I reckon you'd get your ass kicked for something like that.

A medic friend of mine had his toothpaste stolen at work. From his toiletry bag which was in the base bathroom. He became incensed at this, and had some choice words for the perpetrator. I think those words were "pathological lying scumbag thieving shit bag coworkers."


People told him to calm down, toothpaste costs a buck, keep his perspective.


Fuck that.


Stealing a squeeze of toothpaste from a tube left out on the sink, sure. going through another guy's bag and taking the tube is another.

It stuns me because I've always found people to be ready to lend stuff if asked. I've lent toothpaste, soap, shampoo, uniform parts, stethoscopes, ibuprofen, allergy medicine, money, food, and a few times my car to co-workers. People I only knew from working the truck. And I've borrowed most of those things when I needed them. All without thinking. I've come in early and stayed late for people. Taken somebody else's call because they needed a shower in the middle of a double shift.

In this business, we should look out for one another, and expect our co-workers to do the same for us. Having one another's back used to be the expected standard.


If I can't trust you with my $1.29 tube of Colgate, how can I trust you when you say you checked the cardiac monitor batteries? Or the expiration dates on the drugs? Or that you'll speak up when I'm headed down the wrong path on a complex medical call on no sleep at 3 in the morning?

Yeah, toothpaste is minor, but the disrespect is a betrayal. You don't steal from your partners, and you watch their backs, because EMTs and Medics are the only people who will look out for other EMTs and Medics.

If we can't count on one another, what does that leave us?