Mobile Life CEO Responds To Newspaper Labeling "Ambulance Driver"

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To ALL Paramedics & Emergency Medical Technicians: This is a letter MLSS CEO and President, Scott Woebse wrote to Tony Adamis, Managing Editor of the Daily Freeman in Kingston regarding the front page of the newspaper on Sunday 5/19: We are asking that you will take up pen or pencil and let them know just how you feel. Write to: Tony Adamis, Managing Editor, Daily Freeman, 79 Hurley Ave., Kingston, NY 12401, or fax him at 845-331-3557.

May 21, 2013

Mr. Tony Adamis, Managing Editor
... Daily Freeman
79 Hurly Ave.
Kingston, NY 12401


Dear Sir,

On Saturday, May 18th, one of our own, a highly skilled and trained Paramedic was critically injured in a motor vehicle accident. On Sunday, the headline of your paper stated, in bold print "Ambulance Driver badly hurt in crash"

Sir, I must tell you, those words caused groans from every E.M.T. and Paramedic in the area. Not only because of the terrible news it was conveying, but because your paper was using a term that is considered offensive and demeaning by every highly trained emergency medical service personnel I know.

Why? Because it is dismissive to the hundreds of hours spent learning how to deal with life threatening issues we deal with every day. We are far more than "ambulance drivers". True, we do drive ambulances, and we receive far more training then the public knows how to do so. Every time we hear that term, it is an "in your face" reminder that we are under appreciated for the amazingly difficult mission we have.

Now I am going to assume this was an innocent and unintentional offense on your part.

However sir, in your online version, several EMS workers tried to educate you on how and why this was offensive to all of us. Rather than apologize for an unintentional slight to our community and learn from this faux pas, you chose to respond by writing about how "journalistically ambulance driver works much better". I could not believe on how dismissive to all of us you were.

I hope I have been clear. And I can assure you that I, and I can easily assume every EMS professional and volunteer I know, will assume that if we see the term again in your headlines or articles, you are INTENTIONALLY trying to demean us all.

Also, did you even know that this was National EMS Week? I'm betting not.

I am sharing this letter with the EMS community and I hope they add their voices to mine. I'm betting they are going to.

Please listen to this!

Scott Woebse
President/CEO
Mobile Life Support Services, Inc.

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Nice to see Mr. Woebse do this. Now if someone could do this every time this happens maybe we will get somewhere.

Someone should also do this everytime a newspaper publishes a derogatory article after an Officer Involved Shooting.

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Tony Adamis, managing editor The Daily Freeman responds to complaint

Who exactly is a paramedic who drives an ambulance?

Some of our readers have taken great offense to the headline to a story in our Sunday print edition, which read: ‘Ambulance driver badly hurt in crash: 3 others injured in head-on crash’
The story, accompanied by a photo of the badly crumpled front of the ambulance, went on to describe how the ambulance, driven by paramedic William Spadafora, had collided Saturday morning with a pickup truck on state Route 32 in the town of Ulster.

http://tonyadamis.blogspot.com/2013/05/who-exactly-is-paramedic-who-drives.html

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"How about Paramedic severely injured while driving ambulance"

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First, I must say nice job to Mr. Woebse, it's nice to see an agency and the upper level management stick up for it's employees. Mobile life seems to be a class act and a great example of what an agency should be. As for Mr. Adamis, I must say I like his defense, "we meant it literally, so it's okay."

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Nicely put.

[vtach39680 23]

Or even if you didn't know the level of certification of the crew member driving. "Driver of ambulance" injured. And by his standards. It would be police car driver? How about Fire truck driver.

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A simple, "I did not realize that anyone would ever take that as derogatory, I am sorry." Would have stopped this all.

[Goose 188]

Typical journalistic arrogance. Rather than bucking up to the fact that they made a mistake, they offer a half-baked justification. Typical.

[cman473 56]

Does this mean I am just a Chiefs Car Driver?

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An internet search of headlines turns up titles such as "Police officer injuried in accident enroute to call", "Respected Doctor killed in one car accident", "Belover school teacher killed in tragic auto accident". etc. Based on the explaination given these were journalistically poor headlines?

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This article comes from the brilliance of a "Sentence Former". That's what he was doing when he wrote the article, right?