April 15, 2011
By Rebecca Gladden
If you've been reading this column for any length of time, you probably know that I used to be a paramedic.
Back in the day, it was very much ingrained in us during our training that this was an "us versus them" world - "us" being the paramedics and "them" being - well, just about everyone else.
I was involved in EMS at a time when there was often just one advanced care provider on the scene and we could be an hour or more away from the nearest emergency room. As paramedics, operating under an E.R. physician's license, we were ultimately responsible for the care our patients received as well as protecting that doctor's license.
So, our training instructors and preceptors hammered the idea into us that we were not to let anyone or anything interfere with the treatment we provided – no matter who it was or what their title or position of authority might be.
As a paramedic student, I remember discussing and even role-playing different scenarios in which someone might try to derail us from our duties. One common example was a non-EMS physician who would, in our practice situations, arrive at an emergency and attempt to seize control of the scene. Other common foes included nurses, family members, the media, and even law enforcement officers.
The bottom line was that most paramedics at the time developed an attitude that may have been perceived as argumentative or arrogant, but which was really the result of an intense devotion to an important goal – in this case, saving people’s lives.
When I traded my paramedic badge for a nursing pin, I quickly learned that what worked out in the field was not necessarily well-suited to a hospital setting.
It took a wise, older head nurse in the Emergency Room where I got my first job out of nursing school to sit me down and explain that the us-versus-them attitude which was required to be a successful paramedic needed to be – let’s say – toned down in the more corporate confines of a hospital -- where patients were seen as “clients” and customer service was a critical component of correct nursing care.
This, in a nutshell, is what happened to Kyle Busch.
That us-versus-them attitude is very common among young drivers who grow up racing from an early age, where their pit crews consist of family members and everyone else is simply an opponent. Drivers are trained to see themselves as being the best, the most talented, the most capable - because to think otherwise implies a vulnerability, a susceptibility to being beaten on the track.
As in the case of a streetwise paramedic transitioning to a hospital setting, the move from the local and regional racing scene to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series requires a different approach. And some drivers, like some paramedics, simply need someone to sit them down and explain that – maybe a teammate, a team owner, a sponsor, or a combination of them all.
Kyle Busch is not the first driver to tone down his temper as he transitions into the role of a top NASCAR contender, and he won’t be the last. There’s really nothing mysterious about it. He’s in a different role now, representing different people, and that requires a different attitude.
Case solved.
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