Role Models

I've ended up back down at the station to staff a BLS unit from now (2pm) to 7, when the next crew comes in. Someone didn't show up to run their duty. Topic for another post: responsibility in EMS. Seems like it's sorely lacking these days. I have the same preceptee I had earlier in the week. I kind of want to boss my own calls today, but I know it's better for me to help someone else learn.

Tomorrow, I go with a good friend and fellow medic student (although he's taking his class some 5 hours away, as he's still in college) to a local high school to show off a unit and our equipment to a group of high schoolers enrolled in a general health and wellness class. A lot of them, from what I hear, want to be EMTs, so I'll bring along some PR material. That will occupy us most of the day, I believe. Then, in the evening, class - more on medication administration. Overnight, I have duty with my flight paramedic partner.

I've been working with Matt for just over a year now. His journey to EMS was an interesting one, but he's now a full-time flight paramedic and loves it. I want to follow him in a few years, after finishing my education and getting some critical care experience. I'm lucky to have such a great EMS role model.

I think role models are extremely important in all walks of life, but especially in a field where there's disappointments, confusion, and chaos a lot of the time. We have an informal "mentorship" program at my rescue squad, but only for people who expressly say that they want a mentor. I think everyone should be assigned one, and they can choose to dissolve or keep that relationship as they wish. I just got lucky with meeting someone who I asked to be my permanent partner and then him also becoming a great friend and mentor.

There's other people I look up to, naturally. The Training Officer I've worked with for awhile just recently left our station, much to my dismay. She was tough and didn't like incompetent or unwilling providers, but she was fair and one of the smartest women I've ever met. She's always one of the first people to know if I'm stressed about a certain skill or passed something. She always responds with the same level of enthusiasm, which most people would start to dwindle in after awhile. It's great to see a strong, competent woman working in EMS. They seem few and far between sometimes.

Peter Canning is probably one of my ultimate role models. He's written probably the country's most well known books on EMS - Medic 471 and Paramedic. He also keeps detailed and very educational blogs. Despite all of this, he replies to comments, posts, and e-mails, and I've had the honor of writing to him a couple times. I'm hoping for a possible face-to-face meeting next month. Someone who is that well-known, yet still kind enough to talk to his admirers, shows that he is the perfect person for EMS - patient, personable, kind, and open.

Since, I've mentioned them, I should plug their blogs.

Matt's - A Day in the Life of a Flight Paramedic

Peter Canning's - Street Watch: Notes of a Paramedic

I better get my unit pretty and prepped for the PR event tomorrow. I want to make a good impression.