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Good day everyone! I'm glad to join this community and I hope to learn a lot from all of you, and maybe answer a few question you may have as I'm from a country with a peculiar system Indeed, I've been a volunteer EMT in Paris for 4 years, within the Paris Civil Protection (Protection Civile de Paris). I say EMT, but the actual french word is "Secouriste" which corresponds more or less to an EMT-basic life support qualification. I'm qualified for almost everything that is not invasive (with the only exception of blood sugar level) and my mission is to (in short): - Assess the patient's health state - Perform the emergency actions needed to answer the situation / Call for additional (or specialized) units if needed. - Transmit a complete and accurate description of the patient's state to the EMS. - Preparation and evacuation of the patient to the hospital. I'm a "foreman" (chef d'équipe) which mean I have to coordinate my team's action and take responsibility for my crew's safety as well as the patients' and third person's. To introduce you briefly the Civil Protection, you can easily compare it to St-John Ambulance. We have 3 fields of action: - Medical emergencies: >> "911 response" >> Rescue posts on planned events (festivals, sport events...) - Social support: >> Disaster relief >> Street patrols for homeless people - First aid training: >> EMT training >> First aid course for people How do we respond to a 911 call? In France, there are no paramedics. We have either EMT-B or emergency physicians. When: - The call wasn't clear - The situation doesn't seem to require an advance life support unit - The situation requires additional personals - The situation require a basic life support unit on top of an advanced life support unit We are dispatched. We are 5 EMT in the ambulance, but we can work in crews of 4. On other missions we can be 3 or 2. Our role is to get control of the situation, assess the patient(s) health, treat the injuries/distresses and report to the EMS. They take the decision. Then, if needed, we transport the patient to the hospital. An advanced life support unit can also be dispatched to start a treatment on the scene? In case of cardiac arrest: We start CPR with oxygen and defibrillator, we call the advanced life support unit. In most of the cases, the resuscitation will be performed on scene by the doctor's crew until the patient is stable. If nothing can be done, the patient is pronounced dead on the scene. If the patient is stabilized, he'll be quickly transfered to hospital. This is the "stay and play" theory you have in France and Germany, where doctors, in mobile ER will come on scene. It's called "bring the hospital to the patient". Why does France applied the "stay and play" system? Before 1968, rescue missions where carried out by fire departments and police departments. Those rough ambulance services were poorly trained and equipped, as it wasn't the main mission of neither. The mortality rate was very high so doctors decided they couldn't stay in the hospital and wait for dead patients. They created vehicles equipped like hospital emergency rooms, aboard which were the doctor and nurses. Today, those "mobile ER" still exist and board an emergency doctor, an emergency nurse (equivalent of a paramedic advanced) and a trained driver (equivalent of an EMT-. You can recognized them by the word "SAMU" written on the side. What's new in France EMS? The "stay and play" theory is to live long it seems, as the SAMU just created a mobile ECMO unit. This vehicle boards a specialized team (surgeon, nurses...) and all the equipment needed to set an ECMO procedure anywhere, on the street for instance. This unit is dispatched only under very precise circumstances, and aims to reduce even more the "low flow" time. Even if this vehicle is still in experimental phase, it shows well the will of french EMS to bring more and more heavy equipments outside the hospital, directly to the patient. Maybe one day, you'll get a scanner without leaving your bed! I hope you found some of this interesting, if you have further questions, feel free to ask Glad to join you all!

I've been volunteering at a local volunteer company in brooklyn. Lately I've began to realize that I'm not getting the best training that I could be. Mainly because most of the time the crew just seems to want to hang out instead of going on calls. Which is a shame really because in that part of brooklyn we get alot of GSW and other trauma calls. So i'm just wondering if anybody here might know which volly company might serve me better in NYC?

I need help locating any volunteer opportunities for an EMT-B in the City of Chicago. I am desperately seeking any opportunity not to loose my EMT-B skills and to continue with the EMS experiences that I've been having since I became an EMT a few weeks ago. I scoured the internet for ANY opportunity to volunteer and I literally could not find a single thing. I am going to be a full time student so I don't have time to work a job with a paid agency, and the CFD doesn't ostensibly use any volunteers and the city doesn't have any of its own ambulance departments, it just has an EMS division within the CFD. So my question is rather more of a plea. I would like to know from anyone who has had any experience as an EMT in Chicago how I can continue to volunteer. There must be some sort of outlet, I can't be the only person who wants to volunteer their EMS services in Chicago. It would seem ludicrous to me if a city with 2.7 million people didn't need any volunteers. What are ANY possible ways that I, as an EMT-B, can volunteer within the city of chicago to provide EMS services? I also completed my CEVO course so I would be willing to drive an ambulance. Is it at all possible that the CFD would take on a volunteer EMT-B (not a firefighter) just for their EMS division? Or are all EMTs in the EMS division firemen. Anyway any advice, suggestions, or overall comments would be immensely helpful, as I would like some sort of direction to help me on my search and hopefully find some sort of answer before I move at the end of the summer. Thanks!!!

As some of you know, by accident I'm responsible for a bunch of volunteers doing a great work here in my home village, not EMS (which is covered by countie's EMS where I happen to work as well) but non-transport first responding, disaster service, standby covering of events and such. Now I'm confronted with a situation I would like to discuss here - I may have my way to handle it based on my experience, but this time I will take the more scientific approach and ask you all. Situation: we have a new apprentice volunteer since february 2012. He's 16 years old, already member of his hometowns (neighbouring town) fire department youth group, member in his school's medical first responder team and now willing to get into my squad. He already got the advanced first responder course (56hr training, basic level needed for our team) from his school engagement. So far, OK. But he tends to step on my nerves. Every occasion he sees me he wants to get his equipment/clothing ASAP to be ready for service. But until now he actually had no time for a real assignment, always some excuses. After I told him there is a discrepancy between his time/age/training ability to be in service and his eager will to get proper clothing (which he will get when he needs it, sure, no need to constantly push me), he wrote me a large email. In this he did a lot of excuses about how his engagement in fire service and some duties within his family prevented him from attending our team's assignments. However, best thing in the email was a pathetic section how I dare to question his commitment to our team. Oh yeah, and how I dare! Then he described himself as a totally whacker ("even those in fire department say this") to make a proof! On the positive side: he still is young and maybe if he's a bit older he may get a clue. So the big question is: Should I throw him out now or let him some time? Due to our regulations I can give him a probation time of 2 years (!) maximum, within that I can fire him without any reason. What will be your decision or how would you try to find out? I would appreciate any input, especially from those young ones who still may see something from this in themselves. Thank you!

I am an EMT-B and I want to volunteer for the FDNY BLS units. I heard that if I sign up volunteering in some stations, I can take a BLS bus. If someone knows about it, please give me some information.

Hello to all, as you may can tell, I'm relatively new to the site and I come in peace looking for insight. Currently I am a college freshman who planned on enrolling into the nursing program in a year or two. I have come to the realization that college may not be for me, at least going the nursing route. Since growing up I always wanted to be in the medical field. I have probably looked at over 300+ Youtube videos of on the job paramedic videos, saying to myself I wish that was me. So my question for you is, how should I go about starting off? Are college credits needed for EMT-B? Any suggestions, ideas, and opinions are greatly appreciated. EDIT: Thanks for the response, I'm from Alabama and currently living in a college town with a non-volunteer service, but my hometown is volunteer only. I am just confused on the training process.