ninjaemtff

I'm trying to do both....is it working?

I agree with Spenac on this one. They are there to deal with and respond to Emergencies and to provide Emergency Medical care, therefore, they are part of EMS. Transport or not doesn't matter.

Will you be my mentor???

Since I make you chuckle....vote me for president! I'll make you, secretary or something!

Vote me for president and I will pay her to prosecute you

Want to be my vice President? Dust and AK can have full control over the military...and I'll buy everyone who votes for me steak and beer!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

If your voting for people even though you don't know what the topic is...Vote me for president, even though I'm only 18, a female, and pretty much bs my way through life...I promise I'll do my best to try to accomplish something!

Am I just digging myself into a hole that I'm not going to be able to get out of?

You want to elect someone for something and don't even know what the topic is? I must say on this one, I believe I agree with vs-eh, I'm going to go back and re-read everything again, then I will post my opinion for certian, but as it stands now, I agree with VS.

I'm not saying we should just hand it over to them, they should have to work for it, and they do need the training. What I am trying to say is that if they lose their desire to do this, they may never get it back, and we will eventually run out of people to do the job. Also if they start when they are younger (with restrictions) at least they will have hands on experience, I mean what better education is there than actually doing it?

Once again, I am going off of what I know. Where I come from, we don't have private ambulance companies. We are all 911 based, but we all do transports as well. So therefore my opinion still stands. If you don't do emergency your not part of the Emergency Medical Field.

Well see where I come from, that would not be considered non-emergent, that would get full dispatch and ALS. I'm just going off of what I know.

Ok, for the extensiveness, I'm still thinking on that one, I know that it needs to be more extensive I'm just not sure how. I know that I like to be more than basically a certified band-aid applicator. But I will get back to you on that one. As for them being in EMS, I would have to say the explorer program, or as we call it in my county "juniors." The reason I say it would hurt our profession is because if we push them away whenever they are young, whats to say that they will stay interested until the age of "professionalism" I mean I'm pretty sure at one point or another every kid has wanted to be a fire fighter or be in EMS, but as they grow up they lose site of that dream, there are the few who stick with it though. But how long will they be willing to stay with their dream if we push them away?

Just for the sake of throwing it out there. EMS stands for EMERGENCY Medical Services. I would say that the transport companies should be called TMS (Transport Medical Services) or NEMS (Non Emergency Medical Services) Yes they still are part of the Medical Services field, however not the Emergency Medical Services.

Well I would like to thank you all for your advice. I have reasearched it, and while researching, I realized that even though I think it would be awesome to be a doctor, my heart wouldn't really be in it, atleast not right now. I have this constant desire to actually be out in the field, and remain part of the EMS system. Like I said thank you all for your advice, some of it actually helped me from making a wrong decision.

This topic makes me wonder if some people have forgotten what EMS stands for...or more so what the E in EMS stands for... If theres no Emergency your not part of EMS.

So, for the past couple days I've been thinking a lot about this topic. So much that I went back and read through all nine pages of posts. I guess you could say that I am starting to have a change of heart, I'm not sure if it's because of rereading everything or because I just read the topic about us coming together to make changes. But anyways, I've realized that the past few posts I have had tunnel vision, I wasn't really paying attention to what most of you were saying. The impression I was getting was that you did not want teens in EMS at all. I have reread everything and for the most part I was wrong. I realize now that what most of you were saying is don't let them be on their own, and well you're all correct. I think that if they want to be in EMS thats a great idea, but I do realize that they should have restrictions and should not be left alone to run the show. I will also admit that there are things that teens shouldn't see whether they have the training or not. I know that I have seen a lot that I shouldn't have seen and have had a lot of calls that I shouldn't have been on, especially not alone. I would also like to say that I do believe that the education is the most important factor, and that the curriculum taught should be changed and increased. I'm not saying get rid of the basic, but make it more extensive, your right its the patients that we need to be concerned about. I guess to finish this reply of mine I will just say I think teens being in EMS is still a good idea, but there does need to be experienced adults. I think that if we would push teens completely out of EMS, that our profession would suffer greatly. So there ya go, go ahead and pick at it, and prove me wrong. Have a wonderful day.

Cheaper Than a Doctor There was a man whose elbow hurt so he told his friend he was going to the doctor. His friend told him to go to the pharmacy where there is a machine that for ten dollars and a urine sample will tell you what is wrong with you. So he went to the pharmacy and put the ten dollars and his urine sample in. After a minute a paper came out and said that he has tennis elbow and he should soak his elbow in warm water for the next two weeks. That night, he decided the machine must be a fraud. So, the next day he made a mixture of tap water, his daughter's urine, his dog's urine -- and he added some of his own semen to it. He brought it to the pharmacy and put ten dollars and the stuff in. After a minute the paper came out and said, ''The tap water has lead, the dog has worms, your daughter is on drugs and she's not your daughter.''

I personally feel that we are just beating a dead horse. None of us are ever going to completely agree. I know that even after all of this points have been brought up (and I will admit a lot of them are good points) I still stand behind my original opinion, I think its outstanding what they are doing. I will openly admit that I have been affected by the stuff "16 year olds shouldn't be exposed to." Of course I've been in this field since I was 14. I grew up really quick after seeing some of the stuff that I have seen. Do I regret it? No not really, do I think that everyone should do it? No I don't. I know that there are a lot of teenagers out there who aren't mature enough to handle what we see on a daily basis. However there are those out there who can handle it. Will it affect them? Definitely. Will it necessarily be a negative affect on them? No not necessarily. The bad part about starting out so early (in my opinion) we're more likely to "burn out" before we even reach the peak of our profession. Also we grow up to fast and miss out on our teen years. But the thing is, is in my life, I couldn't even imagine what my life would be like right now if I wouldn't have started out as early as I did. Its honestly had a positive affect on me, and I believe that it will have positive affects on others too. But thats all I will say for now, so I will step off my soap box and you all can pick it apart and tell me why I am wrong. But hey, have an outstanding day.

The thing that seems to really be agitating me right now, is most of you are saying "at age 16 would they know how to treat it." They are EMT's they are TRAINED AND CERTIFIED EMTS. By the DOH. Therefore they are just as qualified as a 20 yr old taking the EMT class...the difference is they are younger!

BEorP in my first post I wasn't trying to make an argument I was stating my opinion which I thought was still legal. Sorry that I didn't go into more detail, I wasn't aware that I was being tested here.

Tsk, I'm really not sure how to respond to what you put. However, I will say that I've been an EMT since I was sixteen, but I've been in FIRE/EMS since I was 14. You said that 16 yr olds are still children, I would have to disagree with you on that. Do I think every 16 yr old could handle seeing what we see? No I really don't. However I also don't think most "adults" could handle seeing what see. It takes a special kind of person to be able to do this job. I personally have always wanted to do it. Yeah you have to be mature to do this job, however from what I've seen in my "life experience" I'm a lot more mature then most "adults." As for you not liking me....well I'm not asking you to.

I don't quite understand why people thing that younger people aren't as competent to do the job.

We purchased a horton in 2006 and we have had nothing but problems with it. From the paint job to the wiring to the air tank stuff.