Hello EMTs and future EMTs. Are you staying safe out there on the field?
Things are absolutely wild these days— from enraged, unreasonable family members cussing out EMTs on the field to getting swung at by delirious patients— that’s why I’m here to talk about deescalation methods to secure into your EMS knowledge arsenal. Are you ready to learn some ways to protect yourself everyday?
These tips and tricks will definitely come in handy and it’s always best to be prepared before conflict arises.
Laugh it off and agree.
Patients won’t always say the nicest stuff to you. Sometimes they’ll say offensive things and all women EMTs can agree— they have gotten an inappropriate comment from someone they were only trying to help. So, how do you deal? Laugh it off and agree. Deescalate what their saying with a joke. What they’re saying shouldn’t matter as to how they are feeling. You’ll have to face drunk dazed-out patients and oftentimes many will come with their mental health struggles. Give them the benefit of the doubt first before taking their words to heart.
Kindly ask for cooperation.
If there’s a family member who is being disruptive, inappropriate, or only growing the tension in the room— kindly ask them to be patient, that you’re trying to do the best you can at the moment. Don’t be afraid to make requests from them; you’re the one with the uniform and if their presence is contributing to the emergency, you can ask that they give you space to focus on the patient.
Be flexible and willing to try things differently.
You and your partner won’t see eye to eye on everything. When you can, be flexible, willing to listen to their suggestions without saying “but actually…”. People appreciate those who can be flexible; they see them as better teammates then the egocentric me,me,me types.
Thanks for reading! Go be great EMTs.
Amanda