The Probie: Welcoming the Next Twink Dalton

“EMS Reruns” is an advice column designed to address dilemmas you may have experienced in EMS that you did not know how to handle. But it offers you a luxury you don’t have on scene: plenty of time to think. If you think of an example like the one that follows, send it to us. If we choose to publish your dilemma, we’ll pay you $50. We don’t know everything, but we do know a lot of smart people. If we need to, we’ll contact just the right experts and share their advice with you. Send ideas c/o emseditor@aol.com.

You and your partner are in your station’s dining room swapping noisy stories with two other crews, and you’re doing more than your share of the laughing when you spot the newcomer, fidgeting in the doorway.

Your first glance takes in all of the details that identify her with perfect accuracy. That new white shirt, the creased dock pants, the untried stethoscope in her hand, the perfect name tag and polished leather and, more than anything, her tentative entrance all add up to tell any EMSer who she is: a probie. Marty’s a paramedic on another car that shares your start time, and you’re pretty sure he’s supposed to precept her. You elbow him and motion toward the newbie with your eyes. Marty looks in her direction, then shrugs his shoulders and rejoins the banter as though she had never appeared.

Q. Considering that you’re not the newcomer’s preceptor, what can you do to make her first-day memories good ones?

A. Good or bad, the details of our first days in EMS stay with us for life. Some of us remember feeling welcome. For others, that first shift was a dismal experience of being ignored or treated like an earthworm. Whichever kind of first day you had, recall it now and turn its lessons into something great for this newcomer. Walk up to her and ask for her name. Introduce yourself and everyone else in the room. Offer her some coffee. Show her around the station, and welcome her to her new EMS workplace.

Q. Isn’t it better for this new person to start out at the bottom of the ladder, and earn her place in EMS?

A. Not better if you’re convincing her she’s not wanted or scaring her away. (Where did that ladder come from, anyway? It certainly never made anybody a better EMT or a smarter firefighter.) Many of us like to think of EMS as a family, and each new member as a source of talent. Even great EMSers like Twink Dalton, Mike Taigman and Baxter Larmon (fill in your other favorites) were probies once, showing up for duty on their first day. If you don’t know those names, you’ll have to take it from me—big chunks of what’s good about us would be missing today if they had never felt welcome to share their great gifts with us.

Q. What about Marty? This is his probie. Won’t he get cranky if you take over his role as a preceptor?

A. No two people are the same, so he might. But try to put yourself in the newcomer’s shoes. By showing up today, she’s offering her skills, knowledge, experience and natural abilities. And chances are, she’s quaking in those new boots. If she were a patient, you wouldn’t want her to feel that way. And she’s a whole lot more than a patient. She’s family.

Maybe Marty’s having a bad day, and maybe he needs a break. Even the best field preceptors get tired sometimes, when they get too many interns in a row. If Marty screwed up on a call, you would step in for him. So, doing that for him now is no different. It’s what families do. And, it’s a polite way to remind him that his professional etiquette isn’t quite up to his usual standards.

Marty continues to ignore the probie, and remains engaged in the conversation at the table. You check the schedule, and she’s definitely assigned as a third person on his crew. You’ve been assigned a cover move, so you don’t have all day to meddle with these two.

Q. How far should you take your concern for this newcomer?

A. Give it one more shot. Ask Marty if she can ride with you instead of him, as though you’re requesting a favor. If he says yes, ask him to make the schedule change and instruct her to hop on your unit. If he says no, let it drop. Right or wrong, Marty may have a reason for acting the way he is. You can check back with the newcomer later in the day, or at the end of her shift, and see how things are going. Remember, she’s going to encounter lots of EMTs today, not just you and Marty. What if every one of them makes her feel as welcome as you did?