Not a current thinker and proud

I've never responded to a statistic.

I've never been called to help a recent study get up off the floor.

I've never been there to calm the family of dying data.

I respond the needs of my community, the needs of people. And so should you. 

Apparently, I'm not a current thinker in emergency medical services. I was told that recently. I was also told that paramedics of my generation aren't relevant because we don't see the bigger EMS picture. We're not in tune with the what is happening in the big cities...what the real EMS systems are doing.

That's crap.

In recent conversation the topic has come up again and again about how large multi-center..."studies show"..."data indicates"..."statistics prove"...the list goes on. What so called current thinkers in EMS are saying when they use these terms is that we would rather let other people think for us rather than think for ourselves.

Don't get me wrong; studies, data, and statistics are important information for us in public service if the information is used correctly. In my opinion, correctly is defined as taking the information presented and applying a healthy dose of critical thinking to it. Decide what (if any) of it actually applies to your location.

Studies done in big cities or multi-center research is great...great for the area that conducted the study.

But we're not here to meet the needs of a "study". We're here to meet the needs of our communities. Only the people who serve that community, those who truly know that community are in a position to decide how to best serve it and meet its needs.

Applying the results of a big city study to your hometown blindly without critical thinking forces your service into a cookie cutter formation that just might not meet the needs of your community.

I found it on the internet...so, it must be true. I read about it in a big city study...so, we'll be cool if we do it too.

Have we gotten lazy de-evolved to the point where we want others to think for us? To tell us what is best for our community? I think so. But, then again, I'm not a current thinker in EMS.

Not a current thinker and proud.

I'd rather read the 'data' and consider the use and impact to my community, to my personnel, to my region before implementing unrealistic changes.

So, go on and implement change based on what works well for Dallas, L.A., D.C., NYC. Chances are you current thinkers won't notice anyway. They've stopped thinking.