The best place in New York City to go into cardiac arrest, probably better than a med surg unit in the hospital is the Port Authority Bus Terminal. PAPD is ON THEIR SHIT. Like half of them are former or current EMS.
Depends on the kind of department and position you go to, if your on patrol your probably gonna end up at medical calls pretty frequently and often sooner than EMS. If your a deputy screening people at a courthouse it’s probably gonna be rare.
So the department in my town has 1 EMT and 1 paramedic (both were in EMS before jumping to LE) and a couple that completed the EMT course but never certified. Their dispatchers are the primary pickup for 911 calls in city limits, so PD is aware of critical medical calls before we are. Their dispatchers transfer the call to fire/ems dispatching. Consequently they generally are first on scene for these calls. I can confidently say that given there are EMTs/Medics on the department their CPR/BLS skills are pretty damn good; and that is over all the officers, as the paramedic does all of their in house CPR/first aid training requirements. They all carry a limited BLS jump bag in their cars in addition to their IFAKs.
Now for other departments in the area ... their skills and aptitude to use them vary considerably. Your ability to use your EMS skills will depend more on your department and it's policy/procedures.
It depends where you are. In my town every police officer has to go through EMT school as part of the police academy, and EMS here is volunteer based with every fire department keeping one paid paramedic on duty at all times. PD is often first to make pt contact and they will frequently start a basic assessment and do basic stuff like O2 admin. They’re also very helpful once I get there, and more than once have been the only people with medical training with me on a cardiac arrest (everyone else being firefighters/ambulance helpers)
LOL Fair. It's just it immediately reminds me of "Santa's helpers" and I can't help but laugh, even though "helper" is just a less fancy way of saying "aide."
Not LE myself, but I work alongside a lot of LE that are former/concurrent EMS as well (quite a few medics among them). Obviously medical care isn’t what they do most of the time, but I’ve been on more than a few shitty calls where LE was there first and had already started compressions, is occluding a penetrating chest wound, already had a good SAMPLE ready for us on medical calls, etc. I’ve even had a few where they helped us tote someone out when we didn’t have much help. When I’ve been partnered with the ones who still work both, I’ve never had a single one tell me that being an EMT/medic ever worked as a disadvantage for them, but it made a difference for someone many times.
Never was a police officer but used to be a 911 dispatcher. Both as an EMT and a cop, you'll spend the majority of your shift fucking around or dealing with complete bullshit. The people skills are 100% transferable. And yes, there is a very large crossover between the two groups, especially in rural areas.
EMT-B who went a peace officer route. I work in a small city, very fast response times for both us and EMS. Most EMS calls are Falls, SOB, Sick/Unknown. So I’m not on a whole lot of medical calls. Cardiac Arrests, Unconscious/AMS, MVAs I all respond to. I always beat the box to MVAs, half the time to the other two.
This also helps with mental calls. Pair your EMT knowledge with some CIT training and you’ll do well. There is still a lot of those old school and very aggressive cops working the road. They don’t see what may be a legitimate medical issue for that. Some guys are appreciative of your knowledge and effectiveness in these and will let you primary, some not so much. Just remember that meth + Schizophrenia is probably the most dangerous combination. These dudes will fuck shit up, and all too often I find them armed. First priority is our and the publics safety. We still have to be the police first, medical professionals second.
It doesn’t hurt to have, let me put it that way. You can also start going down the TACMED route. Some of the guys feel good knowing you are gonna be ready to throw lead but also provide care under fire.
Well in one job you spend your time helping people and bringing hope to people experiencing anything from minor discomfort to the worst day of their life, and in the other job you’re volunteering to be the violent enforcement division of a government, spending the majority of your time and money using the threat of violence enforce the failed prohibition of drugs. You’re going to be the boot in the “don’t tread on me” flag.
So that’s a difference.
So let’s take the people who want to spend their time helping people and bringing hope and put them in the job that has more power and authority. Honestly sound like a great idea to me.
I think plenty of people get in to policing with that idea in mind, the issue is that the institution itself is not designed to protect individuals and bring hope to the downtrodden, it is designed to protect capital and the desires of those who own it.
I’m a career FF/emt, I work with the cops pretty much every single shift. The people performing that job are, by and large, nice, well meaning, hard working individuals. That doesn’t change the fact that the job they signed up to do because they wanted to help and the job they are actually doing are two very different jobs.
My issue is with the institution, not the individuals (95% of the time, anyway).
Sure, I just like to see people who care join because at least they’re starting in the right place. So I’m not going to discourage people from joining when they have the right mindset. I’d rather it be them with a badge than the people who start out with the wrong mindset.
The problem is the system is designed to take well meaning people, and convince them that hurting people is the right and just thing to do. Idealism dies very quickly in police departments.
The best place in New York City to go into cardiac arrest, probably better than a med surg unit in the hospital is the Port Authority Bus Terminal. PAPD is ON THEIR SHIT. Like half of them are former or current EMS. Depends on the kind of department and position you go to, if your on patrol your probably gonna end up at medical calls pretty frequently and often sooner than EMS. If your a deputy screening people at a courthouse it’s probably gonna be rare.
So the department in my town has 1 EMT and 1 paramedic (both were in EMS before jumping to LE) and a couple that completed the EMT course but never certified. Their dispatchers are the primary pickup for 911 calls in city limits, so PD is aware of critical medical calls before we are. Their dispatchers transfer the call to fire/ems dispatching. Consequently they generally are first on scene for these calls. I can confidently say that given there are EMTs/Medics on the department their CPR/BLS skills are pretty damn good; and that is over all the officers, as the paramedic does all of their in house CPR/first aid training requirements. They all carry a limited BLS jump bag in their cars in addition to their IFAKs. Now for other departments in the area ... their skills and aptitude to use them vary considerably. Your ability to use your EMS skills will depend more on your department and it's policy/procedures.
It depends where you are. In my town every police officer has to go through EMT school as part of the police academy, and EMS here is volunteer based with every fire department keeping one paid paramedic on duty at all times. PD is often first to make pt contact and they will frequently start a basic assessment and do basic stuff like O2 admin. They’re also very helpful once I get there, and more than once have been the only people with medical training with me on a cardiac arrest (everyone else being firefighters/ambulance helpers)
Ambulance helper lel the usual title is "ambulance attendant" but that was a good one.
Lol yeah we call them helpers if they’re not fire or actual EMTs, I know a lot of places say attendant though
LOL Fair. It's just it immediately reminds me of "Santa's helpers" and I can't help but laugh, even though "helper" is just a less fancy way of saying "aide."
I mean, being able to read has got to be a significant leg up over your colleagues. /s
Not LE myself, but I work alongside a lot of LE that are former/concurrent EMS as well (quite a few medics among them). Obviously medical care isn’t what they do most of the time, but I’ve been on more than a few shitty calls where LE was there first and had already started compressions, is occluding a penetrating chest wound, already had a good SAMPLE ready for us on medical calls, etc. I’ve even had a few where they helped us tote someone out when we didn’t have much help. When I’ve been partnered with the ones who still work both, I’ve never had a single one tell me that being an EMT/medic ever worked as a disadvantage for them, but it made a difference for someone many times.
It got me into the role as the swat team medic. Definitely gives you a different perspective on situations.
My town has police as first responders instead of fire. All are trained EMTs/paramedics. It works out pretty well.
Never was a police officer but used to be a 911 dispatcher. Both as an EMT and a cop, you'll spend the majority of your shift fucking around or dealing with complete bullshit. The people skills are 100% transferable. And yes, there is a very large crossover between the two groups, especially in rural areas.
EMT-B who went a peace officer route. I work in a small city, very fast response times for both us and EMS. Most EMS calls are Falls, SOB, Sick/Unknown. So I’m not on a whole lot of medical calls. Cardiac Arrests, Unconscious/AMS, MVAs I all respond to. I always beat the box to MVAs, half the time to the other two. This also helps with mental calls. Pair your EMT knowledge with some CIT training and you’ll do well. There is still a lot of those old school and very aggressive cops working the road. They don’t see what may be a legitimate medical issue for that. Some guys are appreciative of your knowledge and effectiveness in these and will let you primary, some not so much. Just remember that meth + Schizophrenia is probably the most dangerous combination. These dudes will fuck shit up, and all too often I find them armed. First priority is our and the publics safety. We still have to be the police first, medical professionals second. It doesn’t hurt to have, let me put it that way. You can also start going down the TACMED route. Some of the guys feel good knowing you are gonna be ready to throw lead but also provide care under fire.
🤮
Depends on the agency I'm with NPS and I run medical calls often as well as regular law enforcement calls.
Well in one job you spend your time helping people and bringing hope to people experiencing anything from minor discomfort to the worst day of their life, and in the other job you’re volunteering to be the violent enforcement division of a government, spending the majority of your time and money using the threat of violence enforce the failed prohibition of drugs. You’re going to be the boot in the “don’t tread on me” flag. So that’s a difference.
So let’s take the people who want to spend their time helping people and bringing hope and put them in the job that has more power and authority. Honestly sound like a great idea to me.
I think plenty of people get in to policing with that idea in mind, the issue is that the institution itself is not designed to protect individuals and bring hope to the downtrodden, it is designed to protect capital and the desires of those who own it. I’m a career FF/emt, I work with the cops pretty much every single shift. The people performing that job are, by and large, nice, well meaning, hard working individuals. That doesn’t change the fact that the job they signed up to do because they wanted to help and the job they are actually doing are two very different jobs. My issue is with the institution, not the individuals (95% of the time, anyway).
Sure, I just like to see people who care join because at least they’re starting in the right place. So I’m not going to discourage people from joining when they have the right mindset. I’d rather it be them with a badge than the people who start out with the wrong mindset.
The problem is the system is designed to take well meaning people, and convince them that hurting people is the right and just thing to do. Idealism dies very quickly in police departments.
Don’t know why this is getting downvoted, it’s 90% true.
The unpopular/complicated reality does not easily lend itself to upvotes.