should we do away with EMT certification

[WelshMedic]

There's only one EMT-B on this earth that makes me happy or my world go round, but she's a nurse too. And the day she becomes a medic, I will have no other use in the world for any EMT-B.

Oh boy, you sure got the bug real bad.......

(Ps - Scott is right about Zippy, he real does talk bollox. He describes a world that I never encountered in the 10 years I spent nursing in the UK)

[Dustdevil]

(Ps - Scott is right about Zippy, he real does talk bollox. He describes a world that I never encountered in the 10 years I spent nursing in the UK)

Okay... I thought maybe so. I seemed to remember something about Scott being from there from previous discussions, but I wasn't sure if he had actually practised there or not.

Cheers.

[zippyRN]

question for scott and welshmedic - how long have you been out of UK practice?

a hell of a lot of stuff has changed in the past 5 years and there is a still quite a lot on inconsistancy between trusts - also MMC has changed the balalnce of power even further with junior doc rotas which aremuch more F2 heavy in some clinical areas reducing the experience available

[scott33]

Never practiced there, never (ever) claimed to.

I would however, rather trust information from a variety of UK sources, personally known or related to to me, and currently practicing, than from one forum user who freely admits "posting for provocation purposes"

[spook000]

Well, heres a thought from an aussie.

Here in Australia, It is now difficult (underline) DIFFICULT to become a Paramedic without a degree. Although even with a Degree it can be not hard but a long journey. In australia at the current time there are only several Universities or collages that offer a Degree in Pre-hospital Care or Bachelor of Clinical Practice which are both Paramedic degrees.

The Ambulance Services (EMS) here in Australia are run under the State governments, which are similar to the states in the USA. For example my state of New South Wales (NSW), has considered for the past couple of years implementing a system where it is a requirement to hold a university degree to become a Paramedic in NSW.

Once you have been selected as an applicant you then undergo vigerous training system to the Ambulance Service of New South Wales standards of a Paramedic.

It is a good system in theory but to implement the system would be costly, and time consuming.

[PRPGfirerescuetech]

ok, this came up to me in a discussion that I had a couple of weeks ago with a colleague at Shock Trauma in Baltimore.

Should we just do away with EMT certification and only go with paramedic?

Arguments for: One certification only. Consistency in teaching standards. Enhanced patient care

Arguments against: cost, time, grandfathering in old emt's, numbers of students already in emt class.

anyone else have thoughts.

By the way this person I talked to was all for doing away with EMT and going only with EMT-P.

The positives drastically outweigh the negatives.

We've been through this a billion times.

Its time to advance the craft to a level acceptable to what it deserves.

[Ridryder 911]

I always chuckle when reading these posts. It always appear those that inform what Paramedics can do or how inferior one or another are those that do not possess both license? Another, chuckle.. those that do not have a license as a health care professional rather certified, usually does not understand the difference. No, it is NOT semantics, again if you had one, you would understand.. I suggest looking at the formal definition for clarity.

I don't care how many Paramedics or Nurses one knows, or if your granny is both, unless, one has completed the curriculum and educational process of both, one cannot make a fair analyses. I know a lot of surgeons and dentists, but I do not try compare them with each other.

Dust and I will be the first to inform the faults of both profession, as some others that hold the education and license of both. We have been in EMS and Nursing long enough with academic backgrounds of the educational and instructional methods and knowing the didactic and clinical requirements of each profession.

Paramedic have a limited educational scope. Period. It maybe more in-depth in certain areas, as it should be, but limited, but that is part of the problem. It does not have to be, unfortunately few educational facilities enforces and requires anything more than that. Where as nursing has a more broad spectrum and diverse educational back ground. The specialization usually occurs after graduation, but they have the general education allows for expenditure. Again, remarkably emergency and critical care is not the only speciality in medicine.

Now, with that said general nurses are definitely not ... highly trained or educated in emergency or critical care .. through their general nursing studies. In fact cannot even be tested in the license exam (NCLEX) over emergency treatment other than BLS. Again, it is they become specialized to become proficient in that area.

Back to the topic, let's get away from first aid and emphasize medical care. No ALS, BLS just providing medical care. Whatever license level that is (hint Paramedic) should be the primary goal. Teaching first responder care, can be just that ... (hence EMT's as EMFR) and they can do that without being part of EMS itself.

R/r 911

[tamaith]

i believe that emt are a good thing. not just because i am one. who would do the transporting ? paramedics? then who would do the 911 paramedics? maybe thats fine in small towns but i know in phila, pa there is already a shortage of paramedics for the 911 system so if emt b's got eliminated that would destroy phila, pa. half of the emtb s will not make it to paramedics not sure if i will it it a difficult career. so you can't just say that all the emtb s will become medics

[chbare]

With that logic allow me to argue the following? Because of the nursing shortage we should let non educated providers take over the RN role. After all, we cannot expect CNA's to go to nursing school. Oh wait this is happening. The difference being, nurses are fighting to stop this practice and ensure some kind of standard of care is met. In fact, nearly every health care profession I know of is pushing for consistent standards of care. Look at respiratory providers, physical therapists, and mid level providers. Yet, I continue to hear the same old argument from other areas of health care. Something is better than nothing.

Take care,

chbare.

[Dustdevil]

Of all the dead threads out there collecting dust, this was quite possibly one of the very worst to even think of bringing back up. Especially just to restate the same old, worn out, disproven BS that only a n00b could possibly believe.