should we do away with EMT certification

[letmesleep]

It looks to me that there are plenty of us, here, who all agree (EMT and medic) that there is just not enough education given in the basic course, as 4kids stated. I will ask then, if we know this then why don't we continue to the medic level and get a more advanced education about the job we do? I also will add that stopping or even going on to the EMT-I level is a waste of your time. go all the way! If we are not getting the education out of the EMT course there should be, then there is no reason to stop and just say "I'm good with this license". How can any one of us, especially the EMT lifers, argue that education is the key if you stop at the most basic level in our field?

[Arizonaffcep]

There would have to be an incentive for people to spend four years training. A bridge over program to nursing or PA etc would have to built in. I wouldn't want to go to college for four years to get undergrad, then four years to train in EMS, then after 8 years in the field realize I don't want to retire out loading gurneys into the ambulance, still paying back my student loans . . .

I was actually thinking it could be a BS degree, any higher and I think we would loose good people. But the format could be similar. One good incentive, as part of the curriculum, you could build in the pre-reqs for RN/PA/MD schools. I know for med school, MCATS require 2 semesters chemistry, 2 semesters biology, 2 semesters physics, and 2 semesters organic chemistry. Off hand, I would add at least 2 semesters of 200 level +A&P, some math, maybe up to college algebra or a little higher (I'm thinking trig is a little excessive). Another good addition would be an EMS specific leadership series, similar to the NFA's leadership 1, 2, 3 classes. Just thoughts. What do you guys think?

[VentMedic]

I will ask then, if we know this then why don't we continue to the medic level and get a more advanced education about the job we do? I also will add that stopping or even going on to the EMT-I level is a waste of your time. go all the way! If we are not getting the education out of the EMT course there should be, then there is no reason to stop and just say "I'm good with this license". How can any one of us, especially the EMT lifers, argue that education is the key if you stop at the most basic level in our field?

As an EMT- B or I (or any of the 50+ inbetween certs) you can still have some of the fun and be in the field without the additional responsibility and accountability of being a Paramedic.

[letmesleep]

So true Vent.....................

[towheadedmule]

Get to do the "fun" stuff with out having to make hard decisions or the responsiblity. Thanks

[towheadedmule]

Get to do the "fun" stuff with out having to make hard decisions or the responsiblity. Thanks

[Arizonaffcep]

So true Vent.....................

Not really though...if the EMT-I is the highest provider o/s, then they have all the responsability as the highest level of care.

[VentMedic]

Not really though...if the EMT-I is the highest provider o/s, then they have all the responsability as the highest level of care.

It is still not the highest level of training or education in a profession that even the highest level (Paramedic) is considered very low. It is just a few extra hours of training with only a handful of skills. Usually the knowledge behind those skills at that level is barely above the EMT-B. It leads to more fragmentation of the system and the incompleteness of EMS education needed to become a respected healthcare profession.

[letmesleep]

Not really though...if the EMT-I is the highest provider o/s, then they have all the responsability as the highest level of care.

The same could be said for an EMT in a BLS system, but why do we settle for this? I find it funny that none of the EMTs who have responded to this post have even tried to answer that question with any valid answer other than they simply choose to. The EMT-I level is, in my opinion, an example of laziness. I can hear it at the registration counter now...."No, No, I want to be a medic, but not a complete or full medic. I'd like to push some drugs, but I don't want to know anything about them really." or "I want all the glory that those medics get," (yeah right) "but I don't want to go through all that schooling to get it."

Personally, I'll take the EMT-lifer over a lazy ass EMT-I any day!

[Arizonaffcep]

The same could be said for an EMT in a BLS system, but why do we settle for this? I find it funny that none of the EMTs who have responded to this post have even tried to answer that question with any valid answer other than they simply choose to. The EMT-I level is, in my opinion, an example of laziness. I can hear it at the registration counter now...."No, No, I want to be a medic, but not a complete or full medic. I'd like to push some drugs, but I don't want to know anything about them really." or "I want all the glory that those medics get," (yeah right) "but I don't want to go through all that schooling to get it."

Personally, I'll take the EMT-lifer over a lazy ass EMT-I any day!

I agree the "I" level is fairly useless. Don't know how it is elsewhere, but in AZ, they can do everything a medic can, except central lines. With a lot less schooling. How Cool!