How do we have successful, long careers in EMS?
John recommends living away from where you work, doing unrelated activities outside of work so your life doesn’t revolve around work things
Taking care of someone you know is an odd position to be in, it can mess with your ability to be objective
Jason says we need to have an awareness of how we are feeling and how those around us are feeling, therapy is always a great option, get outside
Those of us in EMS/fire do deal with a level of PTSD
Terry talks about this in his own life, when he broke down and started crying without an obvious reason
PTSD is not a lack of desire to cope nor is it a sign of weakness
Kash talks about burnout vs moral injury
Burnout tends to blame the individual vs moral injury blames the system we work in
I don’t disagree that the systems we work in are imperfect and moral injury exists, but I still like the term burnout because, no one is coming to save us, the responsibility is on the individual to overcome
Burnout can slowly occur to the degree that you don’t even realize right away what is happening
Is burnout inevitable?
Kash says that moral injury is inevitable in some form or another – the important thing is to recognize it and deciding what to do about it, take action
Acute vs chronic burnout requires different solutions as well
Kash recounts the Covid effects on EMS
Terry talks about the ability to acknowledge your struggles and continue to move on and live your life, in spite of them
I asked Jason about his decision to stay a fire paramedic instead of promoting up the chain, he didn’t want to promote just for the money, he would rather have passion for it. He is still very passionate about practicing medicine as a paramedic and enjoys his career as it is
How do we get along on scene when responding with multiple agencies, fire vs private ambulance
Jason talks about how beneficial it has been to see both sides, you can have more compassion for the other side when you see their struggles
Have the right attitude approaching a scene, work to get along with others as best you can despite the strong personalities we all tend to have
Sometimes a short conversation goes a long way. Having ambulance crews stop by the fire station for some food or short hang-out can also dramatically improve your relationship
We tend to assign ill-intent when we don’t know someone, vs good intent when we do know them
It is difficult to fully understand each other’s roles, when you aren’t doing that job on a daily basis, trauma bonding calls can be helpful when you get into the trenches of a difficult call with other people, it connects you
Disagreements are going to happen so they are important to address so you can avoid a problem on the subsequent call
How does the fire officer solve these disagreements between paramedics? John says he takes the paramedics aside, to a private location to allow them to talk – this has always allowed them to come to a consensus and go back to the call as a team
Jason talks about doing the productive thing rather than venting – have a conversation
John stresses that we are all on the same team, team patient
Kash talks about the dangers of jousting in the medical reports (trying to make another provider look poorly and make it obvious you disagreed with them) – it shows a non-cohesive team and therefore compromised judgement regarding patient care and casts doubt on the entire care team
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Everything you hear today from myself and my guests is opinion only and doesn’t represent any organizations or companies that any of us are affiliated with. The stories you hear have been modified to protect patient privacy and any resemblance to real individuals is coincidental. This is for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice nor used to diagnose any medical or healthcare conditions.
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