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Having read the articles and seen / heard many
comments from the EMS community, both here and through other venues, I am
astonished to see such a "knee jerk" reaction from my peers in all areas of
EMS. Lets be honest, EMS is far from perfect. I mean no
disrespect in that, it's just the truth. I know that everyone in EMS has
answered a calling to help their fellow man and we all try to do the best with
what we have to work with, but it's time we accept our short comings and utilize
this current situation to educate the lay public about the reality of EMS.
What is the reality of EMS? We are widely under funded, under paid, and we
have limited standardization of care from place to place. For far to long
the lay public has had the unrealistic view of EMS they derived from
"Rescue 911".
How will the public deal with the fact that a
lifesaving drug or procedure may be available in town "A" but in town "B" 10
miles away it is not available even though the EMS systems of both towns are ALS
providers? This question has not yet been brought into the spotlight but
it is coming, along with a host of other hard to answer questions. How are
we going to respond? Across the nation paramedics are fighting for
professional acceptance, seeking licensure over certification, mandatory degree
programs etc. etc.. It is my humble opinion that the number one sign of
professionalism is to take responsibility for a short coming and try to correct
it. Shifting the blame to "reporters twisting the facts" or some
other excuse is an act of a politician, not a professional.
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