should we do away with EMT certification

[Dustdevil]

Come now, yup, what you guys have said is mostly true, but you can't expect someone who has only been exposed to a completely different outlook and mentality to do a 180 because of what random people on the net say. Para, stick around and give it some time to sink in...read some related posts.

LOL! Well, it's not like she is some clueless n00b. She's been here almost as long as the rest of us. That's why I have a hard time buying this, "I can't believe what I'm hearing here!" line. It's not that she can't believe it. She simply won't believe it. There is none so blind as those who refuse to see.

Hey, I think I'll write a book about this! I'll call it, "An Inconvenient Truth" 8)

[brentoli]

Even the hillbilly raized Ozarkian, like me, can figure you if you pick up trash for me, the trashmen are going to be in your front yard with lead pipes.

I run on a volly department, but only because there is a long term plan in place (which is being acted upon) to transition into paid. Right now we have 2 paid members on staff, and have plans to add more every year for 24/7 coverage + ALS. If I was on a hillbilly joe department with no hopes of anything, I would have been guilted out of leaving it a lonnngggg time ago.

[defib_wizard]

Once again I have been told that the system I work in sucks, because we have emts running calls. I didn't realize that when we see one set of footprints in the sand dustdevil must be carrying us! Unlike the area you must be in we don't have an infinite amount of paramedics to staff the rigs. So I shall humble myself and ask for advice. How do we fix this problem? Instead of criticizing and being demeaning maybe you can come up with a solution that my coworkers and I haven't thought of.

I look forward to your reply.

[towheadedmule]

Once again I have been told that the system I work in sucks, because we have emts running calls. I didn't realize that when we see one set of footprints in the sand dustdevil must be carrying us! Unlike the area you must be in we don't have an infinite amount of paramedics to staff the rigs. So I shall humble myself and ask for advice. How do we fix this problem? Instead of criticizing and being demeaning maybe you can come up with a solution that my coworkers and I haven't thought of.

I look forward to your reply.

Well since you didn't give your location, and I hoping for PERSEC reasons you did not put it on your profile, we have to surmise you are in NJ. Given that, have you tried to unionize?

Are the cops vollies too in NJ?

R

[Dustdevil]

Are the cops vollies too in NJ?

This is the beginning of enlightenment. Ask yourself what other public "professions" are filled by volunteers in your community. Cops? Teachers? School bus drivers? Public transportation drivers? Snow plow drivers? Garbage collectors? Pot hole fillers? Highway stripe painters? Ditch diggers? City Hall janitors? The City Secretary? The City Clerk? The City Attorney? What about the mechanics who care for all of the city and county vehicles? Are they volunteers? How about your dispatchers? Now, what exactly is it about EMS -- requiring a whole three weeks of training -- that is so special that it should be any different than any of those other jobs? Why would your community believe that you are less deserving of a living wage than any of those other guys? I'll tell you why; because of YOU! Because YOU put no value on yourself or your services. If you don't value yourself, why should anyone else value you?

Your community doesn't set your price. YOU set your price. YOU are the reason why you are worth nothing. And YOU can change that. Come on, this is not rocket surgery. This is Economics 101. Supply and demand. A shortage of something does not diminish its value. If anything, it significantly INCREASES its value! If your community doesn't value you, then YOU are the only one to blame. If you're smart enough to take human lives into your hands, I really think you ought to be smart enough to figure this all out, or at least to understand it when explained to you.

Unlike the area you must be in we don't have an infinite amount of paramedics to staff the rigs. So I shall humble myself and ask for advice. How do we fix this problem? Instead of criticizing and being demeaning maybe you can come up with a solution that my coworkers and I haven't thought of.

That's easy; quit. You and your co-"workers" all up and quit today. Walk away. Muster up an ounce of self-respect and say to yourself and your community, "I am valuable. What I provide to my community has worth." Also ask yourself, "what motivates me to 'give back' to a community that gives me nothing?" Obviously, you are getting something out of it. Otherwise, volunteering valuable time away from yours and your family's lives would be nothing but self-abuse. So what is it that keeps you coming back when you know that your community thinks you are worth nothing? It really comes down to a simple ego stroke. You are sacrificing your dignity, the safety of your community, and the viability of an entire profession just to have your ego stroked. It really doesn't get any more selfish than that. So do you see why many of us have a really hard time buying your altruistic claim to wanting to "give back" to your community? It just doesn't add up.

Quit today. Every one of you. Leave a letter on the seat of the ambulance explaining what I just told you. I am betting that it will take less than one week for your community to have professional, full-time, ALS EMS provided to take your place. And, now with paying paramedic jobs suddenly available in your community, there is a reason for professionally minded people to want to go to paramedic school, eliminating the shortage for the future. But as long as YOU continue to work to ensure that there are no jobs for paramedics in your community, YOU will continue to ensure that there is a shortage of paramedics.

[ERDoc]

In fact, one could argue that volunteers are more dedicated than those getting paid to work in the field.

No, you cannot make that arguement. This has been debated many times here. Just because you have decided to give away your services does not make you more dedicated. I have dedicated my life to taking care of people and given up a lot to do so. I have missed birthdays, christmas, soccer games and the like. During medical school and residency my wife was essentailly a single parent and it killed me to here about the things I missed at home (first steps, etc). I now have a nice paycheck, so what. Does that mean I am not dedicated? Absolutely not. DO NOT even try to play that game as you are ignorant to how wrong you are. I've spent more time learning about the anatomy of the hand than you did in your entire EMT course. If you were truly as dedicated as you want people to think you are, you wouldn't accept being just an EMT. Don't even go there. I've been on both sides and can tell you, doing it for free does not make you any more dedicated.

Because of our system, if Medic was the only certification, they would be wasting their time transporting the sprained ankles and head colds.

That is the weakest argument I've ever heard. If that is the case, then they are wasting my time as they certainly do not need a doctor, but I seem them just the same.

[defib_wizard]

Im sorry my posts were confused with the volunteers. I work full-time as a paid paramedic and am paid rather well. I started in this field as a volly ff-emt but we did not transport. The local amb was paid. I have been full-time paid for over 15 years now. I haven't been to NJ and by the sounds of things I don't want to go. I work in the southwest USA where the air is clear the heat is dry and the grass is; well brown.

I don't feel like quitting this job. So that is not a solution, and we are hiring but not too many people want to live in the middle of nowhere.

[towheadedmule]

My profound apologies Defib.

R

[defib_wizard]

no problem.

[Dustdevil]

My profound apologies Defib.

Yeah, I thought I was still talking to Paramistress. Sorry for the confusion.