Sunday, January 6, 2002
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Sunday, January 6, 2002 |
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The past year should be a wake-up call for us By MARY JANE HOLT As 2001 comes to a close, most Americans, if not all, will tell you we have been changed by the events of the year. This space will not permit me to discuss at length all the ways you and I may have been affected by what has happened over the past 12 months so I have chosen to talk about EMS. Emergency medical services are something we don't think about until we need them. On 9/11, we had a need. Much has been said about police and fire and it should have been said. Heroes have been redefined this year. Such redefinition has been long overdue. Today I want to attempt to remind us of what EMS professionals do for us. Typically an ambulance or emergency medical service is supplied by city or county government. In many cases the service is supplied by a private ambulance service being paid by county government. I suppose this makes sense to some degree. I'm sure the various counties love to share the potential for litigation with private services. Folks get angry when they get hurt and can't get well. They get mad when their loved ones die. They want money for it. 'Tis the American way. So we sue and it's easy because there seems to a lawyer on every corner ready and eager to lead the way to those big bucks. What there is not on every corner is an ambulance and highly qualified medical personnel to run it. But it's not the fault of the industry. Bear with me here. You and I need to understand this. I don't care how well educated or trained a medical professional might be in the beginning, it is experience that makes them great. From the physician right on down to a good nursing assistant it is time and experience that makes the difference. By the time a paramedic or emergency medical technician has enough experience to make him or her truly capable of meeting the demands of the job, he or she has had to move on to another profession. Why is that? They are barely paid minimum wage in many counties. The turnover is outrageous. Rural areas where the need may be even greater for highly qualified individuals are frequently left with young graduates because those with experience seek out employment in larger cities where the pay is better. Even then, at no more that $10 to $12 an hour they eventually have to change careers or work two jobs which can mean 48 hours on and 24 hours off. I have known of incidences where such professionals agreed to give up their one off day when the need was especially great and work five days straight. That's staying on the clock for 5 days X 24 hours with little or no quality rest or sleep. Get it? And get this, very few private ambulances pay any sick leave or benefits other than minimal vacation. No wonder the turnover rate is so high. No wonder the average career experience is five years. No wonder? Consider this and you will begin to wonder, I hope. You or someone you love is in an auto accident, has a heart attack, or experiences a terrible fall and you dial 911. The paramedic and/or emergency medical technician appears on scene to try to stabilize and transport your loved one to the nearest medical facility or trauma center. Once at the facility there's often a physician, a respiratory therapist, more than one nurse and even a pharmacist to administer aid. But guess what, if that emergency medical respondent is not experienced and alert and capable of performing adequate life support measures on scene and en route to the hospital it doesn't really matter how many medical professionals meet that stretcher as it comes rolling through the ER doors. So what has 9/11 taught us about our 911 system? If we as taxpayers are not ready to get off our pocketbooks and lazy rear ends and demand quality service then it has taught us nothing. If we want a truly adequate 911 service then we must seek to reduce the high turnover rate, raise pay for EMS workers, assure that ongoing training requirements are paid for by employers and not out of the pockets of EMS professionals who barely make minimum wage is some counties. Consider this, an auto mechanic is often paid by the automobile dealer for whom he works to keep his credentials up to date and the dealer proudly boasts about this credentialing. That same auto mechanic's pay is three to five times that of an emergency medical professional who responds to the scene where that automobile lies crumpled in some ditch holding your bleeding or unconscious loved one captive. Interesting scenario, huh? So here we are at the end of a year never to be forgotten; has our consciousness been raised? God knows we were all due a wake up call. Teachers, policemen, firemen, paramedics and EMTs have been under appreciated and underpaid long enough. If we want the best, we have to find a way to attract the best. Decent pay, decent benefits, decent hours would be a start. They would all trade that for a handful of medals and an occasional headline any day.
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