EMS 2.0

I follow the 2.0 movement fairly closely and believe it has endless potential. This may be the time of great opportunity for the community to define its own destiny rather than having it defined for us by those outside the community. However, a couple of challenges await us.

1. Definitions- who and what are we? Not a job statement or a task inventory, but who we are as people and what those characteristics bring to the table as EMS professionals. Is EMS a job or is it more than that? How and why? How is the world a better place because we are in it doing the work of an EMS professional?

2. Now that it is defined- how does what we do apply to that definition? The moment we undertake a task or role that is in opposition to who we are, we either change into something we were not intended to be or we lose part of ourselves. The latter in my humble opinion is what has happened over the years. We have added parts on and taken parts off so that we resemble the Borg rather than the unique entity we should be.

3. End the compartmentalizing- I am not a fan at all of Fire Based EMS. People who know me know that I consider a red ambulance an unholy thing. That being said, I really don't care if you call yourself a medic, a firefighter/EMT or a blue spruce as long as we are on the same sheet as to what we are trying to accomplish. EMS is not a matter of a uniform or title, but of a thought process and a conviction of the heart.

Once the groundwork is set, now let's go after process and procedures. Let's go after a logical career progression, let's go after coordination of efforts but let's go after them while always keeping in mind that we will not compromise who and what we are and what we provide to our neighbors at any cost. EMS 2.0 is not a reboot- it is a system restoration. It is the time and opportunity to purge out the junk files that have cluttered up the system and kept us from doing what we do.

Just my 2 cents worth-

So upon my reaching the great Northwoods, I've realized that I fell into a trap further south and its the same trap that many medics fall into. It got to be such a chore and I became so complacent with taking my med bag, monitor, etc into a house that sounds like nothing more than a “code-brown.” Recently I went on a call dispatched as “patient needs help going to the bathroom” and to my surprise found a fragile geriatric patient severely dehydrated and ill! Here is a situation in which we in EMS often take for granted that without our tools, we are merely informed citizens. Even that middle of the night BS, I mean BLS call could turn into something far more interesting. So in this I've learned to take the med bag and monitor everytime…after all if I get tired of carrying it, I've got a partner!