Hi Andy,

Thank you for the kind words , I always try to act professionally and do whatever is in the best interest of the patient (I also think it is critical to treat family members of the patient with the same respect). I became an EMT-A in 1975 (EMT-A doesn’t even exist any more) and an ALS provider in 1994, so I have been around and witnessed both good and poor patient interaction. I had many excellent instructors over the years and the best ones always stressed the following motto: Be Nice, Always Do the Right Thing, Always do what is Best for the Patient, and when you make a mistake, tell someone .

Unfortunately you will need to look for another provider , as is highly likely I will be relinquishing my Paramedic license (EMT-P) next year and downgrade to an EMT-B. The increasing recertification requirements in not only EMS, but on the Fire/Rescue side is forcing me to make some hard choices, but feel the time has come to relinquish my license. Since our team in involved in several technical rescue disciplines, maintaining proficiency in each while balancing work and family has become too much of challenge to do it all. Our Technical Rescue Team membership is 100% volunteer and since our community has gone from 100% volunteer ALS providers to 99% career ALS providers, the need to maintain my Paramedic license is not critical.

Pete