In the podcast "How Does a Helicopter Paramedic Work?" David Plotz speaks with Jeff Ennis about his job. Ennis who is a paramedic in North Carolina talks about what it's like to be on life flights and what his job demands. Jeff goes into detail about his typically intense job on a day to day basis.
In the interview, Ennis says that most of his shifts are 24 hours long. He typically works two shifts separated by a day off and then is usually off for five days. On his off time he sometimes picks up work at local emergency responders in the area. During a typical work day, Ennis' shift starts at 7 in the morning. Even though his shift starts at 7 in the morning, he begins to get ready long before by packing his things and getting food ready for his shifts. Also, when Jeff arrives, he cautiously checks drugs and replaces supplies that the previous crew used.
As the interview continues, Plotz asks Ennis if he ever thinks about if the patient is going to live. Interestingly enough, Ennis responds by saying, "In a way it doesn't matter" I thought this was a very important quote in the podcast because it shows that Ennis has the capability of separating emotion from his high pressure profession. Ennis also says, "I am going to show up, do my job, and do it professionally and make sure I don't miss anything" When you have such a high pressure job such as Ennis does, it is very important that he does not let emotion play part in his decision making process. He has to do what is best for the patient and try to stabilize them to get to the hospital. Overall I think Ennis has successfully figured out how to separate emotion yet still have passion for his job.
Furthermore, I believe that there should always be a separation of emotion from your profession career. I also believe there is a difference between emotion and passion when coming into a profession. Emotion could possibly cloud your mind and prevent you from working to your full ability. Passion on the other hand could be an acceptable thing to exemplify because you will always have the drive and push to do your job to the best of your ability. To finish up, I know when I pursue my career in medicine I will not let my emotions cloud my judgment and I will always treat my patients to the best of my ability.
Art,
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that mixing emotions in work is a constant problem. We've seen this in this article with Jeff Ennis and we've also seen this problem when comparing the three different educators. I personally feel that a little bit of emotion is necessary. Especially as someone in the medical field or the educational field. These two jobs cover such a wide range of duties and I think that it's necessary that the people in charge of these duties feel compassion for the people that they're helping. Students and patients need to feel that.
Art,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you pointed out the quote "In a way it doesn't matter" as it didn't stand out to me as being that important when i listened to the podcast. Looking at it now, it speaks volumes to who he is as a person, that he would do his job to help his patients no matter what, and wouldn't give up even if it seemed hopeless.
Art,
ReplyDeleteI agree that having passion about your work is completely separate from being emotional about your work. I think passion is important and is what drives people to succeed. However I do think that a bit of emotion is okay, too. I see your point about clouding your mind but I think that is only when emotion takes over. I think a little bit is okay!
Art,
ReplyDeleteI really like your stance on being emotionally distant when it comes to your career, but because you are emotionally distant it does not mean you are not passionate. It is very clear in the article that Jeff Ennis cares deeply about his job, in fact, he even says it outright. For me, there's something amazing about being able to separate the emotions of a job, but still be able to love it so much. I completely agree with you. Good job.
Good discussion here, but if we exclude emotion from our work life, doesn't that have an effect? I'm emotional about my job. I get thrilled, upset. I feel embarrassed and inflated. And I think that has something to do with passion, right?
ReplyDeleteI'm interested that everyone seems to wholeheartedly agree with Ennis that emotion shouldn't play a part of a job. How do we care otherwise?
Is that realistic? And is it always beneficial to exclude one's own authentic reactions? What if you're a teacher / social worker? What if you're a bank president and you can't empathize with customers? What if you're Mac McClelland's boss and you fire Brian because he's having a baby?
Grade: 1/1