Today we have a guest post from Sally Davison. Sally is one of the 
masterminds behind the website FireScienceDegree.com. If you’re looking for a degree in fire science, Sally’s site offers what just may be the most comprehensive, no nonsense resources on the inter-web.
Sally also knows her way around the EMT field and has some advice for new EMT’s preparing themselves for the prehospital environment. She welcomes your comments at sally.davison091@gmail.com Please give her a warm welcome.
There’s much more to being an EMT than just providing emergency medical care alone; in most situations, you are much more important than doctors and specialists because your timely response and actions help:
- Save lives
- Save limbs and prevent lifelong and debilitating disabilities
- Prevent brain damage and other consequences that happen when first aid is not provided immediately
- Prevent people from going into shock
- Stop uncontrolled bleeding
There are many other ways in which EMTs are extremely useful, and because of this, most victims are grateful for and satisfied with your work. However, there are some occasions when you are called upon to do much more than just administer first aid or provide medical care.
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In Greek tragedies, the hero typically displays some form of hamarita, also known as a “tragic flaw.” Hamlet was brooding, Othello was jealous, Macbeth was ambitious. For the most part, it is their tragic flaw that is usually the key to their undoing. When the hero ultimately falls, they tend to sow the seeds of their own demise with their respective tragic flaws.
People often use the word hero when they refer to EMS caregivers. EMT’s, paramedics, firefighters, we all get the hero moniker pinned on us from time to time. I cringe at the term. Most of us are uncomfortable with it to different degrees. And, if there is any truth to our hero title, it is certainly closer to the heroes of Greek tragedy that the comic book heroes we grew up with.
In other words, we all have our tragic flaws. Yes, all of us.
Here are eight of the most common tragic flaws of the EMS hero persona. I have, at one time or another in my career, embodied each and every one of these flaws to one degree or another. I’ve lived each one of them. I would guess that most of us do.
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I once thought that part of the goal of being a competent paramedic was getting to the point where I no longer felt any fear or anxiety about running calls. After all, most of the folks I worked with appeared to be absolutely
fearless. At least the competent ones did. They never go flustered or rushed. They smiled. They remained calm in the face of very real emergencies. I needed to be like that.
Eventually I figured out how to act like they acted, but I never really mastered the whole not-feeling-any-fear thing. It nagged at me for a long time. It took me almost a decade to figure out the secret.
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Part two of a two part series on scene presence. Part one is here.
While we’re talking about scene presence, I think it’s important to bring this one up. I’ve hesitated to talk about the illusion of control on the blog even though it’s a learning point that I invariably discuss with new students on the rig in the first one or two shifts. The illusion of control is deeply
applicable to learning scene presence, but, quite frankly, it contradicts something I’ve preached here on The Spot for some time.
It contradicts my advice to always be authentic. When it comes to authenticity, the illusion of control is the exception to the rule. I suspect that some of my regular readers may have take issue with that. It’s OK, I’m a big boy. I can handle it.
In the world of scene management and scene control, the illusion of control is a metaphor for how we should respond when things don’t go the way we planned.
There is an awkward and embarrassing moment that we all have to deal with while running calls. It helps to think it over before it happens. If you’ve been in EMS for any length of time, it’s already happened to you. So let’s talk about it now. How do you react when you make a mistake during a call? What do you do when things don’t go as planned? How do you respond when you make an outright flub, guffaw or blatant error right there for everyone to see?
My answer, “The illusion of control.” Allow me to explain.
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Part one of a two part series on scene presence. Part two is here.
A regular reader of The EMT Spot asked a great question recently. (Thanks Timothy.) “How do I keep my cool and not loose my head in stressful situations?” I want to give you a tip that has 
worked well for me in the past. It’s a phrase I learned as an EMT and it’s helped me on countless occasions.
“It’s not my emergency.”
I know. I know what you’re thinking. On the surface, “It’s not my emergency.” sounds like a very callous and uncaring thing to say. But give me a chance to explain.
I was taught the phrase, “It’s not my emergency.” by a talented young paramedic who was a mentor in my early years in EMS. Since I first learned it, I’ve heard it used in a much more callous and uncaring form. More often than not, when I hear people say this catch-phrase it’s said in a dismissive manner. “It’s not my emergency” has become, “It’s not my problem.” or worse, “I don’t care about your emergency.” It never meant that to me. That’s not how I learned it.
For me, “It’s not my emergency.” is a mantra that helps us remember our role in the trial and tragedies that befall our patients. It reminds me of my place in the human drama of EMS. My role is that of the caregiver, not the patient. And, until the day that I pick up a phone and dial 911, that’s how it shall remain.
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