As a part of my personal leadership development goals, I am nearing the end of my EMT-MR step in EMT-I or Paramedic certification...still have not really decided how far I am going with this. This has been something I've wanted to do for a long time but was unable to commit to before because our children were so young. This year, I was offered the chance to certify through and for my employer who is building an on-site EMT group. Needless to say, that's the way to go, the boss foots the bill and I get to do something I've always felt drawn to.
Anyway, to make a long story short(er), the town I live in (or almost live in) needs volunteers badly so I told them that I would sign up. Here's the catch, Abuse of the Emergency Medical Systems runs rampant in this area. A paramedic from the next county over was telling me about a call last week that was paged out as chest pains and difficulty breathing, when the squad got there, it was a fingernail broken down to the quick. My instructor tells about the "chest pains and difficulty breathing" run they made where the guy jumps out of the ambulance when they get to the hospital and says "thanks for the ride" and starts walking toward downtown. These are not isolated incidents folks, absolutely true and quite frequent.
My question to you is, in your state, are these things allowed to happen? I am a transplant, in my native state these people would be behind bars right now for wreckless endangerment and misuse of emergency services.
Does anyone have or know where I can find information on how to set up policies for a rescue squad. Folks here just have not joined the rest of us in the 21st century, they are still back in the dark ages when it comes to management systems of any kind. It's not that the people on the squad don't want to change, they just don't know what a good system looks like or where to start.
Any help you could give me would be appreciated, as this is truly a new venture in my life and I really think that some organization is called for and I'm one of those type folks that always look for ways to change things for the better, especially when there is so much room for improvement.
Anyway, to make a long story short(er), the town I live in (or almost live in) needs volunteers badly so I told them that I would sign up. Here's the catch, Abuse of the Emergency Medical Systems runs rampant in this area. A paramedic from the next county over was telling me about a call last week that was paged out as chest pains and difficulty breathing, when the squad got there, it was a fingernail broken down to the quick. My instructor tells about the "chest pains and difficulty breathing" run they made where the guy jumps out of the ambulance when they get to the hospital and says "thanks for the ride" and starts walking toward downtown. These are not isolated incidents folks, absolutely true and quite frequent.
My question to you is, in your state, are these things allowed to happen? I am a transplant, in my native state these people would be behind bars right now for wreckless endangerment and misuse of emergency services.
Does anyone have or know where I can find information on how to set up policies for a rescue squad. Folks here just have not joined the rest of us in the 21st century, they are still back in the dark ages when it comes to management systems of any kind. It's not that the people on the squad don't want to change, they just don't know what a good system looks like or where to start.
Any help you could give me would be appreciated, as this is truly a new venture in my life and I really think that some organization is called for and I'm one of those type folks that always look for ways to change things for the better, especially when there is so much room for improvement.
