JPINFV

Couldn't the same be said about NPs (required to "collaborate" with a physician) and PAs (required to be "supervised" by a physician) though?

That really depends. While I don't know about the job situation specific to Oklahoma, there are generally jobs to be had in interfacility transport. These jobs tend to be high in mundane "taxi" work where you will be dealing with nursing homes (system wide neglect at its finest). Normally these companies run "emergency" calls from nursing homes (I've had these range from "we're useless RNs who can't even place a foley cath in the patient" to "patient has a BP of 60/20). The emergency calls are generally more medical than trauma and EMT-B programs rather poorly prepares basic level providers for medical calls. Thus, many basics hate these jobs because even the emergency calls lack the adrenaline raising factor that traumas have. That will depend on how the system where you work is set up. If it's a basic/paramedic set up, then yes, your job will be assisting the paramedic and driving the unit on all of the critical calls. The decision on who is allowed to take the call is either based on the system (some systems require the highest level provider to take care of the patient all the way to the emergency department) or the paramedic's decision. Without knowing your other educational background, I'm going to suggest the generic "take a general chemistry, physiology, anatomy, and writing (technical/scientific writing. Being able to write even a decent narrative seems to elude a lot of basics). These are all courses that are essential to working as a medical provider (even as an EMT-Basic provider) that is not covered in nearly the amount of depth as is needed in EMT-Basic courses. Granted, it does appear that your EMT-B course is already scheduled and it is better to build a solid educational foundation before taking applied courses, but what done is done and there are plenty of people who are able to pass the course without a strong educational base. No reason to apologize. It's better to look before you leap, no matter how close the cliff may be. [note: The same question was posed on another EMS forum, which is fine since there are different populations on both boards with a handful of people that post on both. Due to that, I just copied my reply from both, so I'm not 100% sure if my quotes match completely.]

Ivasive? Is that like an Iphone or Ipod? /me wants a degree in Imed.

Yea, but 2 of those pages were me arguing with a few people who were essentially saying that they stop at all red lights and wait for a green light when responding/transporting emergent.

Only after the attempted traffic stop had begun.

Since EMTs (B, P, other letters) are operating without direct supervision of a physician, shouldn't that mean that they should be more self reliant and need more education than an RN who operates under direct supervision? Furthermore, I present that there are numerous services out there that utilize the EMT-B level for general ambulance operations for both emergency service and interfacility service (which can include emergency calls itself). Therefore, I offer that EMT-B serve a much greater role than as a helper for EMT-Ps (although basics do save paramedics from doing manual labor). Unfortunately, the level of education that EMT-Bs have is only about enough to prepare them to be an organic blood pressure machine for medical calls.

Well, apparently that area is too poor to be able to afford keyboards with a period key.

Apparently it's a French word. Therefore, in this post 9/11 time when France is a psuedoevil-do'er, it must be a bad thing.

Um, and how, pray tell, is the trooper going to be able to tell that the car that is driving recklessly and speeding with 4 people in it and its hazards on is being driven by a volly? I agree, he should get the same respect, treatment, and jail time as paid responders would by driving like an asshole in a personal vehicle.

See, working for an IFT company, I've found the trick to answer that question. It's amazing how fast peoples' eyes glaze over when your worst call is a medical call and not a bloody trauma.

See, then it starts to get awkward when the "paramedics" stop the ambulance so some other "paramedics" can climb on board to do special things that only "paramedics" can do. This can all be avoided by being truthful in the first place. Of course there's two other options. We can always remove the basic level or follow the Canadian model and just call everyone on an ambulance a paramedic (PCP/ICP/ACP).

I can think of a handful of uses for basics that generally fall in line with the idea of a first responder (i.e. amusement park first aid, etc). I can also see using the basic level of certification for interfacility transports that requires movement techniques and oxygen therapy (i.e. hospital discharges, dialysis runs, etc). I will note here, though, that there is absolutely no reason why these patients needs to go by ambulance. This patient population would be served just as well by an unmarked van (no emergency lights) with a gurney in back as they would by an ambulance.

Can we please stop with the stream of consciousnesses style of posts?

I've always been taught that "para" means something along the lines of "for."

Personally, I've always been rooting to call EMS America's Smartest.

Let's start this off simple. Is the responding unit ALS, BLS, or Scenario Section Super Squad (hospital in a moving box)? Distance to nearest hospital and hospital with cath lab? Location of snooze button. General impression (skin, weight, breathing quality, etc).

See, the way I look at it I'd rather be an operator than a dispatcher. I've never heard of a smooth dispatcher.

Where, pray tell, might this stroke capital of the world be?

Is the non-emergent side self supporting? If so, what exactly is wrong with the government providing that service, so long as it doesn't adversely affect 911 responses (on the flip side, I can see it providing for a comfortable surge capacity in case of an MCI or unusually high call volumes).

You do realize that there are other options out there besides private EMS and EMS based fire suppression, right?

Of course I wouldn't go around dissing postal clerks. I live next door to a post office and the last thing I need is to have one of them go postal on me.

That's a different question entirely. My impression was that the original poster was asking which one was better to work with/for in terms of his own personal advancement.

Oh, apparently you haven't seen the MD vs DO vs Caribbean threads on Student Doctor Network (SDN).

As I talked about in that post, in most states and according to the NREMT, paramedics are EMTs also. If we can't even accurately talk about ourselves when talking to the public, how can we expect them to know what to call us?