Ok, I've just got to ask this, what is up with nurses and accident scenes, please forgive the length becasue this is kind of a rant on both stupidity & safety :icon_roll
Here's the background, I'm an RN, and I'm also a volunteer firefighter/EMT and I've had 2 interesting experiences in the last year, most recent today.
The first was a fairly serious vehicle accident, I ride out on our ambulance and walk up, looking the vehicles over immediately thinking "oh crap this is going to be a jaws call, looks bad". I go over to the drivers door of the vehicle which is the most seriously damaged (in full firefighter gear & jump bag over my shoulder) and find a woman in scrubs looking in the window, staring at the obviously unconscious driver. I ask her to step out of the way and she replies "I'm an LPN at such & such hospital", to which I respond, "ok, what's going on with the patient", and she goes, "she's bad", I'm like "ok, just step out of the way please", and she goes "what are your credentials", at this point I'm like "I need to get in and assess her airway, I'm an EMT", she says, "well didn't you hear me I'm an LPN", my response, "get the hell out of the way". She goes off the side of the road and starts pitching a fit to the Trooper (who is a friend & member of the same FD I'm with), and he tells her, "look he's an EMT, and an RN, did you see the accident occur?, no?, do you have anything to contribute to the accident report, no, ok, maybe you should be on your way". WOW!
The second was today and was much more humorous, we have a 2 car accident in a major intersection, all patients have been removed from the vehicles and in the ambulances (both still on scene), an Assistant Chief and I are getting the information off the vehicles when this woman comes running, I mean really, really running down the road past all of the Fire Police & State Troopers who are yelling at her "STOP, STOP", and busts into the middle of this accident scene yelling "DO YOU NEED ANY NURSING STAFF!!!!!!!!!!" Pretty much all we could do was give her a dumbfounded look and say "what?", so she yells again "DO YOU NEED NURSING STAFF!!!!!!!", so I smile and say, "yeah, if you're paying about $35 an hour I'll take the job" everyone busts out laughing and she's all confabulated and says, "wow this really looks serious, is anyone hurt bad", the chief replies "no, it's worse than it looks and everyone is out of the vehicles, could you please step out of the puddle of gas & anti-freeze or I'm going to have to have that guy over there with the hose wet you down so you don't catch on fire", she says, "well, I'm an RN & I can help", someone else speaks up & says "we have people that are actually trained in emergency medicine", she goes "oh, you do?, ok", and turns around and walks off. WOW!
I understand the need to want to help, been there, been doing that for a long time, but honsetly, holy cow, what the heck. What I've observed is: 1. If you have no idea what you're doing, never done it before, think ABC's are from Sesame Street, please, you're not much help. 2. If there is fire equipment/ambulances there, chances are the scene is under control & the patient(s) is/are in good hands, don't add to the mayhem. 3. Don't rush into something and become a victim yourself, and compound the situation, if you don't have proper PPE don't place yourself into a dangerous situation be it from BBP's, fire, cuts, hazardous materials, getting run over etc etc etc.....
Think before you act please, yes some situations warrant your assistance and others don't, use a little common sense & be safe!
BabyLady, BSN, RN
2,300 Posts
I'll be honest...I am seeing what the OP wrote in a very, very different light.
Cursing at people, making sarcastic remarks, and getting your EMT friends to laugh at another healthcare professional, doesn't really add anything to your profession but give it a bad name.
I can equally probably list quite a few horror stories of EMT's that thought they were physicians and seemed to move at a snail's pace when the situation was grave.
I used to have class with one, and the instructor barred him from bringing up his "scraping off the sidewalk" stories from class because they never contribute to the discussion. He eventually dropped and when I saw him outside of class and asked him why he dropped he said (while spitting tobacco into a cup), "I just don't need to take a step backwards in my career by being a nurse."
I'm not sure how things are in other parts of the country...but around here, unless you need to get cut out of a vehicle...they are not held in high regards.
I'm not saying that all EMT's are like that...but most of the ones that I have met, are pretty arrogant.