A Discourse Analysis of EMT’s
Imagine a scene of a burning building:
There are many different people at the scene. People from the neighborhood are coming out of their houses to see. Policeman are guarding the people from getting any closer to the fire. Firefighters are hosing the house down. Then, you notice the ambulance and the EMT’s running out to help the victims of the fire.
It is easy to identify the jobs of all these different people at the scene.These groups of people look, act, and do specific things at this scene. This is because they belong to certain Discourses.
Discourses
James Paul Gee, author of Literacy and Linguistics informs us about what a Discourse may be. From his writing, a Discourse is about “saying- doing- being -valuing-believing combinations” (Gee 6). This means that a Discourse is part of your identity. Darcy A. Fiano embellished upon the idea of a Discourse by writing Primary Discourse and Expressive Oral Language in a Kindergarten Student. In this, she writes about “different building tasks”, or qualities that are used to identify a Discourse.
The community of EMT’s share similar beliefs, attitudes, and ideas about certain things, which allow members of the Discourse to be identified. The EMT Discourse uses values to base every form of identity off of. However, because the values of this Discourse are so involved with the non-members, some of Gee and Fiano’s concepts and combinations can be expanded upon.
Classification of a Discourse:
How Classification can Determine the Role of a Discourse to Society
There are different classification of Discourses, according to Gee. The categories of a specific Discourse are important because they determine the role of the job in society. They are:
- Secondary and Primary
- Dominant and Non-dominant
An EMT Discourse would be classified as secondary and dominant. It is secondary because it is not the “root” of who someone is or where they originate from, it something that someone does in addition to their primary Discourse. Secondly, this Discourse is classified as dominant because Gee describes a dominant Discourse as one that “brings with it the (potential) acquisition of social “goods” (money, prestige, status, ect.)” (8). The standing of this job in society determines the values. Being an EMT means serving the community, and the “social goods” that this job brings to society is health and safety. Because this job incorporates “social goods” (safety) to the community, the job makes safety of the public its most important value.
Values
The most meaningful building task
The value system, to Fiano, is known as “politics”. She explains this building task as “The social goods that are relevant and at stake in a context and how they are being distributed or how their distribution is being viewed” (Fiano 7). This is essentially the value of the Discourse to the members within it. The value of helping others and the community is the solid basis for the job. The most important role of an EMT is to inform the public about safety and keep the community of individuals safe in emergencies. All other identities expand from the EMT’s value system.
When asked in an interview what the most rewarding part of his job was, EMT Paully B claimed that helping people was the most important part of the job. He says that the most rewarding thing is “Knowing you made a difference to a person. Knowing you were able to help someone in need get the medical attention they deserve in a timely manner.” (JobShadow). Everything about the EMT Discourse revolves around the patient and the patient’s safety. From becoming a member of the Discourse to understanding how the practices of the Discourse are performed is based upon the safety of others in the community.
Gaining Membership
The difficulty of entry says a lot about a Discourse
In Gee’s definition of a Discourse, he explains that “Discourses are used as “gates” to ensure that the “right” people get to the “right” places in our society…” (11). Every Discourse has a series of their own “tests” (may or may not be real tests) to ensure that the members are qualified. According to the NH protocols, a candidate must pass a series of practical and written tests through the New Hampshire Registry. The New Hampshire Registry of EMT’s says that “National Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification requires successful completion of both a cognitive and psychomotor exam” (NREMT). The state uses theses tests as a “gate” to let the “right” people who are qualified into the Discourse. The reason there are gates into a Discourse is to prevent the wrong people from entering. Imagine if there were no tests to enter the EMT Discourse. This would highly threaten the value of helping people. A non-member would have easy access into the Discourse and this could potentially cause harm to the patients because the non-member would lack most of the practices of the Discourse.
Practices
Gee believes that a Discourse has certain methods that all members practice. He would classify this as a “saying-doing” combination. The members all have similar skills that connect them and identify them as part of the Discourse. Fiano says that these practices are important to a Discourse, and that is why they are used to help identify people in the Discourse; whether they know the skills or not. The “practices” of an EMT are based on the “NH Protocols” which is a manual of protocols written by the state of EMS that an EMT in NH must abide by. For example, if an EMT responds to any airway, bronchitis, or asthma emergency, the NH protocol says to:
“Attempt to keep oxygen saturation ≥ 94%; increase oxygen rate with caution and observe for fatigue, decreased mentation, and respiratory failure” (2.4P).
A non member of the EMT Discourse may not know how to check for oxygen saturation, or even how to maintain a saturation in the range that is given by the protocols.
It is essential that an EMT is able to perform all of the practices that he/she is taught in the field to keep up with the value system of the Discourse. Practices, at many times, can mean life or death for a patient.
A genuine member of the EMT discourse would know all of the practices and make sure that the patient is as safe as possible.
Relationships
In Fiano’s writing, she reveals that relationships within the Discourse are necessary when classifying the character of the members in the Discourse. Relationships made as an EMT are very important to the job. An EMT spends the day forming relationships with many types of people, but the main focus on the job is their relationship with the patients.
In an interview with Megan B, an EMT from Frankfort IL, she tells the interviewer that these relationships are the main part of the job. An EMT will see numerous patients throughout the day, and they must know how to appropriately deal with their emotions. She says “You have to help people when they are scared. You have to calm people down” (TeenInk). An EMT must have a trustful and understanding relationship with their patients.
“Being a paramedic or EMT isn’t always about helping the injured person but also the family. Many times the family is as scared as the person who is injured, and we have to help them also” — Megan B.
An EMT will meet many people throughout their life on the job. It is a very important skill to be able to know how to form relationships with the people they encounter and how to appropriately handle their emotional and physical needs at the same time.
Relationships with Non-memers Help Define the Discourse
The EMT Discourse identifies its members by how they can form relationships with those who are not in the Discourse. Gee helps us understand relationships within a Discourse when he sets up a scene in a bar. Gee says that he cannot just go into the the bar and say “May I have a match, please?” (5). He explains that he must talk in the proper “saying-doing” combination of that Discourse (i.e. “Gimme a match please”) (Gee 5). Here, he explains that relationships within a Discourse are what identifies its members. However, in the EMT Discourse, a member can be identified by their ability to reach out of their Discourse to the non-members. This significant relationship between member and non member proves that not only are the members of Discourses identified by relationships within the group, but how they relate with people from outside of the group.
To become an EMT, it is hard. One must pass a class, have patient contact hours, and pass two exams (one practical and one written). It’s difficult to enter this Discourse because the members are expected to do things that not just anyone can do; be held responsible for the safety of the society and all of its individuals. Since the EMT Discourse plays such an important role in society, the value of community safety is seen in all aspects of the Discourse. Values are the basis of practices, relationships, and all other building tasks. This analysis shows that there are many aspects of Gee’s and Fiano’s beliefs of a Discourse that are shown through the Discourse of an EMT. However, the EMT Discourse proves that Gee’s beliefs are incomplete; Discourses are identified by how they interact outside of the Discourse, as well as within.
Works Cited
“EMT Meghan B.” EMT Meghan B. TeenInk, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Fiano, Darcy. A. “Primary Discourse and Expressive Oral Language in a Kindergarten
Student.” Online Library. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Gee, James Paul. “Literacy, Discourses, and Linguistics: Introduction.” Journal of
Education. Volume 171 Number 1, (1989); 5–17. Print.
“Interview with an EMT.” Job Shadow RSS. JobShadow, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015
“NREMT — CERTIFICATION v. LICENSURE.” NREMT. NREMT, n.d. Web. 26 Oct.
2015.
“State of New Hampshire Patient Care Protocols.” NH.gov. New Hampshire Department of Safety. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
