Should I Write My Own EMS Textbook?

[Guest]

As for who should write a text book....I'm not qualified to say.

But here is what got my attention when I went to enroll in EMT-B classes. They asked me if I had a high school diploma or GED. I said yes. They never even asked to see proof of it. They just took my word for it.

On the other hand my sister went to school to learn to draw blood, and she had to take entrance exams on math and English/grammar. If she would have failed either section she would have had to take remedial courses along with her regular class work for her chosen field.

So, I've now set through class with a bunch of 19 y/o kids (talk about making you feel old) and watched them fail exam after exam and complain about how difficult the classes were. (At the same time my son who is 10 y/o read my text book and was able to complete all the homework with "grades" equal to mine.) A few dropped the class, and most of the others were put on "academic probation" before finally taking the class seriously enough to bring up the grades. We even had one classmate who couldn't complete a 50 question test on pediatrics in less than two hours!

Why aren't the colleges that we now have to register with requiring entrance exams for EMTs? It seems to me that it would weed out a lot of the undedicated and uneducated students and allow for more in-depth teaching in the classroom.

[irlemt]

Don't forget in order to attract the more literate (I couldn't spell academic !!) student. EMS as a career has to be better paid with better career opportunities. There will always be the need for volunteers but realistically why would the better educated candidate ( who could become an RN, or Doctor etc) choose a career with little or no (by US comparisons) financial reward.

[THE_DITCH_DOCTOR]

Don't forget in order to attract the more literate (I couldn't spell academic !!) student. EMS as a career has to be better paid with better career opportunities. There will always be the need for volunteers but realistically why would the better educated candidate ( who could become an RN, or Doctor etc) choose a career with little or no (by US comparisons) financial reward.

From what my friend Jamie tells me EMS in Ireland isn't exactly a job that makes money hand over fist either. Guess some things are universal.

[irlemt]

Firstly I have to say I don't work front line EMS but you can make a living at it. Obviously we'll never be paid like Dr's etc but then we don't have ALS yet and as far as jobs go it wouldn't be considered a bad job, and you wouldn't be looked down on for being an EMT. Luckily in my class when I trained everyone seemed to have a good education ( maybe not college or university) and we finished with most of the people we started with. I believe over here it's even harder to get into an EMT class ( only available at two sites and one of them is not open to the public) and assessment tests have to be passed before acceptance. It's also very expensive ( over €2,000 + ) which helps keep time wasters out.

But like EMS everywhere I'd love if they paid us more !!

[Ridryder 911]

Sorry, you are getting the impression that you can not make a living in EMS, here in the U.S.. It all depends on all of the location & region of where you want to be employed. You also have to remember we are a work driven society here. I know physicians that work part time to add to their income although they make over 1/2 a million a yr. Our work ethics are different here, we appear to live to work instead of working to live. Most health care professional work between 40-140 hrs a week, depending on the need or drive they have.

You also need to recognize our country is very diverse, & most countries is smaller than some of our states.

Actually, I am fortunate to be employed at a local EMS that pays Paramedics comparably to RN's. Some even make more than RN's for 10 shifts a month. .. & in our larger local city some are equal to middle to higher middle income. Yes, unfortunately, most EMS do not receive excellent pay. However; we are one of the few medical profession that does not go through the traditional education process (degree required) before employment.

Nothing against volunteers, but as long as a community or personal choose this avenue, EMS will never have a higher paying avenue. It makes no sense to pay a middle income to an applicant if you get someone for free (please, no dis-respect intended).

Yes, we have several issues & problems in EMS & especially in the U.S. But, lets at look who also invented the majority of equipment & technology. NASA who pioneered bio-telemetry, micro-monitoring, & medical advances to our military with their on-going research in trauma.

So yes, you can be a professional EMT or Paramedic, just dependent on what your obligations, desire, & drive is.

Respectfully,

Ridryder 911

[emtchick1985]

I say go for it if you feel you are prepared to share your knowledge...make sure that you are ready for the hard work...

[Great_Llama]

Well I can't comment on the book idea. I've never read any of the other guys stuff, but I did read some stuff on his website and it seemed pretty good. Though I'm of the opinion it never hurts to try. It's your time and if everyone who was told, "you can't do it" listened, we'd not have alot of the books and history that we do have.

As to schools. I'm so new to this I don't know what is what. I know I want to be the best, most well educated medic I can be. My school that I am about to go to actually made me take two entrance exams. The first one seemed pretty simple, the second one was very much harder. I'm an excellent test taker and score well above average in most cases, but this last test I took was pretty hard and I don't think every group in the school has to take it. I know in my school the EMT and medic classes are the smallest in the school and the school's entire focus is medical and dental (medical assistants, dental assistants, etc). From what I can tell, compared to the colleges in my area they have the longest and most informative curriculum. The only longer entrance test I had to take was when I went to enter DeVry. So I don't know what the colleges entry exam is like, but the private schools certainly make sure you have a clue about the basics and to my knowledge they are picky about who they let in. I basically had to go through an interview with admissions and with the director of admissions all about why I want to study to be an EMT, etc, to Gauge if I understood the job basically and if I had the aptitude to do it.

As to the idea of ambulances becoming mobile health care units, do you think that means nurses will take over ems? I have to agree with what someone else said above. My class is costing me alot as it is, especially considering I'll never make a ton of money doing this job. I can certainly live on the pay, but compared to people with a 4 year degree and their income potential, it doesn't compare. And though I eventually plan to get my degree, it will be in nursing, not ems administration, which is the only bach degree I see here for ems. Medics can go as high as an associates. To invest 4 years to become a medic and then get paid the rate I'll be getting paid, isn't worth the investment. Not to stay at that level at any rate. It kinda makes sense to me though to push medics at least to the associates route, since nurses require bachelors and doctors four years beyond that. Kinda like things double the higher you go. Though again here, the programs for medics seem better at the private schools than they do at the colleges. Seems they just want to push you the ems admin route. What do you see as the difference between training and education? I guess I have always treated them the same because I love to learn, so I'm always studying the things I'm involved in.

Also, what is a coffee clinical? I've heard the term, but don't understand it. Thanks.

Llama

[shorthairedpunk]

a coffee clinical means you have time to sit and drink coffee during your clinical shifts and it still counts as an education credit even though you didnt actually do anything

[lemonlimeEMT]

If you are asking how to change EMS it starts at State levels. Mandate requirements of entry level into EMT education (notice I did not say training). Almost all other health care programs require an entry level requirements. I believe it is way too easy to become a medic. If it was harder & even more costly, we would not have as many drop out of the profession.

I fully agree. From my own experience, I feel like a lot of the programs out there have too low of standards. I took the basic class as a senior in high school and the only requirements for getting into the program was 3 teacher recomendations and a small interview-not hard at all, no real standard. And no offense to the program I took, but really it kind of sucked. I learned more from 2 years of health science technology in high school prior to the emt class and then in anatomy & physiology in college than I ever learned in my emt-b class. The only thing I learned from the class was some of the skills (those that I did not already know). Only 8 people out the entire program tested for NR and TDH; 70% dropped out. Fresh out of the program I felt 100% unprepared to work as an EMT. I think I learned more after I had my certification than I ever learned in class. I think EMT programs of any level need to have higher standards, not just of what they teach but higher entrance standards. Maybe there should be some sort of entrance exam or something, just to show that those in the program are competent engouh to actually learn everything and gain an actual education not just some training. Oh and Rid, I really loved what you said about "shifting from training set of mind to true education". WELL SAID.

Just my two cents...

[Summit]

i agree with resqbee. some othese replies are pretty harsh. USAF is highly knowledgable and i would say that he is at least in the 95th percentile for this site. USAF can be direct but i've never seen him try to make anyone feel stupid (unless there was already a flame war in progress). he makes very educational posts here and is a good member of this community. if you feel offended by the fact that someone knows more than you, that is your problem and you should look to fix it by adjusting your attitude AND learning more.

a coffee clinical means you have time to sit and drink coffee during your clinical shifts and it still counts as an education credit even though you didnt actually do anything

all but one of my basic clinicals was like that. pathetic. i had zero calls on my ambulance rotations. it hurt me when i then started my ambulance job. it is a good thing i learned (in the real world) fast.

we all know that the current ems education system is not nearly the standard it should be and that it is symptomatic of the ems system

if my basic class hadnt had a wilderness section attatched (which was infinately harder) i would have felt 100% unprepared to be an EMT