“I don’t have patient contact, I’m a paramedic”
“I’m the boss”
“I make my EMT work”
“I know everything”
“What I say, goes”
“I’m a ditch doctor”


If you’ve ever said any of these statements, then this blog is for you.  The medical field is a VERY competitive field in which we “eat our own young”.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  I’ve said it in previous blogs, but I was “raised” in EMS that the paramedic’s job wasn’t to be a paramedic, but to train the EMT to become a medic.  This isn’t the same as running your EMT into the ground.  


At the end of the day, regardless of certification level, we are a team.  The phrase “you are only as strong as your weakest link” rains true.  A paramedic is just another person without the appropriate equipment and a quality partner.  Until self-driving ambulances become a thing, you are always going to need your partner to successfully run a call.


But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  How you present yourself on scene has a direct impact on your patient care.  No one is perfect, regardless of what you may believe.  Every provider, no matter the license/certification level can make a mistake.  Ever heard the phrase “The EMT’s job is to save the paramedic”?  Well, this is quite true.  We (as paramedics) have a bad habit of developing tunnel vision or “putting blinders” on these calls.  I can think of a half dozen calls that I have been dispatched on, only to find out 10 minutes after patient contact has NOTHING to do with the call we were dispatched on.  Now, with practice you can train yourself to adjust accordingly, but this does take time and practice.  How many times have you worked an MVC where the driver of one of the vehicles appears to be SEVERELY intoxicated, however after evaluation has a BGL of 30?  It’s usually not at the fault of the medic however.  Sometimes we have too many things going on at once (scene safety, patient care, multiple patients, scene management, etc.).  So why do we expect to be able to see and do everything?  Remember when I said we are a team???  USE.  YOUR.  TEAM!!!

Another benefit of delegating tasks is, it keeps EMT’s interested in the job.  We all know that paramedic who just tells their EMT to get up front and drive.  But why?  One, that just makes more work for the medic, and two, demeans the EMT and makes them have a hatred for the profession.  LET THEM DO WHAT THEY’VE BEEN TRAINED TO DO!!!  


One of the most impressive things I’ve seen on a call was when I worked a cardiac arrest a few years back.  We had a male in his 20s who was experiencing cardiac arrest.  We tried EVERYTHING we could think of, but didn’t have any improvement.  Once we got to the ER, we continued to work the arrest without much success.  Unfortunately, this patient did end up passing.  I gained one of the most valuable experiences of my career on this call.  Near the end of the arrest, the attending physician stated that we would be terminating the arrest if there was no improvement noted on the next pulse check.  He then asked if everyone was ok with this, and did anyone have any other ideas.  Low and behold, a BRAND new tech asked if we checked the patient’s blood sugar.  Now, this was done prior to our arrival in the ED, however the tech was not in the trauma room when I gave my report, so she didn’t hear that the patient’s blood sugar was within range.  Instead of belittling the tech by pointing this fact out, or just ignoring it, the physician asked if we could check it again to be sure.  Obviously there wasn’t any change of the blood sugar, but the point is that even though the doctor knew this had already been checked, he still wanted to make sure.  This idea didn’t come from another doctor, or a nurse, or even the EMS crew.  This was brought up by the person with the lowest scope of practice in the room, but that didn’t change the fact that this doctor took EVERYONE’S thoughts into consideration.  This one action had a major impact on how I run calls from day to day.

Regardless of the level of training, there is something to be said about experience.  I would rather have an EMT (EMT-Basic) with 20 years experience, as a partner, over a brand new AEMT any day.  We all have learned the textbook information, but that will only get you so far.  Now, I’m not saying to completely disregard what you’ve been taught, but we tend to do things MUCH differently in the field than we’ve been taught in a classroom.  This kind of education comes with time on the truck, and time alone.

So, the next time you blow off someone’s idea on a scene, take a second to re-think it.  One, you could have “blinders” on and are missing a crucial piece of information that is being pointed out by someone else on scene.  You also have a chance to make a lasting impression on that person.  By shutting them down immediately, you are training them not to speak up and to just blindly follow orders.  But taking their thoughts into consideration, you are sparking creativity and out-of-the-box thinking that could be beneficial to not only their self-esteem, but to your patient’s potential outcome.