LIFESAVING ON WHEELS
Rodney Dangferfield’s comedic catchphrase “I don’t get no respect!” hits too close to home for today’s EMS members. For too long, EMS has been called the “red-headed stepchild of first response.” This demeaning attitude from others belittles the First Responders who have spent hours in classrooms learning how to SAVE LIVES.
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), Paramedics, Certified First Responders (CFRs), and Emergency Vehicle Operators spend hours in classrooms and on-site situations learning how to treat patients, diagnosing, treating illness, bandage wounds, and safely transporting to medical facilities as necessary, and often comforting a patient and the family’s fears.
Our EMS First Responders pass on valuable medical information to the receiving nurses and doctors at the hospital which helps to further treat the patient towards the best possible outcome. And yet, too often, ambulance crews are merely regarded as mere transport to medical facilities. Each patient is different, each symptom needs to be evaluated, and sometimes the treatment received in the rig will make the biggest difference in whether the patient even survives long enough to reach a doctor’s care.
Ambulance crews are comprised of professional medical technicians who have successfully taken hours of education and training. They are often the first ones on scene during a medical emergency. And yet, far too often, our EMS crews are not even included in lists of First Responders. A recent conversation with a guide at a 9/11 Memorial excluded the ambulance crews (including EMT and Paramedics) from the list of First Responders claiming that they were only transport vehicles.
While “ambulance transports” have been around for centuries, beginning with horse drawn carts, ambulances with medically trained individuals in automobiles (and also helicopters and planes) became common in the mid 1900’s. EMS signifies the trained and certified PROFESSIONALS delivering pre-hospital emergency medical treatment to those who become ill or injured. The term “First Response” imcludes Police, Fire and EMS.
I'm a former NYS EMT and still part of an EMS & FD family. I like to think I can write ;)
