Is it any wonder?

[Guest guest]

We have city councils and county commissioners that will spend money on pet

projects like lighting a baseball field but claim poverty when funding EMS comes

up.

We have local politicians who would let the lowest bidder come in and provide

substandard (at best) EMS to an entire city or county.

We have local politicians who pay lip service to " honor " volunteer EMS and fire

personnel but never can " honor " them with new equipment.

We have unscrupulous private ambulance operators who pay minimum wage, use an

absentee medical director, and who push the edges of legality in regards to

billing.

We have some private helicopter services who market helicopter EMS as the

solution to every rural ALS call, operating on a business model that sets

patient care aside and saddles a family with a bill in the thousands of dollars

for a quicker (but still clinically insignificant) ride that insurance may not

reimburse.

We have some EMS services that hire anyone with a " patch and a pulse, " pay them

slave wages, treat them poorly, make the medics work 8-12 shifts sitting in a

deserted parking lot, and factor the cost of hiring a new " sucker " into the cost

of doing business.

We have some so-called " educators " who think that EMS education consists of

following the bare minumum curriculum, showing PowerPoint slides, reading from

the instructor's edition of the textbook, telling " war stories, " and reassuring

students that " once you pass National Registry, you don't need to know about

that. "

We have some EMS personnel (fortunately not most) who work in EMS only because

they couldn't pass a civil service exam for any respectable fire or police

department.

Is it any wonder that the public still calls us ambulance drivers? Is it any

wonder that in some communities, it's easier to get a pizza than an ambulance?

Is it any wonder that several Texas counties have signs warning that EMS service

may not be available?

If anyone remembers Eddie Chiles, you'll know " I'm mad too. " (Note for

non-Texans: Eddie Chiles can be found on Google.)

There's no easy solution. If there was, we wouldn't be having these discussions.

But I'll issue you each a challenge. Make it your personal mission to inform at

least one person (it can even be friends or family) exactly what EMS does and

why we make a difference. Give a kid a tour of your station and/or rig. Check

a blood pressure for an elderly person.

The good PR we generate tomorrow is the raving fan who will come before the

politicians tomorrow to support us.

Just my $0.04 (adjusted for inflation and to pay my gasoline bills).

-Wes Ogilvie, MPA, JD, EMT-B

Attorney at Law/Emergency Medical Technician

Austin, Texas