States

[kristo]

That's so true. I tried talking to some of my classmates about EMS and the low standards. The response was basically, "Yea? So what, all they're supposed to do is drive people to the hospital, they don't have to understand all that much." It's so nice knowing how ignorant some of the future physicians are going to be of prehospital medicine.

This is the same way on my end of the ocean. Medical students, regardless of which year, and even newly graduated doctors look at it this way. They like their ambulance drivers, they respect them in a way, but not as medical providers. More like quick drivers who can stay calm themselves, calm other people down, get safely up on a glacier and back down (certain areas). The medical expertise on ambulances in serious calls, however, should be in the hands of the doctor.

I remember a conversation I had with a friend of mine, who's had his MD for a year now. He'd been working as a doctor during the summer for two years (i.e. after 4th and 5th years, and some weekends during 6th year), and the topic of EMTs (meaning any certification level of ambulance driver) came up. I said something to the effect that EMTs should have the capability to interpret answers to the typical questions, like which meds the patient is on, pertinent medical history, etc. He was a bit surprised and said...it's not the EMT's job to ask questions like that, it's the job of the doctor...

That about sums it up. EMS is such an underrepresented profession, even many people who work with them have no idea what they do. A major part of the problem is the large portion of the EMS profession who don't know what they (should) do. Happy being (not so) glorified taxi drivers.

Another interesting trivia - in some rural areas of Iceland, the hospital janitors double as ambulance drivers. I actually happened to see an advertisement for such a position just under a year ago. :roll:

Of course, in rural areas, a lot of the time, a doctor rides with the ambulance, so it's not as bad as it sounds.

[VentMedic]

Another interesting trivia - in some rural areas of Iceland, the hospital janitors double as ambulance drivers. I actually happened to see an advertisement for such a position just under a year ago. :roll:

Of course, in rural areas, a lot of the time, a doctor rides with the ambulance, so it's not as bad as it sounds.

U.S. trivia

In the U.S., Funeral Home directors and workers (grave diggers) ran the ambulance services in small towns until the late 1980s...without doctors on the ambulance.

[JPINFV]

EMS, so easy a ditch digger can do it?

[brentoli]

RE: Indiana

Those levels are all still active. There are a few classes around the state each year.

The county I live in though will only recognize EMT-B and EMT-P

As of March 14th:

EMS PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION

First Responders currently certified 6,398

EMTs to be certified this date 164

EMTs currently certified 16,448

EMTs recertified this date 10

EMT Basic Advanced to be certified this date 11

EMT Basic Advanced currently certified 1,258

EMT Basic Advanced recertified this date 0

EMT Paramedics to be certified this date 16

EMT Paramedics currently certified 2,981

EMT Paramedics recertified this date 4

EMT Intermediates to be certified this date 1

EMT Intermediates currently certified 167

EMT Intermediates recertified this date 0

Temporary certificates issued:

EMT-B 6

EMT Paramedic 3

Drivers Certifications currently certified: 1302

http://www.in.gov/dhs/files/emsmindraft_308.pdf

[NewportMedic]

New Hampshire uses EMT-I's, We use them quite a bit. Most of our dept. is at that level now.