Yep.

I was recently asked if I follow a certain page on social media. I won’t mention it by name; in reality, it could be any of the many, many pages associated with emergency services.  I see memes and rants from these pages shared many times over; sometimes I chuckle, but most of the time I cringe. Though the administrators and followers of said pages might say “lighten up, Francis”, moreover I see a terrible representation of a noble profession.

Then I came across this article by Jeffrey Bilyk, shared to Facebook and originally posted via LinkedIn. Titled “The curious case of the blue pill”, I found myself nodding frequently as I perused the missive. Then I got to this paragraph, and I quote:

“So the reality we are faced with is that many calls today will involve some basic care, maybe some medications to treat symptoms, and a helping hand. But that doesn’t mean any patient should be treated any less or we try to determine whether or not this patient is ‘deserving’ of our training, education, and skillset. Open up any type of social media, especially Facebook and go to any EMS related page. The predominant theme you’ll find on it nowadays is that its cool to be ‘burnt out’ or ‘salty’, and that this determines ones worth. Mark my words this will be industries downfall.”

Yep. My feelings exactly.

So I’m going to do something a little different. I want you to read this missive for yourself. It won’t take long; maybe you’ll agree with Jeffrey, maybe you won’t. I’m not trying to create (another) division among our ranks. But I hope that maybe, just maybe, you’ll reconsider how your attitude contributes to the advancement (or regression) of us all.

You can find “The curious case of the blue pill” by Jeffrey Bilyk here.