Where did we get the idea?

[Guest guest]

Where did we get the idea that EMS is any different than any other job.

Who told us that it was some sort of higher calling? Is it our God given

right to enjoy the work we do?

This weekend I had a slab poured at my house. The four hispanic men that

worked on the crew made little more than minimum wage and worked their

butt off. I bet they really enjoyed their work because it was a job with

a higher calling. My neighbor across the street works at a industrial

plant. He makes a butt load of money and hates every minute of it. He

keeps going back. Do you think that guy that installs A\C units in hot

South Texas Attics in the summer time enjoys it. I know hundreds of

people that work a lot harder in worse conditions than we do for a lot

less money.

Heck I know this South Texas EMS Director that goes to work every

morning just wishing it was Friday so that he can go fishing. Your job

is what you make of it. You can let it eat you up or you can make the

best of it. If you can't deal with it anymore, move on to something

else. Be careful for what you wish for. That next job may look good but

my not live up to your expectations. Folks in EMS need to quit bitching

about the job and just do the job. It takes a lot less effort.

At one time I (my ego) thought that without me our organization would

fall apart. I realize now that fifteen minutes after I am out of here,

someone else will be doing the job just as good or who knows maybe

better. A friend of mine told me one time " EMS GOES ON "

" EMS GOES ON " Do the best you can while you can.

Henry

[Guest guest]

Wise words Henry. Wise words.

>>> hbarber@... 06/19/06 8:03 AM >>>

Where did we get the idea that EMS is any different than any other

job.

Who told us that it was some sort of higher calling? Is it our God

given

right to enjoy the work we do?

This weekend I had a slab poured at my house. The four hispanic men

that

worked on the crew made little more than minimum wage and worked their

butt off. I bet they really enjoyed their work because it was a job

with

a higher calling. My neighbor across the street works at a industrial

plant. He makes a butt load of money and hates every minute of it. He

keeps going back. Do you think that guy that installs A\C units in hot

South Texas Attics in the summer time enjoys it. I know hundreds of

people that work a lot harder in worse conditions than we do for a lot

less money.

Heck I know this South Texas EMS Director that goes to work every

morning just wishing it was Friday so that he can go fishing. Your job

is what you make of it. You can let it eat you up or you can make the

best of it. If you can't deal with it anymore, move on to something

else. Be careful for what you wish for. That next job may look good

but

my not live up to your expectations. Folks in EMS need to quit

bitching

about the job and just do the job. It takes a lot less effort.

At one time I (my ego) thought that without me our organization would

fall apart. I realize now that fifteen minutes after I am out of here,

someone else will be doing the job just as good or who knows maybe

better. A friend of mine told me one time " EMS GOES ON "

" EMS GOES ON " Do the best you can while you can.

Henry

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[Guest guest]

Again, KUDOS to you, HENRY !!!!!

GIR R DONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Henry wrote:

Where did we get the idea that EMS is any different than any other

job.

Who told us that it was some sort of higher calling? Is it our God given

right to enjoy the work we do?

This weekend I had a slab poured at my house. The four hispanic men that

worked on the crew made little more than minimum wage and worked their

butt off. I bet they really enjoyed their work because it was a job with

a higher calling. My neighbor across the street works at a industrial

plant. He makes a butt load of money and hates every minute of it. He

keeps going back. Do you think that guy that installs A\C units in hot

South Texas Attics in the summer time enjoys it. I know hundreds of

people that work a lot harder in worse conditions than we do for a lot

less money.

Heck I know this South Texas EMS Director that goes to work every

morning just wishing it was Friday so that he can go fishing. Your job

is what you make of it. You can let it eat you up or you can make the

best of it. If you can't deal with it anymore, move on to something

else. Be careful for what you wish for. That next job may look good but

my not live up to your expectations. Folks in EMS need to quit bitching

about the job and just do the job. It takes a lot less effort.

At one time I (my ego) thought that without me our organization would

fall apart. I realize now that fifteen minutes after I am out of here,

someone else will be doing the job just as good or who knows maybe

better. A friend of mine told me one time " EMS GOES ON "

" EMS GOES ON " Do the best you can while you can.

Henry

[Guest guest]

Henry,

You pose a very deep philosophical delimma for EMS people. Are we really

special, or are we just another version of plumber and carpenter?

I have always thought that we were really special because we so often hold

lives in our hands, but now you make me wonder if I was hopelessly romantic.

Are doctors just mechanics and analysts who take information and reduce it to

statistics and produce an answer that is mathematically correct?

Is there no aspect of humanism that attaches to our endeavors, or are we just

another part of the food chain? Are we being silly when we get emotionally

involved in our patient care? I'm sure that the Meskins who poured your

foundation had very little emotional involvement in what they were doing.

If I read you correctly, you're saying that their job equals our jobs in EMS,

and they are no better than us and we are no better than them. Each of us

is just a pawn in the chess game of life, and it doesn't matter what we do.

Is that what you're saying?

If I read you correctly, you also say that wanting to enjoy your job is

somehow sissified, and that we in EMS ought not expect to enjoy our lives. We

should, according to what I read from your post, go plodding to work with our

heads down, hating every minute of it, but glad that we have a job. We ought

to

be happy to do it no matter what we make, and we should thank God that we

don't have to pour slabs for a living.

There is a lot to be said for that. It's true that lots of folks don't have

as nice a job as we have. And they seem to get by. Of course, lots of

them survive in their minds by abusing alcohol, taking meth, smoking dope, doing

lots of other self-destructive things, and living generally unproductive and

miserable lives. Today's thrill may be the new tat on the butt, but tomorrow

it won't matter.

Is that all we are? Is that all we're willing to be? Are we so alienated

from the higher levels of the medical community that there is an unbreachable

gulf between us?

Physicians take the Hippocratic Oath. We take no oath, although there are

some that are available. It's not required. Are we even in the realm of

medicine, or are we just the floor sweepers of misery?

Maybe we ought to take an oath. Maybe we're worth more than the slab

pourers. Maybe we're not. We certainly have not proved that we're any

different

from the slap pourers in terms of adherence to professional standards and

banding together as a profession.

If Henry is right, and he usually is, we're just day laborers who happen to

do a different kind of labor from the electricians, air conditioning techs,

auto mechanics, the guys who change your oil in 10 minutes at SuperLube, the

guys

and gals who flip burgers, the plumbers, the carpenters and cabinet makers,

the guys who run the cows through the sale barn, the people who man the

phones in a phone solicitation tank, the roughnecks and roustabouts, the

drillers,

pumpers, and weevils, and so forth, and all of them hate their jobs and their

lives.

So why do we pretend to be different?

One reason is that those SuperLube guys go home after work and have a beer

and watch TV and screw their wives/girlfriends and go to sleep and never worry

about whether or not they put that filter on right.

We go home and see the kid who accidentally shot himself in the chest and

head with a 12 gauge and was dead when we got there but we worked him for the

family until the clinic do and our medical director got there and said stop, and

the helicopter crew got back in their bird and took off to go to the next

call.

But we're only day laborers, and we don't get paid to have feelings. The

slap pourers don't have any feelings about the slab, even if it cracks. So why

are we any different?

Maybe we're not. But maybe we are. Only we know in our individual hearts

and minds.

Gene G.

>

> Where did we get the idea that EMS is any different than any other job.

> Who told us that it was some sort of higher calling? Is it our God given

> right to enjoy the work we do?

>

> This weekend I had a slab poured at my house. The four hispanic men that

> worked on the crew made little more than minimum wage and worked their

> butt off. I bet they really enjoyed their work because it was a job with

> a higher calling. My neighbor across the street works at a industrial

> plant. He makes a butt load of money and hates every minute of it. He

> keeps going back. Do you think that guy that installs A\C units in hot

> South Texas Attics in the summer time enjoys it. I know hundreds of

> people that work a lot harder in worse conditions than we do for a lot

> less money.

>

> Heck I know this South Texas EMS Director that goes to work every

> morning just wishing it was Friday so that he can go fishing. Your job

> is what you make of it. You can let it eat you up or you can make the

> best of it. If you can't deal with it anymore, move on to something

> else. Be careful for what you wish for. That next job may look good but

> my not live up to your expectations. Folks in EMS need to quit bitching

> about the job and just do the job. It takes a lot less effort.

>

> At one time I (my ego) thought that without me our organization would

> fall apart. I realize now that fifteen minutes after I am out of here,

> someone else will be doing the job just as good or who knows maybe

> better. A friend of mine told me one time " EMS GOES ON "

>

> " EMS GOES ON " Do the best you can while you can.

>

> Henry

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Gene and Henry are both right.

What distinguishes their statements is the difference between what is, and

what could or should be. Constantly lamenting about the lack of goal

oriented progress and representation is like resonating on a closed

frequency, which predictably leads to frustration and a universal loss of

self-esteem. In this context, and in the absence of any collective or

coherent direction, Henry is correct that we should accept our fate and move

on.

But, Gene is also correct in his attempts to dislodge EMS people from their

self-induced political and intellectual comas in order to move the industry

forward. But to what end?

If tomorrow morning the EMS industry somehow managed to establish a 300+

member congressional caucus (like the U.S. Fire Caucus), what would be the

messages, and who would be the messengers? What does EMS advocate short of

better pay and professional recognition? Who or what does EMS uniquely

represent or defend by way of advocacy or qualification?

Who in EMS has constructed a comprehensive and politically unassailable

public health policy position for EMS? And, who has the time and expertise

to develop and deliver the message, while staying on point with elected

officials and their staff? What set of distinguishing health policy

characteristics does EMS purport to possess that cannot be represented by

existing initiatives, or through today's advocacy and political action

channels?

For example, emergency medicine promotes itself as " America's Health Care

Safety Net " - a position that drives its Congressional lobbying efforts

through NEMPAC. While ACEP depicts itself publically to be an indispensable

component of America's mainstream health care fabric, it uses this image to

lobby for better physician reimbursement, solutions to overcrowding, board

certified emergency physician staffing and a halt to ED closures. Regardless

of how thinly veiled their public position, it serves as the spear tip for

their more self-serving or self-sustaining initiatives.

And, ACEP is not alone. The American College of Surgeons, American Heart

Association, American Hospital Association, National Association of State

EMS Directors, National Association of EMS Physicians, International

Association of Firefighters, National Association of Fire Chiefs, American

Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Cardiology and many others have

developed similar methods, systems and processes that are designed to stake

out a public image in order to advance their professional causes.

This fact can best be illustrated by how much federal homeland defense money

has been directed towards EMS - only 4%. The rest that is allocated for

health care has been directed to the states for " studies " and " planning " ,

and to hospitals for identifying such things as surge capacity, etc. Almost

nothing has been spent to educate, improve and protect front line EMS

workers.

I would suggest that if emergency medicine is " America's Health Care Safety

Net " , then EMS is the scaffolding that suspends that net above the ground.

In the event of a domestic attack or natural disaster - all bets are off -

unless the responding EMS personnel are protected and equipped to perform

their duties. The calculation of hospital surge capacity is meaningless in

the absence of EMS personnel who can deliver victims to their doors.

The Institute of Medicine has recently issued a new " white paper " on EMS in

the United States. And, you can bet that all of the associations listed

above are already maneuvering and positioning themselves to receive what

they hope to be a new wave of federal categorical funding. Where is EMS in

this vertical alignment? I suggest that it is nowhere to be found.

Bob Kellow

Re: Where did we get the idea?

> Henry,

>

> You pose a very deep philosophical delimma for EMS people. Are we really

> special, or are we just another version of plumber and carpenter?

>

> I have always thought that we were really special because we so often hold

> lives in our hands, but now you make me wonder if I was hopelessly

romantic.

>

> Are doctors just mechanics and analysts who take information and reduce it

to

> statistics and produce an answer that is mathematically correct?

>

> Is there no aspect of humanism that attaches to our endeavors, or are we

just

> another part of the food chain? Are we being silly when we get

emotionally

> involved in our patient care? I'm sure that the Meskins who poured your

> foundation had very little emotional involvement in what they were doing.

>

> If I read you correctly, you're saying that their job equals our jobs in

EMS,

> and they are no better than us and we are no better than them. Each of

us

> is just a pawn in the chess game of life, and it doesn't matter what we

do.

> Is that what you're saying?

>

> If I read you correctly, you also say that wanting to enjoy your job is

> somehow sissified, and that we in EMS ought not expect to enjoy our lives.

We

> should, according to what I read from your post, go plodding to work with

our

> heads down, hating every minute of it, but glad that we have a job. We

ought to

> be happy to do it no matter what we make, and we should thank God that we

> don't have to pour slabs for a living.

>

> There is a lot to be said for that. It's true that lots of folks don't

have

> as nice a job as we have. And they seem to get by. Of course, lots of

> them survive in their minds by abusing alcohol, taking meth, smoking dope,

doing

> lots of other self-destructive things, and living generally unproductive

and

> miserable lives. Today's thrill may be the new tat on the butt, but

tomorrow

> it won't matter.

>

> Is that all we are? Is that all we're willing to be? Are we so

alienated

> from the higher levels of the medical community that there is an

unbreachable

> gulf between us?

>

> Physicians take the Hippocratic Oath. We take no oath, although there

are

> some that are available. It's not required. Are we even in the realm

of

> medicine, or are we just the floor sweepers of misery?

>

> Maybe we ought to take an oath. Maybe we're worth more than the slab

> pourers. Maybe we're not. We certainly have not proved that we're any

different

> from the slap pourers in terms of adherence to professional standards and

> banding together as a profession.

>

> If Henry is right, and he usually is, we're just day laborers who happen

to

> do a different kind of labor from the electricians, air conditioning

techs,

> auto mechanics, the guys who change your oil in 10 minutes at SuperLube,

the guys

> and gals who flip burgers, the plumbers, the carpenters and cabinet

makers,

> the guys who run the cows through the sale barn, the people who man the

> phones in a phone solicitation tank, the roughnecks and roustabouts, the

drillers,

> pumpers, and weevils, and so forth, and all of them hate their jobs and

their

> lives.

>

> So why do we pretend to be different?

>

> One reason is that those SuperLube guys go home after work and have a beer

> and watch TV and screw their wives/girlfriends and go to sleep and never

worry

> about whether or not they put that filter on right.

>

> We go home and see the kid who accidentally shot himself in the chest and

> head with a 12 gauge and was dead when we got there but we worked him for

the

> family until the clinic do and our medical director got there and said

stop, and

> the helicopter crew got back in their bird and took off to go to the next

> call.

>

> But we're only day laborers, and we don't get paid to have feelings. The

> slap pourers don't have any feelings about the slab, even if it cracks.

So why

> are we any different?

>

> Maybe we're not. But maybe we are. Only we know in our individual

hearts

> and minds.

>

> Gene G.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> >

> > Where did we get the idea that EMS is any different than any other job.

> > Who told us that it was some sort of higher calling? Is it our God given

> > right to enjoy the work we do?

> >

> > This weekend I had a slab poured at my house. The four hispanic men that

> > worked on the crew made little more than minimum wage and worked their

> > butt off. I bet they really enjoyed their work because it was a job with

> > a higher calling. My neighbor across the street works at a industrial

> > plant. He makes a butt load of money and hates every minute of it. He

> > keeps going back. Do you think that guy that installs A\C units in hot

> > South Texas Attics in the summer time enjoys it. I know hundreds of

> > people that work a lot harder in worse conditions than we do for a lot

> > less money.

> >

> > Heck I know this South Texas EMS Director that goes to work every

> > morning just wishing it was Friday so that he can go fishing. Your job

> > is what you make of it. You can let it eat you up or you can make the

> > best of it. If you can't deal with it anymore, move on to something

> > else. Be careful for what you wish for. That next job may look good but

> > my not live up to your expectations. Folks in EMS need to quit bitching

> > about the job and just do the job. It takes a lot less effort.

> >

> > At one time I (my ego) thought that without me our organization would

> > fall apart. I realize now that fifteen minutes after I am out of here,

> > someone else will be doing the job just as good or who knows maybe

> > better. A friend of mine told me one time " EMS GOES ON "

> >

> > " EMS GOES ON " Do the best you can while you can.

> >

> > Henry

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>