The First 90 Days Determine Everything (And You're Probably Winging It)
Ken Wogan
You hire a paramedic. Day one, they shadow at Station 2. Day four, they’re assigned to Station 5. By week three, they’re bouncing between stations and shifts. Some FTOs are meticulous about documentation. Others just ride along and make informal judgments.
After 90 days, you make a keep/no-keep decision. And if the answer is no, the paramedic pushes back. “I was never trained properly,” they claim. “Nobody showed me the protocols. The FTOs had different expectations.”
And now you have a problem. Because if your probationary onboarding is inconsistent and undocumented, the terminated employee has a defensible argument.
Why The First 90 Days Matter So Much
The probationary period isn’t just a courtesy or a trial run. It’s a legal protection.
During probation, you can terminate for cause without the same documentation requirements as a non-probationary employee. But only if you can demonstrate that the employee had clear expectations, received training, and was fairly evaluated against those expectations.
If your probationary process is ad-hoc—different FTOs doing different things, inconsistent evaluations, no documentation of what the new hire was actually trained on—that legal protection evaporates.
An employee who’s terminated during probation can claim they weren’t trained. They can argue the FTOs gave contradictory guidance. They can point to gaps in documentation and frame termination as arbitrary.
And if your probationary training wasn’t structured, they might be right.
The Consistency Problem
Most agencies have an FTO program. But here’s what’s often missing: standardization.
Your FTO program might be excellent—thoughtful orientation, ride-alongs, structured skills practice, documented evaluations. But if different FTOs interpret the program differently, or if different new hires get different FTO experiences based on which station they’re assigned to, you still have a problem.
New hire A gets a meticulous FTO who reviews protocols daily, quizzes the hire on clinical decision-making, and documents everything. New hire B gets an experienced paramedic who’s a great clinician but doesn’t really believe in “formal” training—they just ride along and figure the new hire will pick it up.
Same agency. Same program. Two completely different experiences.
Then you terminate new hire B after three months, claiming they didn’t meet performance standards. And new hire B’s attorney asks: “Why did hire A get such different training? Why wasn’t my client given the same structured experience?”
Now you’re defending disparate treatment in the probationary process. That’s harder than it should be.
What Good Documentation Looks Like
A defensible probationary process has written expectations, structured training, and documented evaluation.
The expectations: What does competency look like for this role? Be specific. Not “they need to be a good paramedic.” But rather: “By the end of probation, the hire will correctly identify a 12-lead EKG, follow our sepsis protocol, and perform intubation under supervision with a 90% competency rating.”
The training: What will the new hire learn? Create a training curriculum. Not complicated—just an outline of what will be covered and in what sequence.
Month 1: Protocols, medication administration, documentation. Month 2: ALS skills, case reviews, scenario-based training. Month 3: Independent decision-making, system-wide calls, final evaluation.
Different new hires might have slightly different timelines based on their experience, but they’re all getting the same curriculum.
The documentation: Document the training that happens. FTOs complete evaluation forms. New hires acknowledge they understand expectations. You track what was covered and what wasn’t.
At the end of probation, you have a paper trail showing: here’s what we expected, here’s what we trained, here’s how the employee performed.
That paper trail is your defense if termination becomes necessary.
Paper DORs: The Problem Most Agencies Have
A DOR (Daily Observation Record) is where FTOs document their assessment of the new hire’s performance on that shift.
Many agencies require DORs. Many FTOs complete them. But often, the DORs are handwritten notes, sometimes illegible, lacking any consistent format.
“New hire did good. Handled two calls, both appropriate care. No concerns” is a DOR.
Or sometimes they’re not really honest. An FTO might be reluctant to write down concerns because they don’t want to hurt the person or they think the problems will work themselves out.
Or the problems are there but they’re vague: “Decision-making needs work” without specifics about what decision and why it was problematic.
This is where the paper trail fails. You have documentation, but it’s not useful documentation. It doesn’t clearly show the new hire’s performance trajectory. It doesn’t support termination if that becomes necessary.
Good DORs include: what calls the new hire handled, what they did well, what needs improvement, and specific examples.
“New hire assessed chest pain patient appropriately, obtained good history, applied 12-lead EKG correctly, communicated findings to medical direction clearly.”
And separately: “New hire’s documentation was incomplete on one pediatric call—missed noting caregiver contact information and did not clarify fall mechanism. Discussed with hire; she acknowledged protocol and will focus on this area.”
That’s specific. It’s honest. It documents both strengths and areas for improvement.
The Cost of a Bad Hire You Can’t Terminate
Here’s the financial impact of a probationary period that’s undocumented:
You go through 90 days of onboarding. You invest 400+ hours of FTO time. You pay the new hire for 90 days of work. Then you decide the hire isn’t working out. But because your probationary documentation is weak, they successfully argue they were never properly trained or evaluated.
Now you either have to keep them (and spend the next year trying to remediate) or face a wrongful termination claim.
Remediating takes time and money and often doesn’t work. A paramedic you decided wasn’t ready after 90 days rarely becomes competent later without something fundamental changing.
A wrongful termination claim costs legal fees and settlement costs.
Both are expensive. Neither happens if your probationary documentation is solid.
Where to Start
If your current FTO program is undocumented or inconsistent, rebuild it.
First: Write your expectations. Define what competency looks like for a paramedic at the end of probation. Use specific, measurable behaviors.
Second: Create your training curriculum. Outline what every new hire will learn, in what order, over the probationary period.
Third: Redesign your DOR. Create a simple form that FTOs actually use. Include space for specific observations, not just general impressions. Train FTOs to complete it consistently.
Fourth: Make probation structured. Don’t let new hires bounce between stations randomly. Assign them to specific stations and FTOs for defined periods. Give them predictable schedules so they can actually learn.
Fifth: Conduct regular evaluations. Not just at the end. Meet with the new hire monthly (or more frequently) to give feedback and discuss progress.
This takes time to set up. But it pays for itself the first time you avoid a wrongful termination claim.
The Bottom Line
The first 90 days are when new hires learn whether they can do the job and whether they want to stay. If that period is inconsistent and undocumented, you lose your legal protection in probation and you lose the opportunity to catch problems early.
Create clear expectations. Deliver consistent training. Document it all. That’s what allows you to make confident keep/no-keep decisions and defend those decisions if necessary.
Ryan Wogan Wogan Solutions