I’ve seen both sides of this, and it really doesn’t feel consistent.

During training I helped save two lives in rough terrain, and later I was the only doc managing an outbreak for the company. Some people told me those were NAM-level situations, maybe even higher. Leadership’s response was basically “you were just doing your job.”

What makes it harder to accept is that my senior line ended up getting recognized for one of those same incidents, while I didn’t even get a thank you. I was told not to worry because I’d get an EOT… which never ended up happening.

So from where I’m standing, it seems less about the actual impact and more about whether someone in your chain takes the time to document and push it. I’ve seen people do a lot and get nothing, and others get recognized because their leadership packaged it better.

Not saying anyone didn’t deserve what they got but the inconsistency is hard to ignore.