Take long, deep breaths Part 2

A week since the original post and I'm only now doing the 'second half' to what I see as a two part saga.

The first half of the story centered around the attitude of different Paramedics in their approach to patient/carer/first aider interaction. This has a profound effect on the way the situation is seen by those involved, and while I will always aim to hit that second 'calm and friendly' version, there are times when even I as a first aider can see why and how the first 'sit down, shut up' attitude is taken.

From my experience (as limited as it is) in St John Ambulance, some people who are trained to do first aid take the 'Ambulance' part far too seriously. They think they're Paramedics just because their uniform reads Ambulance. This is far from good - they can get cocky, make mistakes or just generally be an all round jerk. It's for this reason above many others that I believe a portion of Paramedics dislike SJA, and I have to admit I don't blame them. I've seen people who have professed vast experience and intellect practically soil themselves when confronted with a real scenario or, as some patients/friends are prone to do, generally get in the way or use inappropriate terminology or treatments.

Fortunately for me, I only catch this once in a while - but I can imagine Paramedics would get it all the time. After a while (particularly if it's been a bad day) it would be easy to become frustrated with these types and find it easier to just do the job as you were trained. Sometimes a little attitude rubs off, though.

But imagine this also; you've just come from a child in RA who you've dropped into A&E knowing full well will never recover fully, even possibly not survive. Your next call is to a broken leg where a first aider is generally messing things up, using the wrong terms or possibly even doing everything right - it would be natural to be more disengaged and less sympathetic to that patient because you know they're really ok, and given a few weeks will be able to fall again when next they emerge from the pub drunk. Maybe they've just had a month of overnights, maybe they've just seen enough pointless spilled blood that week. It's about perspective.

Will this always be the case? Of course not. Some people are just jerks.

But it never hurts to think of both sides of the story.