Comments on: Freedom of Speech…. http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/ The Ramblings of a Paramedic Stretcher Monkey Thu, 23 May 2013 00:57:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: carmeloalongi http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-52 Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:02:15 +0000 http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-52 As a “victim” of some of this (obviously due to my own fault but still..), its hard but in the end all you can do is suck it up and try and judge the situation. I think I’m a reasonably bad culprit when it comes to the enthuasam thing, I used to have spades of it, I still do now but not quite sure what to do with it really.

]]> By: nicenurse http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-45 Wed, 13 Dec 2006 21:28:46 +0000 http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-45 Kingmagic,

I think you are absolutely right when you say these people are bullies. If the principle that all bullies are cowards though, what are these people cowering from?

These people are hiding their own insecurities by shooting down everyone ‘who puts their head above the parapet’. Why are they insecure? Because, even if they can’t see it themselves, they are scared that people may be moving forward and leaving them in the backwaters.

Don’t get me wrong, experience counts for more in this job than any other job/career that I have ever known (I’ve done a few!), BUT, paramedics are accountable for their practice now and technicians are not far away from being registered themselves. Gone are the days when we could just ‘load and go’, fingers crossed they make it to A&E. We are responsible for their care on the way and people expect us to know what we are doing, we are leaving more people at home, can we really say we know enough to do that safely? Every time? So to those getting a hard time, keep going, ask your questions, go on your courses, because when the doctor/patient/relative/coroner ask did you do everything you could, based on theory, grounded in evidence, polished by experience; that’s when you’ll be glad you moved yourself forward.

The biggest thing that struck me when I left the (relative) safety of the hospital and put my nursing uniform away, is that many (certainly not all) people in the ambulance service are reluctant to, nay loathe, asking others for help, opinions or ideas when it comes to managing peoples illnesses/woes. They are terratorial about their skills, their responsibilties and don’t like to see others nudging in on their patch. Take for example, LMA’s (airway which is passed into the throat and looks remarkably like a ladygarden on a stick!), there were paramedics that needed admitting to coronary care when it was decided that technicians could pass an LMA. Why? Because it encroaches in to what makes them special. And its not just the paramedic/technician divide, its just with colleagues, full stop. It is certainly recognised within nursing that we (for I am still registered) are not all the same and that others have different areas of interest, which often leads on to expertise.

To be honest, some of these people are in danger of being left behind, we all know at least one in each of services; the pace of change is increasing all the time and they may well find themselves on their own, muttering darkly amongst their bitterness.

]]> By: Kingmagic http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-44 Wed, 13 Dec 2006 18:44:20 +0000 http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-44 We sometimes have the situation where new techs come to a large station and think that they have to swagger about and pretend to not like patients and that everything in the job is shit and that they work at the coalface all the time as this is the picture they see at times.
If they try and show some compassion towards a patient then they can be labelled as soft. Its sometimes a fine line between being pragmatic and being nasty about everything. This is where some people go wrong and there is no one to point it out to them, unless they end up being complained about by a patient and then they plead total innocence. Which I suppose some are because they are too thick to realise that they are acting like cavemen.

]]> By: drunkenspaniel http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-43 Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:58:59 +0000 http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-43 I totally agree. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and while I might disagree with it, I will respect it if they can back their opinion up with a decent, well-thought-out argument.
The reason people (usually the jaded old hands) don’t like people who stand out from the crowd and try to better themselves is because it makes you show them up. As soon as someone moves forwards, the questions begin.
I see it every day in my workplace, which is not alarmingly dissimilar to your set-up, and it makes me very sad. But you are winning, I promise you.
Its just that 1% that spoil things for everyone else. And it will always be the small minority who do. There are arseholes in every profession. xx

]]> By: ecparamedic http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-42 Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:37:20 +0000 http://kingmagic.wordpress.com/2006/12/13/freedom-of-speech/#comment-42 I’m with you 100% on that.

SD ;-)

]]>