Follow-up on today's post...

Just thought I'd share this as a follow up to today's blog post!

Thank You, Thom Dick

 I've been fortunate to meet many people who have inspired my career over the years. Some have been partners on difficult calls, others have been educators, supervisors, and members of brother services. But one person who I've found has inspired me most often I've only met once for the briefest moment in time: Thom Dick. Many of you may know him as the author of regular columns in industry periodicals; he's also authored a book entitled "People Care." If you get a chance, pick it up; it's a fantastic read. I had the opportunity to meet Thom at the EMS Today Conference in Baltimore, Maryland back in 2009. He had been honored with the James O. Page award and was signing autographs and meeting EMSers in the exhibit hall that afternoon.

The 45 seconds or so I spent were like standing next to a legend for me. Why? His attitude toward taking care of patients. As he outlines in "People Care" and his regular articles, this job is all about people taking care of people. His manner of describing how to put a personal touch on this job has been a teaching tool that I've used with new EMTs for years. He takes situations that are often the butt of jokes in our daily work and makes you realize that regardless of the types of patients you encounter, they're still asking for help; they're still human. His articles provide an "attitude adjustment," if you will, for providers who have forgotten that the patients we encounter have names, emotions, and lives that are usually bigger than the reason you were called.

I keep my copy of People Care close by and sometimes, when I'm feeling off, will take a few minutes to re-read a chapter or two. It will put me back into the proper frame of mind so I can head off to take care of the next patient and give them the best care I can give. I look forward to opening my mailbox and finding a magazine that has an article, anxious to read the next words of wisdom from Thom.

I hope that you will be fortunate enough to find someone to inspire your care the way Thom has inspired mine. He's a rare gem among us, and we're lucky to have this guiding light providing words of wisdom to make us all better. Thank you, Thom Dick!

Public Perception

If it's not one thing, it's another. This week, news broke of a second FDNY social media controversy, this time an EMT Lieutenant who's Twitter handle was "Bad Lieutenant." When confronted by the media about controversial tweets, the Lieutenant broke down, stating "my life is ruined." You can read more about the story here. This follows last week's news of the son of an FDNY Commissioner who resigned after racial, anti-Semitic messages were revealed on his Twitter account; more about that story here.

When I first became involved in public safety many years ago, one of the first pieces of information I learned was that my actions are representative of not only me, but also my organization and my profession. If this is indeed the case, we're all in a lot of trouble, and not just because of the few instances mentioned above. Over the past few years, investigations have been started over molestation in the back of ambulances, drug diversion, certification scams, service delays...the list goes on and on.

We work in a profession where we are always in the public eye, on duty or off. We live in a world where we are connected to the world nearly every second of the day. We have access to social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter where we sound off on everything from the joys of life to our deepest held beliefs. With the privacy policies of these sites changing frequently, it's often difficult to keep anything truly "private" anymore.

We, as a profession, need to start policing ourselves better. We are expected to provide services regardless of race, ethnicity, origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender, etc. We are held responsible for the safety and well-being of those within our care, and should treat everyone we encounter with respect.

Are there are abuses within the system we operate in? Yup. Are they going to be fixed anytime soon? Nope. Is it fair to heap scorn on a particular "class" based upon the actions of a few? Absolutely not.