n of their patient, the other patients at the scene, and their co-workers. Things are beginning to return to the calmness that exists between calls. Having been exposed to a typical accident scene that most emergency medical personnel are used to working can be somewhat shocking. There are many questions, which arise after working a call like that just described. The one I would like to focus on is what were the names of the EMTs and Paramedics involved in the accident scene depicted? Jeff, Will, and John? Or could they possibly have been Charlene, Lee, and Tracy? Even in today’s world of political correctness, there is still a very large gender bias when it comes to certain things, such as Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The number of men in the field is much higher than the number of women. Women, for the most part, are looked at as not being as capable of performing what is required of an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) or a Paramedic as men are. EMTs and Paramedics are required to make split second, possibly life saving decisions, lift large amounts of weight, and work long hours in all conditions. Since most women are physically smaller than most men are, they are viewed as not being strong enough to lift patients or equipment in many situations. A personal example that proves this point happened to me one night while working my usual ambulance shift. My partner and I were called to help the paramedics treat a patient who had fallen down the stairs. Since the man had hit his head in his fall, we immobilized his head, neck, and back by strapping him to a board which was the same length as his body. The patient in this case was a fairly large man weighing probably around 350 pounds. I am female. My partner was a man, as were both paramedics. When the time came to lift the patient on the board from the ground to the stretcher, then into the truck, I, being a team player, grabbed a corner of the board t...
