Teamwork and Focus

It is well known that the actions of an individual not only impact that person, but can also impact the entire team. This applies to EMS. The ability to work with various team members is critical in promoting success on projects or running calls.

Marti has been involved in EMS for 4 years. She is an EMT-Intermediate and is considered to be a great partner and valuable leader on any call. Marti and her EMT partner, Simon, respond to the scene of an overdose. While responding to the call, they are notified that there are "numerous patients" and it is suspected that a bad batch of drugs is involved.

Marti and Simon arrive on scene and quickly assess the situation. Within seconds they determine that there are several patients and that the patients will need to be evaluated in emergency departments. Because of this situation, additional ambulances are requested. Marti and Simon continue triaging the call and begin to treat the most acute patients.

The next closest ambulance is only a few minutes away and is staffed by Ace and Alex. They are both paramedics and have been working in the system for more than 5 years. Within a couple of minutes of being dispatched they arrive on the same scene. Ace approaches Marti and inquires what needs to be done. Marti begins to provide a brief overview of the situation. Suddenly, in mid-sentence, Ace interrupts Marti. He then essentially yells to Alex to re-assess the patients to confirm that triage has been done correctly. When Marti questions Ace to confirm that he really wants to re-triage the call, Ace spins around and announces in an aggressive manner "Absolutely. I'm the senior medic here. I don't think this call was triaged appropriately and I'm taking over."

For the next few seconds the scene seems to be very quiet. Marti does a double take of Ace. She cannot believe what she is hearing or seeing. She was not prepared for this. Ace has already started to walk around helping Alex to re-triage the patients. He is also treating patients based on his new assessment.

A 3rd ambulance arrives to offer assistance. The crew of the ambulance approaches Marti to ask how they can help. Ace intercepts the crew before they contact Marti and he starts to essentially bark orders. The ambulance crew exchange glances, look at Marti, and then look at Ace. Reluctantly they start to acknowledge Ace and follow his orders.

As this takes place, other responders, including the police and fire crews, are watching as the scene dynamics unfold. They are now sharing surprised and confused looks as Ace continues to re-arrange Marti and Simon's initial assessment. The tension in the air is essentially palpable.

The call continues to proceed with Ace essentially taking over. The other crews continue with the operations and the call ends a few minutes later. Alex notices that several of the other crews have concerned looks on their faces after witnessing the scene dynamics.

When the call ends Alex and Ace talk for a few minutes. Alex asks Ace, "Are you okay?" Ace appears genuinely surprised and asks Alex -- "Why? Something wrong?" Alex nods his head in the affirmative and says, "I think you owe Marti an apology. She had everything on scene under control. I don't think you helped things run smoothly." Alex and Ace continue to discuss the call with Alex providing examples of the scene dynamics from his perspective.

Ace ponders the feedback. He recognizes that he was probably not performing with the big picture in mind. He also recognizes that he has been under a lot of pressure lately and that something on scene most likely triggered his response. He can appreciate that his actions may not have been appearing to be supportive of the big picture. He essentially arrived on scene, demanded control, and began to run things "his way".