A message to the public: 20 reasons...from a paramedic.
- to everyone slagging off the TikTok videos we do, bollocks. We are human, we have feelings and we get scared and upset too, the silly videos are morale boosting and team building, a crucial aspect when treating your loved ones in their time of need, without a way of letting off steam we would break, then who would care for your nearest and dearest?
- We are not immune and are still at risk, yet we risk ourselves coming to treat you, paramedics get sick, paramedics die, and all to treat you, so please, don’t take the piss.
- The freebies and incentives we get are ways to make us appreciated, it makes a change from being punched on a job or spat at, so just let us enjoy them.
- We are not part of some government conspiracy theory. We are not selecting who gets sick, neither do we want to implant you for control. If we were going to be selective, we certainly wouldn’t be choosing ‘Karen or Susan , who attended the school of life’ and got her medical knowledge from fb. (Sorry Karen/Susan)
- If you’ve called because you think you’ve got covid, chances are you probably have, as everyone is suspected now, there is always a transmission path, however; it doesn’t mean your going to die.
- Please look after yourself! If you can google an array of other symptoms and watch the death toll avidly on a variety of sources I’m sure you can figure out to take paracetamol for a temperature, drink fluids, take immodium for diarrhoea, and rest. You don’t need us to tell you that.
- We don’t do ‘check overs’. That’s what your gp does. We offer life saving treatment in situations beyond your control. Please choose wisely.
- We don’t have amazing PPE, we have what the PHE has told us to wear, and be that right or wrong it’s all we’ve got. The same as nurses, gp’s, carers, porters, Dom staff and other key workers. Please don’t think we’re ‘ok’.
- We like the clapping. It makes us emotional, even the hard faced staff, makes us feel proud to do our job, and yes, we probably are stood close to each other outside a hospital, but we also are inside when performing cpr and airway resuscitation, remember that when you have a moan that we don’t adhere to social distancing.
10. We are separated from our families too, just like you are, we miss our mums, dads, our sisters and brothers, our nieces and nephews, even our children, and we HATE it. But we do it to protect them. It’s not about us.
11. We are bored in lockdown too, on our few days off, we spend so much time seeing Poorly people, coming home to the same 4 walls it is driving us crazy, but we do it, to protect you. Please do the same, otherwise you will be doing it for longer.
12. We get angry at the news, at politicians, and at social unrest, however we keep our lips sealed, as much as we want to shout like you do, but we don’t, as when we see you, our issue at that moment in time, is reassuring you and helping you.
13. We are proud of the people who listen to advice, don’t break the rules, we thank you, and every Thursday, we clap for you too.
14. We don’t test for covid, shit, some of us aren’t even tested! Please stop asking us, that includes asking ‘if we think you’ve got it’ without a swab, we are clueless.
15. Enjoy the time with your family, we wish we could, everyday we go to work it makes us sad to be away from them, so make the most of it, have fun doing home school, but if you miss a day, who cares?! It’s the memories that count.
16. Please stop calling us ambulance drivers. It really does make us rage. We actually went to uni, have a degree, and some even more than that. Also, yes, women drive too.
17. If you think you need to be in hospital but we don’t, we will try to help as much as we can, however don’t be surprised if we don’t take you. Hospitals are a risky place at the minute, and we are trying to help you by not taking you.
18. Please stop wearing a mask when your in the car on your own. You look a right berk and can’t catch it if no one is there.
19. To the elderly: you break our hearts at the minute, it’s a scary place right now, and seeing us tower over you in masks, taking you away from what you know upsets us too, we just want to say sorry.
20. (Most of us) love our job. Please don’t make us hate it, by going against the rules and common sense, we are working to help you. Every patient that is sick, every patient who splatters us in sick,blood and poo, and every patient who puts us at risk, we are still there, if you need us don’t be sorry, medical care is what we do. But please, from all of us, stay indoors, wash your hands, and keep clapping