Mainstream Media Gets It Wrong (Again) As Vast Majority Of People Support Dancing Medics On TikTok | Opinion

We all know how easy it is to pass judgement on the amazing people who dedicate their lives to saving the lives of others. 

Especially when you can judge these life-savers and their actions from the comfort of your nice, warm, cosy and safe office (at home or at work). 

Recently, the Daily Mail published an article about the alleged “fury” of TikTok users who seemingly took offence to the fact that two life-savers decided to burn off some calories during their rare break, to put together a little dance routine. 

Just to remind people:  

A) Paramedics, EMTs, ECAs etc are entitled to have a break during their 12-hours shift.

B) If a life-or-death Cat R1 call comes in whilst paramedics are on a break then, guess what? They stop their break and respond to it.

C) Paramedics and EMT’s are exposed to more emotional stress and horrific situations than people who write about them from the comfort of their cosy officers, so they are entitled to let off some steam and do whatever the heck they want to do during their 20-minute break. 

Before we continued, I am glad that we managed to sort that out with a bit of common sense and a touch of emotional intelligence. 

The Daily Mail claimed that the two paramedics were “hit with complaints” when in truth, the overwhelming majority of social media users had enough intellect to work out that emergency workers are entitled to have a break and that they stop their break and respond to 999 calls as-and-when such calls come through. 

But don’t just take my word for it. 

Let us have a look at the facts; out of the top 20 comments (as displayed by TikTok’s comments algorithm), 17 comments were in support of the medics. 

That means that, on average, 85% of people commenting supported the medics. Something that Kaya Terry, who wrote the Daily Mail’s article, seems not to have grasped. 

So if you are a member of the emergency services, and you decide that, during a break, when no life-or-death calls are awaiting your response, you want to make a TikTok video, then go ahead and do it!

85% of the decent-minded and emotionally intelligent public support you! 

We all know that if the control room needs you to respond to a call, then you will give up your break (and your food) to respond to the call.

And if you are reading this and you write for the mainstream media, then next time you see a video like this one on social media, just remember that these brave men and women are exposed to trauma each time they go to work (not the sort of trauma that involves lost stationary).

So they are entitled to do whatever they want to do when they do get a break (check out the video at the bottom of this article if you need a more visual representation of the sort of things emergency workers are exposed to). 

Maybe people like Kaya Terry from the Daily Mail should volunteer to clean the back of emergency ambulances after a life-saving crew has dealt with a trauma patient. This task will help them to understand what emergency workers are exposed to and the life-saving role they play.

When they have finished cleaning the back of the emergency ambulance, they can go back to their safe jobs and ponder what they would do to cope with the very real emotional trauma that comes with working on the front line of the emergency services. 

Some people talk to their colleagues about their horrific experiences of working on the front line of the emergency services. It helps them cope with what they see. Others turn to humour as a way of letting off some steam. 

Just remember that the next time you see an emergency worker making a light-hearted video during one of their rare breaks.  

The thing that got me, was the caption that the Daily Mail’s social media team added to their post that shared the link about the ‘story’. 

It reads: ‘Arent you supposed to save lives?’ (which was itself a comment that was left on the video by someone who seems to believe that paramedics should work 12+ hour shifts without a break).

Well, what do you think they do when they are not on their 20-minute breaking during their 12-hour shift of saving lives? 

By the way, if you want to head over to TikTok to give these two life-savers some love, then their handle is: LandRoverMedic

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