A change in the advance skills

[fire/emt]

hello all

In idaho we went to a medical board and most of them are doctors but one.

and now they want to change are skills use of medication 10 lead ekg ect. ect.

and this will need around 200 hours of more training. don't get me wrong i would like more skills but trying to put 200 hours with a fulltime job just don't fit.

we are a volunteer service and most of idaho is. so has anyone out there went thought this

or going thought this now.

[paramedicmike]

You don't tell us what level provider you are now so it's a little difficult to help with the overall presentation of your post.

If this was your job and you took it seriously 200 hours of additional training wouldn't be a big deal. You would find a way to get it done. After all if your employer said to you you needed additional training to keep your job you would get the training, wouldn't you?

So now the question becomes how dedicated to this are you? If you are truly dedicated to doing right by your patients then this won't be a big deal. You will make it work. If you aren't truly dedicated to doing right by your patients then please do them, and the community at large, a favor and stick with the fire side and avoid EMS. Or you could find a new hobby all together.

Good luck.

BTW, just so you know, mine may well be one of the gentler posts on this topic you may receive. Please don't think I'm being harsh. I'm actually holding back a bit.

-be safe

[AZCEP]

Way to go Mike. Make the rest of us look bad.

I'm not going to sugar coat this, you need to put up or shut up. 200 hours is ridiculous to complain about. Much like the fact that you are willing to volunteer your time. Especially considering that Idaho is home to one of the more progressive departments I've ever heard of. Ada paramedics ring a bell?

You are not going to find any sympathy here, but welcome to the site anyway.

[Just Plain Ruff]

hello all

In idaho we went to a medical board and most of them are doctors but one.

and now they want to change are skills use of medication 10 lead ekg ect. ect.

and this will need around 200 hours of more training. don't get me wrong i would like more skills but trying to put 200 hours with a fulltime job just don't fit.

we are a volunteer service and most of idaho is. so has anyone out there went thought this

or going thought this now.

First thought comes to mind is this, what level provider are you? I assume that since you are complaining about 200 hours that you are an intermediate. If you are an emt then maybe you need to go to medic school if you can?

AS for the 200 hours, thats 12 hours per week (a saturday all day and one weeknight from 6p-10p ought to do it) for a whopping total of 16 weeks. Not bad for 4 months. Heck, all you are talking about is a 16 week class.

So you just bite the bullet and get the skills and training. It's not just about skills, it's about what you can learn.

Since you are a volunteer, can you tell us why your volunteer service has not gone paid?

[chbare]

Why not set the bar higher? You medical direction appears to want your service to provide advanced interventions. Why not push to have a paid ALS service? (Paramedic)

Take care,

chbare.

[EMS49393]

Man, I sure know what you're going through with training and working a full-time job. I had to do that for several years when I was in college. Then I get out of college and my damn employer expects me to show up for PALS, PHTLS, ACLS, CPR and my paramedic refresher. I work full-time and this guy thinks I have the extra 50 hours or so a year to spend in training. Not to mention the crapola they come up with during the year that they make spend time on training. That EZ-IO thing, new c-collars, there is two hours of my life I ain't never getting back.

Oh, and there is my other employer, the hospital. They expect I'm going to spend another 20 or so hours a year in training there as well. When do these ridiculous demands ever end?

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Seriously, I doubt you'll get much sympathy on this forum. A good number of us put ourselves through college while working full-time. Two hundred hours of additional education is child's play. Think about those patients you volunteers vow to protect and save. Do they deserve mediocre care because you are volunteers and extra education is just too much to ask, or do they deserve the best you can give them because you care enough to give it away for free.

Unfortunately, this type of post reinforces my general statement of truth about volunteering. You get what you pay for.

Good luck, and hopefully your area will realize how valuable professional emergency medical services would be in your community.

[nypamedic43]

It seems to me that the whole volly thing is being used as a crutch to fend off improving education...Im sorry that BS.

Im a single mom, work part-time and Im just finishing up medic school. I put everything in my life on the back burner (except my son) for the last 11 months. Why?? because I wanted to be able to give my patients the best prehospital treatment that they can get.

Like Mike said, it all boils down to dedication. If you are truly dedicated to providing the best prehospital care you can...then 200 additional hours is a drop in the bucket.

And being a volunteer and working a full time job is a lame excuse for not getting the additional education. Lots of people have done it before you and they survived just fine. And maybe a paid ALS service should be very seriously considered.

[Just Plain Ruff]

as for the not wanting to go to classes to get ahead.

I put myself thru a 18 course masters degre program while working full time one job and part time at several other services.

I clocked well over 100-110 hours a week working and studying. I did this for over 2 years. Along with everything that classes and work required I also had a wife and a child who needed my attention and my being there which was few and far between.

About 1/2 way thru the course work I got a new job which required me to travel to and from a distant city each week and work/study during that time too.

So if anyone wants to bitch and moan about having to get 200 or so additional hours come back when you can keep a straight face when complaining.

If you do this right you will be a better provider, a better caregiver and a smarter person for the 200 hours you spent.

[fire/emt]

ok all i was just wandering if any one is or has gone with this. I am an advance emt. it just seam that are medical board is trying to push out the advance emt. it is not about the training or the hours it takes. it would be good to know however i am in a small area around 120 call a year and over 3/4 are minor and the rest are mostly car wrecks/fall and out of the 120 call i would say 2 are needed some kind of meds to help them. don't get me wrong i do want to help. and my other jobs i can push meds but my training there wont help in complete the training for being a emt. and there ate people out there thinking that volly emt are a waste that there should be a paid paramedic crew in every ambulance well try to tell a paramedic that went to school for years to sit in a shed for days tell a call comes out then after a 2 -3 hour run go back in the shed and sit for a few more days tell the next call.

i don't think so volly are needed in idaho and all over the us.

sorry went off the subject.

[AnthonyM83]

Seems like you have two different issues going on there.

The thing with the additional training hour is that your system can't hold back the entire state who is trying to advance its EMS system, just because the expansion in scope of practice wouldn't be worth it to your guys.

Your other option is not doing the training and going down on level on your EMS title. Your state is getting what a lot of areas only hope for (more education and scope), but you want to hold it off for everyone?

Imagine you were getting your original training right now...you couldn't skip out on the last 200 hours of class just because you wouldn't be using those skills in the system you were going to work. No, you did the work to meet the state standard because other citizens are counting on it.