I read a post from Voodoo Medicine Man about the assault of a Paramedic that had occurred in Oklahoma. He pointed out the fact that the image reminded him of the black and white photos from the Civil Rights Movement. During that time period, we were a nation deeply divided by the color of our skin.

It is well known that we are a divided profession. For whatever reason we can’t find enough commonality in our end goal, the caring of the sick and injured, to get beyond the difference of whether we work for a municipality, fire based service, or private; for a volunteer or a paid service; as an EMT Basic, an EMT Intermediate, or a Paramedic. Yet I noticed something while reading different blog posts, news stories, and e-mails about the incident that occurred that day.

There was more than one EMT and/or Paramedic who laid equal blame on Paramedic White for not being “big enough” to “de-escalate” the situation and for potentially “abandoning” his patient. Rogue Medic does an excellent job at dispelling the abandonment myth.

Now had a Trooper been caught assaulting a Firefighter during a fire, that Firefighter’s “brothers” would be standing by their man unequivocally in full force. If a Paramedic had been caught assaulting a Trooper during a drug arrest or traffic stop, that Trooper’s “brothers” would be forming the blue shield around their man as well. A Trooper gets caught assaulting a Paramedic during a transport, that Paramedic’s “brothers” vocalize disdain for the Trooper and throw their fellow paramedic under a bus for not complying with the Trooper or for stepping out of the rear of the ambulance at the Trooper’s direction. Either way, that Paramedic has NOT received the support from his “brothers” that other professionals in public safety enjoy.

We are not a profession divided.

We are a profession fractured.

Acutely.

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