters look at eachother as "brother firefighters", law enforcement officers look at eachother as "brother police officers" (don't mean to offend any females reading this board). There is no strong unity, or brotherhood (err, womanhood), in EMS, there is no unity to stand up and fight for our rights as EMS workers, rights to better pay, better training, a better EMS system for us and for our communities. When an issue arises with a police department or fire department, whether it's pay or staffing levels, or whatever it may be, a representative is there on TV or in the newspaper making the public aware of these issues. Who's making the public aware of the issues at hand for us? How much of the general public is aware of the training, commitment, continual training, knowledge, or capabilities of EMS providers in this county? Who's our voice, our representative? Next, how many times have you seen a crew of a commercial EMS agency getting out of their ambulance, hats on backwards, shirts untucked, pizza stains on their jacket. Not to knock volunteers, because volunteering was how I began my interest in EMS and public safety, but volunteers showing up on jobs in shorts and hawaiian luau shirts like they just came from a beach resort? How are we supposed to be seen as professionals when we don't look professional in the public's eye? I know one agency who allows their members to wear jeans and sneakers with a duty shirt when they're riding... when have you ever seen a uniformed police officer on routine patrol wearing jeans with a uniform shirt and a gunbelt? To touch on a little something I brought up before... as EMS professionals, how many times have you opened up the newspaper and read an article on how "Police saves man's life doing CPR", only to find the last line to read, "and the patient was transported by paramedics to the hospital". I know it burns me as a paramedic to read that. Knowing the hard work that I put in to intubate, defibrillate, medicate, and all sortsa other ate's to the patient to stabilize them and get them to the hospital alive. Police departments and Fire departments have people who are public information officers, someone who releases stories like this to the media. So, who's our public information officer? Who's the one showing the media how crucial EMS providers are and how many lives we're responsible for saving EACH DAY. To wrap up my little tangent here, I lastly place my blame on the higher ups in this county... those that have the power to make a difference, those that have the political connections, the media connections, and the ability to promote EMS, to make the public realize what a crucial, and necessary service it is that we provide. In my eyes, we have been failed by them. Look at the Westchester County DES website. Look at how many different training classes there are available to firefighters. What's available to EMS? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing. They post the EMT classes across the county, and that's it. Why isn't our glorious EMS division offering PHTLS, PALS, NALS, ACLS, WMD, AHLS, Rope Rescue courses for EMS providers, Rescue Technician Training to allow EMS providers to better access patients in austere environments? Right now if I want to take ACLS or PALS or PHTLS, I have to shell the money out of my own pocket. The DES's claim to fame was the mutual aid agreement. Big deal. What's the point of a mutual aid agreement when you have to get five steps into it to get a bus for an unresponsive. I'm sorry to say it, but even the "EMS BBQ" at Rye Playland is a joke. That's the most news coverage we get all year, 2 minutes on news 12 about how the "ambulance drivers" are getting together at Playland for a barbecue. When there is no uniformity and leadership at the top, how do you expect the troops to fall in and follow suit? We have failed ourselves here, and failed ourselves miserably. We can't expect the public and municipalities to understand and realize what a crucial service we provide if we don't stand together, as a professional and unified front. When we look professional, sound professional (and educated for that matter), and act professional, then we will be treated how we want to be... like PROFESSIONALS! Until then, we will continue to be stuck, in the eyes of the public and the media, as just a bunch of ambulance drivers.