Teenage EMTs - YouTube Video

[JPINFV]

There's a reason insurance for under 21 males is astronomically high. Don't even start.

Besides sexism and age discrimination? Anytime you see people proposing restrictions on old drivers you see the AARP come out in force. Maybe we need something like that!

As far as my sister, the adrenalin had more to do with her deciding to leave the scene and go to school. She was lucky that the car's owner took pity on her and refused to press charges for hit and run.

Also, purely technically speaking, an underage driver would have to be someone that is too young to legally drive. If a 16 year old licensed driver is "underage" then we need to come up with a new word for an 18 y/o drinking alcohol. A 9 year old would generally be considered an underage driver, for example. That said, I do, as a rule, agree with the idea that of graduated licenses and that you should have some experience driving a normal vehicle before you are eligible to get behind the wheel of an emergency vehicle.

/insurance dropped in half to 100/month for full coverage when I turned 21.

[Eydawn]

Statistics. And YES, it is discrimination and it would be great if there was a political voice for the under 21 drivers... but those 18 and up don't vote. Bummer! Most old folks, btw, get in MORE wrecks than the younger bracket, but they are low speed lower damage collisions.

I'm not sure what you meant about your sister leaving a scene? Lost me there.

And I carried over "underage" from EMT's to drivers... sorry. I mean under 21 drivers.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[JPINFV]

I'm not sure what you meant about your sister leaving a scene? Lost me there.

And I carried over "underage" from EMT's to drivers... sorry. I mean under 21 drivers.

Wendy

CO EMT-B

She left the scene as in

1. windows fogged up

2. slow down AND pull to the right [on a residential street!]

3. hit car parked on street

4. freak out

5. drive to school without even leaving a note

6. Dragged back to scene by police who found her looking at the damage while parked at the high school that is less than a block from where we used to live.

[mediccjh]

After reading through all 8 pages, and wanting to bang my head against the wall numerous times, I think I'm gonna chime in.

I started at 14, started going on EMS jobs at 16. My first cardiac arrest was at 16, and it was my friend's father. Did that fuck me up in the head? Yes, for about a week. I was also lucky enough to have good providers to take me under their wing and form me into the medic I am now. They also knew when to talk to me and shield me.

I found something I enjoyed, and turned it into my career. Because of this, I did miss out on some of the things a normal 16 y/o would do. Would I go back and change it? No. Things happen for a reason.

The proverbial "Which came first?" question applies here. We all want competent, educated providers with experience, but how are above providers supposed to get educated and experienced? This argument has been going on since the beginning of time, and will continue forever.

Am I f--ked up in the head? Yes, I am. I have seen the things that some 16 y/o shouldn't have to deal with, including aforementioned arrest. However, it is a choice I made that my parents agreed with. It probably was because I was always mature for my age, all the way back to elementary school.

I still love my job and wouldn't do anything else in the world.

Sorry, I've seen the results of post 16 year old EMT's. Look around and see how many you find 5, 10, 25+ years? Looks like Dust and I are few remnants that survived.

R/r 911

I'm one of them. 10 years so far, though I know I have a LOT more years I need to work to catch up to you two.

[Asysin2leads]

Something I should mention. I think the thing about this video that pissed most people off isn't the fact that there were 16 year olds on the bus, but the fact it made it seem that these kids were running the show. I hope they're not running the show. They're not running the show, are they?

In retrospect, having a 16 year old tag along on the call is not the worse thing that can happen to EMS. Having an Emergency Medical Service based on 16 year olds is one of the worse things, however. Knowwhatimean?

[Timmy]

Have you read there website?

The requirements: http://www.post53.org/postielife.html

The training: http://www.post53.org/training.html

Or when they dual respond with paramedics: http://www.post53.org/paramedic.html

Going by the pictures in the photos gallery it appears that the kids are running the show.

EDIT: Insert article: http://publicsafety.com/article/article.js...p;siteSection=2

[kyle308]

I am much more in favor of underage folks being part of a 3 man team with two fully certified adults. .

Wendy

CO EMT-B

Yhis is the kind of system i work in to do my ride alongs and learn. It's working very well for me, and has taught me alot.

[spenac]

Yhis is the kind of system i work in to do my ride alongs and learn. It's working very well for me, and has taught me alot.

I can see young people working along side 2 experienced people. We all get experience somehow. Personally I was much older when I started EMS and think the age and life experience proved very beneficial to myself and how I treat patients.

[Dustdevil]

lol@"proof" :oops:

I actually showed that pic to an ex-gf of mine once (yes, believe it or not, I really have had more than one gf in my life), and she just looked at it and said, "Proof of what?"

I started at 14, started going on EMS jobs at 16. My first cardiac arrest was at 16, and it was my friend's father. Did that fuck me up in the head? Yes, for about a week. I was also lucky enough to have good providers to take me under their wing and form me into the medic I am now. They also knew when to talk to me and shield me.

Listen, I am all for Explorer programmes. But there is a significant difference between "going on jobs," and being the primary provider with the total responsibility for the life or death of your friend's father. That's where the real psychological impact comes in. Rid and I weren't Explorers, third-manning a volly squad at 16, helping an adult who took the ultimate responsibility. There was nobody telling us what to do. There was nobody we could point a finger at afterwards and say, "well, I would have done it different, but he said to do it this way." We were the lone providers in the back of the ambulance, and whatever happened fell on our shoulders, and ours alone. I'm not patting myself on the back about it. I'm just pointing out that it is an insane, archaic concept that anybody with half a brain figured out was stupid thirty years ago. And it appears that is what is going on with the kids we are talking about too. Again, there is a very significant difference in psychological impact between those two scenarios.

Just because we walked ten miles to school, barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways, and took off from class to help harvest the corn back in our day, doesn't mean that our kids should still be doing that thirty years later. That's not tradition. That's just failure to progress. It's retarded. If these kids want to be medical professionals someday, God bless them. But instead of encouraging them to skip school to go play dress up, we should be encouraging them to spend MORE time on educational preparation, receiving something much more valuable to their future than a chance to see blood and play with the siren.

This is not helping their career goals. This is not helping their education. This is not helping the community. And, in fact, it is putting all three at significant risk. What possible good can come from this, besides saving money in a community that is not poor to begin with?

[mediccjh]

lol@"proof" :oops:

I actually showed that pic to an ex-gf of mine once (yes, believe it or not, I really have had more than one gf in my life), and she just looked at it and said, "Proof of what?"

Listen, I am all for Explorer programmes. But there is a significant difference between "going on jobs," and being the primary provider with the total responsibility for the life or death of your friend's father. That's where the real psychological impact comes in. Rid and I weren't Explorers, third-manning a volly squad at 16, helping an adult who took the ultimate responsibility. There was nobody telling us what to do. There was nobody we could point a finger at afterwards and say, "well, I would have done it different, but he said to do it this way." We were the lone providers in the back of the ambulance, and whatever happened fell on our shoulders, and ours alone. I'm not patting myself on the back about it. I'm just pointing out that it is an insane, archaic concept that anybody with half a brain figured out was stupid thirty years ago. And it appears that is what is going on with the kids we are talking about too. Again, there is a very significant difference in psychological impact between those two scenarios.

Just because we walked ten miles to school, barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways, and took off from class to help harvest the corn back in our day, doesn't mean that our kids should still be doing that thirty years later. That's not tradition. That's just failure to progress. It's retarded. If these kids want to be medical professionals someday, God bless them. But instead of encouraging them to skip school to go play dress up, we should be encouraging them to spend MORE time on educational preparation, receiving something much more valuable to their future than a chance to see blood and play with the siren.

This is not helping their career goals. This is not helping their education. This is not helping the community. And, in fact, it is putting all three at significant risk. What possible good can come from this, besides saving money in a community that is not poor to begin with?

+100 for showing your true age. So what was it like working EMS in the 1400s?