Number One

This is blog is to simply VENT and maybe educate a few people out there about what exactly an ER tech does. This is what I see as a very experienced  and somewhat jaded, cynical I admit i.e. "Crusty" ER tech. An ER tech for those of you out there who do not know is an Emergency Room Technician. There are several other "official" names as well.  ED tech, PCT or just plain old Tech.

I make no bones about it ER techs are flunkies looked down upon by the nursing staff, doctors and admin types. ER techs are just one step above the housekeeping staff but not quite as special as they are. Honestly we are just glorified CNA's and I gotta tell ya that ain't saying much. Now I acknowledge there are many doctors and nurses and hospital staff out there who do not kick the poor old ER tech but ya gotta admit the bad memories and experiences out weigh the good ones.

Ok....ok I see you back there and you're all furiously waving your hand. You want to be an ER tech and stumbled across this here blog and wanna know how to break into this profession. Easy, go to EMT school and get your cert then apply to a hospital and eventually you get in. My route to this job (occasional minor circle of hell) was probably the most common one. I got my cert then worked the ambulance for a couple or few years. I liked the ambulance but I got to where I disliked the horrible shifts often terrible weather and being posted any where in the city I worked often cramped in an ambulance for hours at a time with a partner I barely knew. I got tired of the rain and snow blowing in my face during MVA calls plus I got to the point where I wanted to learn. I saw that often I was running the same call over and over again with very few of the "good" calls coming to my ambulance. I figured probably like every other ER tech the hospital was the place to be.

I was right the first year of being an ER tech was great I learned all sorts of cool shit. I got to work serious trauma and serious medical. I was even told by a supervisor in my first review that I should be a nurse. I got slaps on the backs from the docs accolades from fantastic veteran nurses, all was great in the world of the young crusty ER tech.

Then reality set in.

I have to admit I really never had a problem with patients. Yes, there are some real scum bags out there and I'll talk about them here. I learned to tolerate the behavior to a degree, our patients have problems they come to us to fix them, that's our job. We are seeing these patients and their families in the worst times of their lives. Sometimes with the drug seeker or chronic visiting patient there is much anger towards them by people in my field, to that I say it's part of the job. You get over it and learn to deal with it. Either that or you'll be out raged everyday you work and that takes away from the patients who do need our help. What I could not tolerate and still cannot to this day well over a decade later is how my present and past co-workers treat the lowly ER tech from day to day. ER techs are the people who do a majority of the dirty work in the ER. for example

-Need to have a dirty homeless urine soaked patient cleaned up even though you're surfing the internet, send in the ER tech. tell the tech you are "charting" and having a hard time with the system.

-Can't find shit in your assigned rooms because you were too busy gossiping at the beginning of shift to stock your area? Yell at and humiliate the tech at the nurses station on your way out to smoke. Because that tech was busy going into the bowels of the hospital to get O2 and you saw them in your room putting O2 on the beds in your rooms and since they're in there they SHOULD stock your rooms right?

-Missed something on an assessment on a patient and need someone to blame? Blame the tech they were the ones who checked on the patient 2 hours ago and told you something was wrong while you were cooing over wedding dresses in the break room.

-Need a room cleaned and the housekeeping staff is on break or got smart and quit on the spot after being screamed at, get the tech to do it because you cannot be bothered because it's some other nurses birthday and you want a piece of cake before it's gone.

-Have a violent patient and you need back up? Send the male tech in to "talk" with this violent patient first. But first forget to tell this tech that the patient is violent and tell the tech they just need to go into that room and put a gown on the patient and draw blood and get urine if they can because you are swamped with medicating another patient which is actually a lie, you actually get a lunch break and you're gonna eat in your car.

-Need an IV started and cannot be bothered because you are playing angry birds and just unlocked a new screen try to pull the tech out of the trauma they are working. They're only operating the level 1 infusor ANYONE can do that, and get them to start your IV.

-Need a foley put in? Tell the tech in resuscitation room while they are doing chest compressions on a "code blue" then get all hurt, grumpy and vow to write them up when they tell you that at the moment they're busy.

-Hungry and you're really into reading your magazine? Page the tech over head repeatedly and ask nicely for them to go to the convince store and buy you a bag of cheese puffs because they do not have your brand in the vending machine. Then get upset with them when they bring back to wrong brand because it was the only brand there and tell the ER manager you saw the tech leave hospital property on the clock.

I know some of you are saying I'm making this shit up or that I am blowing things out of proportion. To that I say it's all about perception. Perhaps you are reading this and fuming "The nerve...this is horse shit..ER techs are lazy especially the experienced ones." To that I admit guilt from time to time. See being the hard working tech gets you one thing. More and more work which gets you more and more abuse and more and more blame for the short comings of a few shit heel nurse types. After awhile you get tired of it and just want to make it through the shift with the least amount of drama. I'll happily take flak for being accused of being lazy if it saves me from being accused of something I had no hand in.

I don't hate nurses, I'm gonna be a nurse sometime in my future (edit...not so fast perhaps I'll learn a trade like being a machinist that way I'll never have to touch another persons shit). Nor am I am misogynist. Hospitals are mostly staffed and run by female nurses so it figures that most of the abuse would come from them. Nurses for the most part get most of the blame here but brother let me tell you docs and males share the blame as well. I'll even include in here all services of the hospital from know it all CAT scan techs to the scared and confused phlebotomist. Then there are the oh so observant knowledgeable ward clerks who have never done any patient care but know exactly how to do your job. The reluctant paramedic who is only a paramedic because his fire service REQUIRES that he be a paramedic to be a fireman. My own kind share the blame as well. I'll tell the stories of the shadow tech and the ghost tech. I'll regale you with tales of idiot tech, excitement tech, cutesy tech and how these personality types are in nearly every emergency room.

Simply this is to vent not only about the job and the often ignored lowly ED tech but to point the finger at somethings I see wrong with the healthcare system from the eyes of the cynical and crusty ER tech. I do reserve the right to censor and delete any comments I deem as hateful or skewed. I'll delete and ban I don't care. For the ER tech that stumbles across this this is OUR area if you got a story or wanna vent send it to me and if it's good enough I'll post it here. I just ask you leave OUT all pertinent patient info and leave OUT the location of the hospital you work in. As I have learned in my career, location of some of these wild stories does not matter cause this shit happens everywhere.

I do give credit to Crusty Ambulance Driver, if not for the insight of his now finished blog I would have never started this one. Although I do not share many of his views I do understand the frustration CAD felt in his day to day existence. Stay tuned and check back early and often.