Most Facebook Forums
It is more than a little disheartening to find so many EMS forums on Facebook that are focusing on less important issues. You can find hundreds or even thousands of posts with essentially what amounts to gore porn, and asking about the best boots to wear, which stethoscope should I buy, and, literally, “I failed my exam twice. Do you have any tips to pass the exam?” By the way, about every five posts is an advert for Teespring or some other shirt maker hawking stupid slogans like, “I’m here to save your ass, not kiss it!”, and “Being an Emergency Medical Technician is not a career, it’s a post apoloclyptic survival skill!” Give me a break.
What I don’t see much of is EMS pages on Facebook that talk about clinical excellence, best practices, evolutionary tactics and treatments in EMS, alternative uses of medications, expanding our knowledge base and clinical aptitude and competency. So when I do come across groups like that, I tend to stick around, and occasionally I even help admin them. My blog and Facebook followers are higher caliber providers and I know that most, if not all, of you want to learn and be the best medics you can be for your patients. I’m going to give you a list of pages worth checking into for more about actual medicine and less about hero worship and people too lazy to research questions before posting yet another redundantly redundant, no-skill, knowledge-less, drivel ridden post.
Where to look to learn and contribute to the improvement of your care and all of EMS:
- Paramedics: https://www.facebook.com/thinkingmedic/
- Ketamine!: https://www.facebook.com/groups/713582065343578/
- EMS Mentoring Society: https://www.facebook.com/groups/emsmentoring/
- Association of Texas EMS Professionals: https://www.facebook.com/ATEMSP/
- EM Docs Partnering with Paramedics (closed group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1303461549694760/
Believe me when I say that these pages are chock full of the latest peer-reviewed science and medical evidence. There are some real superstars of EMS lurking in these forums. Big national names, quiet, unassuming medics, flight medics, post-secondary educators, biologists, attorneys, expert witnesses, ER nurses, EM physicians and medical directors, public health people, and yes, there are some egos that tend to bump heads, but there really should be all of that. Without some vigorous discussion (that doesn’t decay into a childlike tantrum), we may never see improvement. It’s fun. It’s the stuff you’ll need for ACLS EP/CCEMT-P/FPC/CCP preparation, protocol and guidelines development, tips to improve your presentations, and oh so much more. Closed groups are closed to keep the average time-clock puncher out of the way. If you can be serious about what the forum exists for and use it to sharpen your sword, then ask to be let in. Most likely, you’ll get in. Be prepared to see far more than anything you’re likely to encounter in an ordinary EMS CE course.
