Letters to the Editor: January 2012

E-mail letters to the editor to editor@emsworld.com. Letters may be edited for clarity and to conform to space requirements.

Inspirational Words

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy reading Mike Rubin’s Life Support column.
Having been in EMS since the mid-1970s (which is scary to think about), I sometimes get a little jaded about the changes in the field and educational expectations, but Mike’s words and thoughts always seem to find a way to light up my brain.

From his thoughts about research to how negative attitudes affect your job and care, it’s all good stuff. It’s the first page I turn to when I get EMS World Magazine.
Liz Delano, MS, EMT-P, Lewiston, ME

Not Just Technology
I have just finished reading Thom Dick’s EMS Reruns column in the October 2011 issue. “Time Warp” is perhaps one of the greatest articles I have read in your magazine. Having spent large portions of the summer in Joplin and other disaster areas, it is true that sometimes the little things that don’t fit protocol mean the most.

Thank you for being the magazine you have chosen to be. EMS isn’t all about technology and legal issues.
Eddy Weiss, Director, Chasing4Life Disaster Response Team, Hudson, IA

Risky Business
I just finished reading the letter in the October 2011 issue about scene safety, and I have to agree with Keith Hart 100%. The idea that a patient might die simply because the medics delayed treatment or assessment while waiting for law enforcement to make the scene safe is incredible.

In my 51 years in EMS (including the old days when we were simply “drivers” or “attendants”), what state the scene was in was of little consequence to us, unless there was danger of an explosion or something similar. Simply staying away from a patient because there might’ve been a threat of some sort didn’t come into play.

In the earliest days of EMT training (c. 1974), we were taught that delaying treatment or assment simply because someone might get hurt along the way constituted malpractice. We were always reminded that being in a dangerous situation was “part of the game” and that we simply had to realize that from the start. To that end, I have seen some paramedics injured by out-of-control patients or a third party who was totally or partly responsible for the patient’s condition, but we had jobs to do, and we did them.
Skip Goulet, EMT (ret.), Odessa, TX