Bias in EMS? There’s no such thing.

I was reading the national news, as any good paramedic does on a daily basis, when I encountered this AP News article here.

An ambulance is called to the scene of a police shooting. The patient they were called for has been shot in the torso by police. Upon arrival, another police officer reports trouble breathing and she’s covered in blood. There’s no reported injuries from her and she states that she is feeling better. So, which do you transport? The penetrating gunshot to the trunk or the resolving anxiety attack?

That’s right.

The anxiety attack.

Police officers are the most true heroes of first responders, even more so than paramedics. And definitely more so than firefighters. And 200% more so than EMT-Basics. Think about it. Who do we call for help when we need it most? That’s right. Police. They’re the 911 for 911.

So it only makes sense that we honor our brothers in blue by placing their needs above the needs of others, including gunshot victims. I know that sounds extreme, but truth is often the most extreme to those blinded by propaganda. Besides, there’s nothing we as paramedics can do for a gunshot patient anyway. You might as well throw them in the hosebed of a fire engine and make them transport while we deal with actual, real patients.

In the end, I applaud this ambulance crew for making the correct decision in a stressful situation. Where others may crews may have fallen to peer pressure and transported the gunshot patient first, this crew stood their ground in the face of the hive mind and made the correct call. For that, you get Paragoddess Amber’s star of the week!