Who is the highest level of care?

[Dustdevil]

I'm not understanding the professional inequality. RT, RN, EMTP, they're all associate degree programs, and even the non-degree paramedic certificates generally require 24 months of college time on the clock.

Damn! I'd sure like some of whatever you are smoking!

Lets not forget that a good majority of the RT's are certified and not registered.

And let's also not forget that even the certified ones have more school than most paramedics, and know a lot more about their field of expertise than we do about ours.

So forget Ventmedic with his exaggerations and embellished tales.

Even exaggerations are better than the stuff you are just pulling out of your arse.

An off duty associate degreed RN, licensed Paramedic, and degreed RT all roll up on a scene, who is the highest level of provider?

LOL!! WTF? Do you really think that is even a valid question? That's the most irrelevant nonsense I've heard here in a long time. If you're going to babble pointlessly like that, at least entertain us. Maybe something like, "A Black, a Mexican, and a Jew all walk into a bar..." or something.

There is no valid answer for invalid questions. Move on.

[katbemeEMT-B]

Living in a rural area, we utilize air care often (ground ALS is thirty miles away from the hospital and farther from an scene we respond to). Sometimes air care doesn't receive the patient until the hospital and sometimes from the scene. Either way, once air care shows up, we give them our report, ask them if their is anything we can do to assist them, and off they go with the patient. The important thing to remember is that getting the patient to definitive care as quickly and safely as possible is the ultimate goal.

We actually work well with the flight crews. If they show up on scene, we immediately give our report and ask them what they would like to take over patient care. To my surprise, on a few rare occasions, they have said, "Nope, you're doing just fine. We'll take over when you get him out." This happened to be on the scene of a MVC with a trapped patient and extrication wasn't completed. After rescue freed him, the flight medic asked me to get another set of vitals, we helped them load, and off they went.

I look at it this way, flight crews, whether medics or medic/RNs, are taking over the care and responsibility of the patient. I am being relieved of my duties at that point. To sit and piss and moan over who should be in charge is pointless. If that patient crashes in the helo, it's not my ass on the line, it's the flight crew, so they should be considered primary caregiver even on scene. If it is a crew that respects the ground crew, they will listen to what you have to say and treat the patient with your perceptions and their own combined. If they chose not to listen to what you have to say, then it's on their shoulders. You've done everything you can and so should be documented.

Anywho, just my thoughts, not necessarily the right answer, but still mine.

[Richard B the EMT]

Wouldn't the highest medical authority be whoever has medical training in the International Space Station? THAT is fairly high.

(LOL)

[Scaramedic]

So forget Ventmedic with his exaggerations and embellished tales. An off duty associate degreed RN, licensed Paramedic, and degreed RT all roll up on a scene, who is the highest level of provider?

I thought Vent was a girl?

How about this: Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, an RN and Johnny From "Emergency" roll up on a scene. who has the highest authority?

[JPINFV]

Sarcastic answer:

[spoil:21d63c630c]The first two and the last person (fictional character) don't exist. Therefore it would be the RN[/spoil:21d63c630c]

Serious answer:

[spoil:21d63c630c]If they're all off duty, as in the first example, then the answer is still who ever shows up on the ambulance since none of them have an unrestricted license to practice medicine[/spoil:21d63c630c]

[Scaramedic]

Sarcastic answer:

[spoil:d2a1cb7d33]The first two and the last person (fictional character) don't exist. Therefore it would be the RN[/spoil:d2a1cb7d33]

Serious answer:

[spoil:d2a1cb7d33]If they're all off duty, as in the first example, then the answer is still who ever shows up on the ambulance since none of them have an unrestricted license to practice medicine[/spoil:d2a1cb7d33]

So I am assuming you caught the Chasing Amy reference?

[JPINFV]

No, but that's not exactly a new or unusual joke either. I did enjoy reading the Chasing Amy version on IMDB though.

[ERDoc]

I'm not understanding the professional inequality. RT, RN, EMTP, they're all associate degree programs, and even the non-degree paramedic certificates generally require 24 months of college time on the clock. Lets not forget that a good majority of the RT's are certified and not registered. All have the option of a higher degree. So forget Ventmedic with his exaggerations and embellished tales. An off duty associate degreed RN, licensed Paramedic, and degreed RT all roll up on a scene, who is the highest level of provider?

Where to start? A good number of RN and RT programs are bachelor degree programs. There are plenty of paramedic programs that do not require any college credits and even fewer that are bachelor degree programs. The ones where I came from required only a GED.

In your scenario, leaving out the paramedic, there would be no question of who is in charge. The answer is no one and everyone. RNs and RTs are used to working in a setting where teamwork is valued and the team works together. There would be no pissing matches over who is higher and who has a bigger penis. They would focus on what needs to be done for the pt and not whose ego needs the biggest stroking. :roll:

Honestly, without an ambulance or equipment all are pretty useless on a scene so does it really matter? Hell, even I'm pretty useless on a scene without the proper equipment. That being said, I guess I would rather have a paramedic on the scene because they are the most likely to have their trunk filled with buff gear. Thoracotomy tray please!!!

[Dustdevil]

I guess I would rather have a paramedic on the scene because they are the most likely to have their trunk filled with buff gear. Thoracotomy tray please!!!

LMAO!

Intentional or not, that actually makes an excellent point about EMS. Most providers are much more valuable for the junk they are carrying than for any "skills" they think they have.

[JPINFV]

Intentional or not, that actually makes an excellent point about EMS. Most providers are much more valuable for the junk they are carrying than for any "skills" they think they have.

EMTs: