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It's inevitable. Due to the nature of our business and the personalities that flock by the droves to the public safety calling be it Fire, EMS or Law enforcement, there will always be differences of opinion. Many of these have incited some major "urination competitions" between folks that result in anything ranging from "let's drop it it's not really all that important" to full scale character assassinations and other wasteful events that serve to cloud reality and take up our time that would be better spent working together to make sure we all go home at the end of the shift or that the people we are sworn to serve get the best service, care, and protection possible. We all come to the table with our own past experiences good and bad, different levels of knowledge and skills and of course those wonderful type "A" personalities that a good majority of us out there possess, including me.
I think we could all agree to some extent that a fire, or a patient doesn't always read the book so there will always have to be some poetic license out there to enable us to adjust our strategies so that whatever we are called to might be mitigated in the safest most efficient way possible. There will always be some basic principles out there that need to be followed to keep ourselves safe and to ensure proper handling of an incident or a patient, that's a given. Environment, circumstances, and good old Murphy's Law get thrown in to make it "interesting". As we go on in our careers both paid and volunteer, we will form opinions because of all the wonderful and interesting calls we have had the privilege or in some cases the rotten luck to be involved in. The trick is to remember that everyone comes to the table with lots of similar situations, some unique ones, all melded by varying circumstances that made them what they are. We need to keep an open mind and let us all listen to these opinions since we really need to continually learn in this business and the day that we stop listening to new ideas or opinions (good or bad, in your opinion) in an effort to better understand those we work with and the calls that we go on will be the day that we become dangerous. Granted there are those out there whose opinions might be ludicrous, misguided and even dangerous themselves but instead of slamming these folks or ignoring them we should try to further understand why they think the way they do and offer alternative sound opinions or direction backed by proven practices or examples to help get them at least on the same track as the group as a whole.
We all have SOGS, SOPS, Standing orders, protocols, etc. Even though you might disagree with some of them they are there for a reason. These items will always be works in progress since as time goes on and communities grow, better ways to skin the proverbial cat are developed, or as we see in the EMS side of things, what we did for the patient during the past ten years actually killed people rather than save them. The "rules" will have to be modified to compensate for these changes. If you have an opinion for change in SOPS get positive about it, get some documentation to back it up and present it in a positive fashion that's a good start. Remember that humans don't like change and when it comes to public safety the motto for many communities is "Years of Tradition Unhindered By Progress" Be open minded, patient and work together to initiate progress, or help educate those that hold on to the old ways, but remember that some of the "old ways" can have relevance so be a listener too, you just might learn something!
I moved across the planet 6 years ago from Rhode Island to Alaska. I had some deep set opinions on EMS and Fire since spending 14 years out of 20 in the business in one area.
When I got off the plane and on the street (or helicopter, or dogsled, snowmobile, boat etc.) boy were some of my opinions shot to you know where. My eyes were opened and I realized that the way we do business varies greatly from place to place. However the basics initially remain the same. Instead of going around touting "Well that's the way we did it in Rhode Island" I took a hard look at the special circumstances of working in Alaska and learned why they did things the way they did. I also brought some good ideas to the table from my experiences that could be used where they were applicable, the key word being applicable. Presently I am part of a system that provides Fire and EMS to an area the size of West Virginia. Within the area conditions range from suburban areas with highways to bush communities with no or a limited road system, to mountain ranges, tundra, glaciers, you name it, except tropical rain forests and deserts. I really had to step out of the box to see that "Salty we are not in Rhode Island anymore" and the golden hour for EMS is rarity and that wading through waste deep snow is going to be pretty normal to get to the fire before you can actually do anything about it. Definitely some opinion modification there for me since I rarely encountered these circumstances in a place where it takes 25 minutes to drive across the entire state and the climate is much kinder. Those were just a couple of the new issues I was faced with and how I needed to modify my techniques in order to function within the system. I was asked for my opinion quite often and I gave it in a positive manner. It's helped me and my coworkers adapt to each other and see where we all were coming from. I have learned much since moving out here and I have passed on many of my east coast experiences to those I work with. In the end the goal is to use this information to work better as a team and not to prove who's right or who's wrong. After all don't we deal and worry more about the consequences of our actions more than the validity of them being right or wrong.
Well that's my opinion…. And you know what those are like…. Everybody's got one.
Steve Lopes- CCEMT-P, FF-1
EMS Trainer / Firefighter
Mat-Su Borough Dept. of Public Safety
Wasilla Alaska