Life in EMS

   When you work for a private company in EMS, you do a lot more transfers than you do emergency calls.  I get, really I do, transfers are the money makers for and private EMS company.  Unfortunately, all the time and money you spend on becoming an EMT or a Paramedic, can feel like a waste of time.  One thing people need to understand about transfers, is most of them are dialysis transports.  We pick patients up and take them to and from dialysis.  It’s not a bad gig.  Most of our patients are pleasant enough.  What I do not like is when people start calling our dialysis transports “Slinging kidneys” or “Glorified taxi sponsored by Medicare”.   One statement rings true, healthy people do not need dialysis.  One thing you should always consider is that it is usually several health problems that led to end stage renal disease.  Uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and polycystic kidney diseases are the top risk factors.  It really makes me upset to see a coworker that is riding in the back with our patient and not even talk to them.  They don’t do a full set of vitals, that is required on every patient.  Instead, they will seat in the captain’s chair behind the patient and play on their phone.  They won’t even engage the patient in conversation.  By doing a simple set of vitals, you can tell if anything is out of the norm for that patient.  I always keep a notebook with every dialysis patients trending vitals that I transport.  It’s an easy way to see if there is a red flag on that patient.  The last thing a dialysis patient will do, is tell you if something is wrong.  They already spend a lot of time in and out of the hospital and having to go to frequent doctor appointments.  And if you get a patient that does complain that something is wrong, take it seriously.  Check them out.  Do a set of vitals.  Measure their blood sugar, check their pulse and take a manual blood pressure at least.  Notify staff at the dialysis center, family or the healthcare facility that the patient resides at that there is something wrong.  You can make a difference, but only if you do your job.  It’s not a hard concept at all.  You would think it would be easy, but some people only care about a paycheck and not the patients.  That is a horrible, but true statement.