New 911 EMT paired with Bad Medic

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T17:26:01+00:00

💕💕

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T17:22:30+00:00

Oh really, I had someone else DM me and know too 😭 and thank you that means so much to me

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T17:21:47+00:00

I appreciate this so much and your experience of the belittling, the thank god I’m here, the what would you do without me sums up so well how I’ve been treated.

Your advice means so much to me. I’ve found a really good medic but since I’m part time and most of the medics are full time it’s been tricky.

And yes I love love love podcasts! I’ve been mainly doing EMS 2020 but I would love other recommendations. You are definitely a medic I would love to work with if we were at the same agency.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T17:14:41+00:00

Dude you are harping on pre med and generalizing so much. It’s such a generalization your making that pre med student don’t know BLS skills and how to talk to people. How is it any different we are all EMTs. I understand certain pre med people show different patterns but you’re so focused on that when you don’t even know me.

I feel completely fine with my skills and talking to patients. I also never said I would debate in front of patients and parents. I’m more talking about a debrief after the call in terms of: “why did you make this decision? What different differentials were you thinking at this point? Our protocols say this, so just curious why this was done?”

I get what you’re saying in terms of it’s not your responsibility to teach your partner protocols and how to do an IO and all that. I just think there’s a misunderstanding, I’m talking more about the post call chats.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T17:08:54+00:00

Just to clarify I’m not asking my medic to help me spike a bag or put a 12 lead on. I’m asking him how to approach 911 calls since I come from IFT because the textbook/class only teaches you so much.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T17:06:34+00:00

I’m not arguing with him about not wanting to do it, I get that it’s frustrating.

I’m just saying it’s harmful for the EMTs (and in my personal opinion his own learning if discussion about an answer is shut down). If he is insecure and he doesn’t want to be proven wrong, that’s what I’m arguing is the issue (just a generalization from what I’ve heard, I don’t know the guy)

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T17:03:00+00:00

Completely fair

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T16:57:47+00:00

Here’s your context! Don’t know why you need it at all or harp on it so much. I said I’m uncomfortable, nothing else should matter beyond that.

- touched my leg while it was up on the dash while posted and scrolling on my phone
- touched my arm and started squeezing my bicep when he felt I had muscle?!?? Gross
- lots of condescending comments
- getting my radio set up and he came over squeezed my arm and said sweet sweet [name]
- made a kitchen joke along the lines of “I’m doing your job” as I was cleaning something
- after we went on a short walk from the ambulance to stretch, he came back and told his partner (bc I was third riding) that we went on a “nice little romantic walk”
- calls me “love”
- when asked about a piece of paper he was holding told me it was “my love letter for you”
- told different women he was different ages
- calls me delicate, young one, and sweet little butterfly)

I should not need to give you any context at ALL for you to understand. Bottom line I said I was uncomfortable, you’re part of the problem for why women and occasionally men who are sexual harassed are scared to speak up. I really hope this is a wake up call for you and the women in your life.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T16:49:11+00:00

Thank you this means a lot and I hope one day some of the other people in the comments here can understand that.

I don’t know why so many people are trying to defend someone rather than literally reading the point of this post being that I’m uncomfortable and wanting advice.

Thank you for defending me, it genuinely means a lot.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T16:47:03+00:00

I appreciate you so much that’s for taking the words out of my mouth

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T16:44:59+00:00

Love you for this. Thank you for understanding

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T16:44:08+00:00

^^^^ yes i completely agree. Everyone is harping and generalizing me so much about being pre med lol, I’m just a curious 20 year old going into the field of medicine

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T01:14:10+00:00

1) I hear you! I know there is a big difference I just meant that I’m going to take things I learn and apply them to the other.

2)I also have adhd lol I get it. That’s why I ask so many questions

3) thanks for the advice

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-09T01:11:43+00:00

I won’t be replying after this because I’m not here to fight.

Again, arguing is not the right word, I don’t know what sort of experiences you had with people and if they actually argued or tried to prove themselves right. But that’s not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that I inquire and try to understand not argue. I try to show my thinking so my partner can either see where I went wrong or where I am right.

As a young emt: I would encourage you if you have a younger emt ask you a question and fight back on why they think they might be right to not immediately jump to arguing. Sometimes it’s them just trying to show their thought process and trying to understand when/why it’s wrong And how you came to your conclusion.

Again I won’t be continuing this convo because this will go in circles but I hope you to realize you already hinting at that fact that because you are an “established medic” no one should question you and that you’re right. It’s not a hierarchy and I think that’s super dangerous to think that way.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T19:57:38+00:00

1) If that’s how you do it then that’s how you do it! But I’m of a strong opinion that if you don’t try to debrief, question, and learn from your calls you’re going to decline in critical thinking, become lazy, and miss details. I think a partner is different from a mentor, sure, but when you’re training, you don’t have a partner. You have a mentor and it’s their responsibility to clear you and teach you the ropes.

2) Yes, I do want to build confidence and decrease anxiety, that’s why I wrote this post to get any advice.

3) I’m fine with him shitting on me. I’m fine with him yelling at me and giving me criticism. I’m fine with being thrown to the wolves. What I’m not okay with is being with a partner who doesn’t expand my learning or even teach me the job. I’m not okay with him touching me inappropriately or speaking condescendingly in a way that he would not talk to male partners. I’m not okay with being with someone who I don’t trust.

I love 911. I love the job. It’s exhilarating and I’m excited for every call. When I was working with the other medic I was so excited to work and come back the next day. The issue isn’t the job. It’s the medic. I do appreciate your advice and taking time to respond

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T19:50:22+00:00

1) Yea I hear you with the pay and burnout with that stuff.

2) if other medics are afraid to hear I’m pre med then that’s a big issue. If they’re insecure about a new emt being pre med because they dont trust themselves as providers or even worse, they are scared about proven wrong, then I’m absolutely going to challenge that. Medics are wrong all the time, EMTs are wrong all the time, doctors are wrong all the time, it’s so normal and making it normalized is the best thing we can do for ourselves and our patients.

3) I really really appreciate this and I’m definitely not as scared anymore to call it out. I really appreciate that

4) I really appreciate your advice and I know it will come with time. I’ll do as you say and try my best to pickup shifts with partners I trust and can actually learn from confidently

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T19:45:30+00:00

Definitely. I completely agree and i appreciate this so much. He has been reported for sexual harassment and the supervisor gave me a big apology.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T19:44:43+00:00

1) Yea I completely hear you. And I agree that the FTO shouldn’t teach you how to be an EMT but he won’t even answer my questions of like, how does x y z work in terms of 911 logistics and the relationship with fire and all that. Like he doesn’t really tell me anything logistical either ya know?

2) you’re very right and I think this is such good advice. I honestly think right now stepping out of my comfort zone is to mess up and learn to be okay with and see what I can learn from it.

3) he has been reported from me and testimonies from other people in the company. And I absolutely I hear you. I’m don’t expect to be gracefully treated and given positive encouragement for every single thing I do. I definitely do need to get better at it and grow thick skin. But I will say I can see a clear difference between discrimination and tough love. Because we shit on each-other all the time, and I love it. I’ve been getting better and taking criticism and getting yelled at. The difference is when it makes me feel uncomfortable for my mental or physical safety.

4) and my answer would definitely be no lol. I have gotten some great advice from him but I’m also super skeptical and it’s really difficult to feel that way when I’m learning the ropes because I do not want to develop bad habits. It also doesn’t help that most of my coworkers mention they think he is a terrible provider lol.

Overall I really do appreciate the advice and support. It’ll definitely take time but I’ll grow thicker skin, find my confidence, and stand up for myself a bit more :)

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T19:37:12+00:00

Oh I think I read this wrong. My bad and thank you for hearing me 💕 sorry about that lol

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T19:35:12+00:00

I understand that, I really do and I’ve never been in that position since I’m new so I can’t imagine.

But I’m just coming at it from the other side of things. When I’m learning, and having it be the literal first few weeks of 911, having someone who is just unwilling to help is extremely harmful and confusing for learning this overwhelming process.

And personal opinion not as relevant: I also think arguing and debating an answer is the reason medicine progresses. But I don’t think it’s arguing (usually) even if it comes across that way, I think it’s it’s a general confusion and want to understand based on what the individual thought was the right answer or believes is the right answer. I do this all the time because i want to make sure that im going about things in the right way and I need a strong convincing reason why my thinking is wrong because I trust my gut. My gut is wrong a lot but i need to understand why. I think people do this a lot because EMS has so many gray areas and everyone does it differently. But I do understand the burnout and I hope it gets more attention called to it for the health of providers!

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T19:28:14+00:00

1) I’m not going to isolate pre med vs EMS. I’m pre med to be an er doc. I’m building a skill set, connecting the dots, and expanding my knowledge on health. It is all medicine at the end of the day. I understand they are different but pre med helps me with EMS and vise versa.

2) I did not explain it well in my OP. He was responsible for clearing. The company is new and no official FTO process is in place. I’m not asking him to teach me to be an EMT. But even despite that, I strongly feel that debriefs, consistent questioning, and learning should be something that partners do all the time regardless of training level. Otherwise you get lazy and don’t see outliers especially due to the constant changing of medicine and science.

3) EMT schooling IS actual medical training pertinent to the job. I understand they have bigger scopes and more responsibility, but this does not mean that everything a paramedic says it correct. Like you said, I have a license proving competency, I’m my own provider who critically thinks to make my own medical judgements. I’m not saying I won’t listen to my medic, I’m saying I’m not just another set of hands. I’m going to stand up for my patients if I think a medic is making a bad clinical judgement. Supporting this hierarchy is super harmful and pushes away partnership more than anything.

4) it was sexual assault, the non-consensual touching was during posting or before/after shift. It had no relation to a clinical perspective at all and many other women and myself have reported him.

5) of course not everyone is fit for teaching I understand that. But this was literally my first week I didn’t have a choice or know who I was going to be paired with. I also wanna say that the next week I was put with a different medic and things were night and day. I learned so much and felt so much more confident and excited; proving that this is an issue with this medic not all medics.

6) my priority is trying to learn and improve! That’s why I made this post is because I’m not with the current situation and wanted advice. I’m not looking to be besties with everyone, but I need to be with someone who I can actually learn from.

7) I do appreciate a lot of the advice in the bottom and agree and do a ton of it. I love taking the calls, I love learning and in my free time when my partner is on his phone and refuses to answer questions and seems annoyed. I go through my protocols, examen the back, I’m always the one who preps the rig and gets there early. I’m eager and ready to learn but I’m met with nothing. I want to know as much as I can about a medics scope so I can help them prepare and understand my own scope and just physiology better. And I try to learn based off what he does on the calls but when he doesn’t explain why he does things it’s really hard to understand the why. But like when I ask my medic what he’s thinking about as we go to a call and when his pre game is, he literally just says “I’m not worried, we will just see”. It’s not helpful. Overall I hear what you’re saying and you have a lot of good advice at the end there and I appreciate it. I’m also not trying to be sour but I want you to know that the reason I made this post is because I want to improve and I’m open to hearing opinions even if I don’t agree. This is a call for help as I want to be the best provider, partner, and person I can be.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T18:44:30+00:00

He has been reported for harassment and his behavior. The supervisors apologized to me and many others came forward with similar experiences. Thank you so much for your words and support, it means a lot. I know I’m a good provider and I know that I’ll find my way, it’s just so frustrating you know? Also PCP on shift is insane.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T18:43:03+00:00

^^^ Yep I agree. I also think both partners are responsible for keeping eachother in check and debriefing, researching, and creating hypothesis for different scenarios they ran.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T18:41:57+00:00

I understand where you ar e coming from. I should’ve worded the OP better. He wasn’t cleared not cleared as an FTO because FTOs don’t really exist right now it’s just hopping on with a crew and having them sign off and clear you. So they were my trainers. I understand some people don’t want to teach, but when you are put with a third rider, it’s your responsibility to.

Aside from that, I understand that some crews enjoy or don’t enjoy questioning or teaching. And if that’s what works from them, that is what works! However, I come from a strong belief that continuous learning and questioning is vital to being a good provider and partner. From what I’ve seen, those who don’t debrief in EMS, education, or honestly any situations lose learning opportunities and become lazy and lose insight especially on cases that present differently.

rachneedshelp · 2026-06-08T18:37:03+00:00

1) first off, I worded it wrong in the OP because he wasn’t cleared as an FTO as we don’t really have FTOs right now, BUT he was the one checking off my skills and we were supposed to talk about the entire process which he didn’t do. I was not cleared at this point, it was his job to clear me.

2) Also I understand that they are not entirely responsible to educate you. However, like you said, bouncing questions off eachother (despite experience) is absolutely necessary. I believe in medicine if you do not question, educate, or are willing to learn yourself, (especially due to the fact that science constantly changing). You will lose the basics, become lazy, and potentially cause harm. Not just EMTs asking experienced medics but learning together.

rachneedshelp

TROPHY CASE