Crowd Sourced Wisdom – The Secret to Great EMS Care

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I’ll admit it. My very favorite posts are the ones written by the readers. I love the idea behind crowd-sourced wisdom. I enjoy putting a question out there and listening to the many varied responses. The funny and the unique, the poignant and the economical, I like them all. I’d like to make all my posts crowd-sourced in one way or another. (And I probably would if it wasn’t so much work.)

So here is our latest collection of crowed sourced wisdom. This time, the topic is great EMS care. I asked the readers to finish this sentence:

“The secret to great EMS care is…”

I have to wait until I can read all of the answers before I can decide how to split them all up. This time, I divided the majority of the responses into what I called, “provider focused answers” and “patient focused answers.” (Though the two are strikingly similar.) I also added in the short and the sweet and, of course, the funny. It is EMS after all.

Here are your responses:

The Provider Focused Answers

The secret to great EMS care is…

leaving your ego at the door when you walk in. – @PenguinEMT via Twitter

compassion, experience and listening power. – Dee (@Old_Hen) via Twitter

appropriate care. – Jeremiah Bush via Facebook (See follow up next.)

…And the secret to the secret is determining, and agreeing on what appropriate means. – Jeremiah Bush via Facebook

a genuine desire to care. – Florian Breitenbach via Facebook

truly caring, experience certainly helps too. – Joseph Shankland via Facebook

still being able to do a great assessment without all the new technology. – Anne Dorchak via Facebook

Compassion and understanding…also some patience. – Brad Buck via Facebook

Staying current, and having compassion, no matter what time of day or night. – Jon Gubernick via Facebook

a mix of compassion for your patients and job, confidence in yourself, good skills, and being able to adapt and overcome. – VWMedicgirl via The Blog

remaining focused on care, while protecting the health and safety of your patient. – Marcus via The Blog

The Patient Focused Answers

The secret to great EMS care is…

The greatest secret to great EMS care is passionate patient advocacy–social, clinical, educational–in all pursuits. – William Pitt (@wepitt) -via Twitter

always remembering that the patient always comes first. – Kevin Reiter (@DiverMedic) via Twitter

treat your patients how you’d want a member of your family to be treated. – @MadMedic via Twitter

to remember that you are a servant. Leave them better than you found them. – Brian McCoy via Facebook

to always advocate for your patient’s best interests. – Adders via The Blog

to advocate and provide the best care possible (under your protocols and skill level) for our patients. – Fern via The Blog

to treat your patients exactly as you would want to be treated if the roles were reversed. – Collin via The Blog

The Short and Sweet

The secret to great EMS care is…

that you care shouldn’t be a secret. – Rob Walker via Facebook

that there are no secrets. Learn, teach, correct and do no harm. – Craig Spader via Facebook

you! – Steve via The Blog

humility. – Bryan DeWolfe via Facebook

empathy. – Greg Friese via The Blog

caring. – Jameson via The Blog

not a secret. – Andrew Przepioski via The Blog

The Funny

The secret to great EMS care is…

to get them to the friggin’ hospital if they need it. …Yesterday. – Joe Sims via Facebook

a paramedic initiated refusal. I usually start with, “Is there anything you WANT to go to the hospital for?” and follow up with, “I can’t take you against your will, so it’s your choice.” – Mike DeBoer via Facebook

Smoke and mirrors. – Dennis K. Baker via Facebook

Convincing the patient that you are smarter then they are. – Kourtney Hartford via Facebook
That just about sums it up doesn’t it? Thank you all for your thoughtful answers. And what about you? If you have a contribution that didn’t make it in time, feel free to add it to the comments list below.