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Sociological Issues in EMS

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is one of the most difficult positions within the medical community. Many EMS workers receive no pay and, yet, must be highly trained and work long hours. The competence of EMS crews often make the difference between the life or death of a patient. Stress levels are high and the turnover rate is even higher. The increasing importance of EMS in the medical community has given rise to many centrally important sociological issues.

  1. Personnel

    • The main problem for EMS today is the lack of interested personnel and the high rate of turnover for EMS workers. Rural EMS workers only rarely receive pay. Yet, for EMS to work to its full capacity, the retention of skilled employees and volunteers is essential. The fact remains that the lack of investment in EMT pay and benefits has depressed the number of workers interested in this sort of training. Sociologically, the public health of a society can be seriously harmed if this particular problem is not addressed. The main problem is that EMS work is high stress, and there is little pay or reward involved.

    Patients

    • One of the great stresses of an EMS job is dealing with patients who are violent, uncooperative or infectious. This is a major cause of EMS burnout. The sociological issue here is to what extent are EMT workers obligated to work with these people? There is only so much time to explain the major issues to a patient in an emergency setting. There is also no obligation for EMS workers to engage in situations where they feel threatened. To lessen the stress and burnout of EMS workers, society as a whole should give EMS the benefit of the doubt when dealing with uncooperative patients.

    Nonresuscitation

    • The question of nonresuscitation is both an ethical and sociological problem. EMS guidelines state that patient autonomy is to be respected above all, with the caveat that the patient must be mentally competent at the time of the emergency. There is no time for detailed discussion in an emergency situation. EMS workers generally ignore the verbal statements of relatives. Only those with the power of attorney can make this decision.

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