Turn to the Dark Side PtII

Angry post warning.

I’ve already spoken about ambulance crews’ dark humour and other coping strategies that they use. I mentioned how “normal” members of the public often don’t get it. Recently I was horrified to read an article relating to this.

It revolved around a message sent to ambulance crews, in their ambulances, telling them to “Please be mindful when outside A+E of how the public view your actions. Eg. Being on mobile phones/Snapchat or taking refreshments.”

Firstly, what narrow minded, uninformed person actually sent that message? Any member of any ambulance service should know what their staff go through. To send something like that to crews, while they are still on duty, is utterly thoughtless!

Secondly, the message began “Following a complaint from a member of the public…”. Whoever took that complaint should have put that member of public straight and explained what the crews actually go through on a daily basis and ended things there. It should never have made it past that first person.

There are blinkered people out there who think ambulance crews should go round expressionless and unemotional. Unfortunately robotics hasn’t progressed that far yet so the job is still done by humans, with emotions, and coping strategies.

Sometimes, after certain jobs, they just need to chat with a friend or a loved one, outside A&E, on their phones. Sometimes one of the few chances they get to drink coffee etc is after a job, outside A&E. Normally because they are so busy serving members of the public. They might even have been on their phone to a counsellor after a particularly traumatic incident.

Please don’t ever judge crews for being human. That “member of the public” probably had no idea what the crews they were complaining about had just dealt with. Maybe they actually just needed a break and a brew, perhaps they were taking the chance, between jobs, to check in with their loved ones they’d not seen for a long time because they’d been doing long shifts.

I hope the person who actually sent that message was suitably dealt with.

Finally, if you think I’m wrong, and if you think crews should behave differently, most ambulance services are usually recruiting – why not put yourself in their shoes and see if you are right.