Arkansas EMS

[vcfd35s]

How is the scope of practice for Medics and EMTs working in Arkansas? Is the 911 mostly handled by the FD or are there private ambulance companies (that are paid) that provide the transport for the 911?

I hope someone can fill me in on working as an EMT or medic in arkansas; I will be relocating up there for a while to be with some family. I cuurently work in southern california as an EMT running with the local FD and providing the BLS/ALS transports. I know it will be a new environment, but I am looking forward to it as hopefully I can have a bigger scope as an EMT!

Thanks in advance guys!

[Chief1C]

Arkansas Office of EMS

Wow.. I was looking at the basic list of equipment for an ambulance. They need to do some updating, badly.. The "new" list.. Wow, just wow.. I can't tell if it's new for 2008 or for 1958. Very poor requirements.

Arkansas EMS Regulations - PDF

Arkansas Association of EMT's

Arkansas Ambulance Association

[zonk7]

i showed my boyfriend (who lived in arkansas for most of his life) this discussion. he said he never seen an ambulance where he was (probably in the woods). :dontknow:

[MedicAR]

Where are you moving to in Arkansas? This is important because there are two Arkansas. There is metro Arkansas which is primarily Little Rock, Fort Smith and the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers-Bentonville area. Then there is the rest of Arkansas.

EMS is an absolute mess in this state, no doubt about it. We are required to carry glass punches in our trucks because somewhere in this state someone couldn't figure out how to break a car window one time. They couldn't come up with a Mag Lite, a crow bar, a rock, or even the car's antenna. A big problem is that most of the state is very poor and very rural. There isn't a tax base to support solid EMS in most areas and isn't a call base to support a start up of a private company, so 95% of the regulations and requirements play to the absolute lowest common denominator.

Medic skills are fair, but we're limited by our drugs. EMT and First Responder skills are essentially the same, nothing invasive and no medications.

I used to work for a service that used to have a lot of lee-way with our med control. As the quality of new hires has declined, so has that lee-way. I've seen some incredibly good people leave for the surrounding fire departments because the pay, benefits, and even path of promotion was better or better defined. If you're serious about EMS and want to do it right, go with a fire department in Springdale, Rogers, or Bentonville. Fayetteville and the surrounding county use a private service with some governemental controls. Those controls don't appear to be working and the service looks like it simply wants "butts in the seats" rather than good quality people who are committed to quality care and are now turning into a monopoly for non-emergent transports which was met with a lot of resistance. If you'd like specifics, we can discuss it privately.

Back on to Arkansas in general, yeah, it needs help. To my knowledge, we've never had anyone over the state's EMS board with more than an EMT certification. While there are some exceptional EMTs in the world, most can't comprehend what's going on above their level of training and that's evident in Arkansas' regulations. One example, we've begged for RSI, but because 95% of the state can't be trusted with it, we don't get it. It's sad and frustrating.

[Dustdevil]

..we've begged for RSI, but because [s:8646f3f909]95[/s:8646f3f909] 97.86% of the [s:8646f3f909]state[/s:8646f3f909] country can't be trusted with it, we don't get it. It's sad and frustrating.

Fixed that for ya.

Trust me, it ain't just Arkansas.

[MedicAR]

Fixed that for ya.

Trust me, it ain't just Arkansas.

As disappointing as it is, it's also a bit of a relief to know we're not alone. Thanks!

[firedoc5]

I can check with an ex-EMT from the Hot Springs and Berryville areas. Got family from all over AR but don't know of any of them being EMT's.

One thing I do know is that EMS around the Hot Springs area is/ or least was top notch. With so much tourist dollars coming in they couldn't give the money away.

[MedicAR]

I can check with an ex-EMT from the Hot Springs and Berryville areas. Got family from all over AR but don't know of any of them being EMT's.

One thing I do know is that EMS around the Hot Springs area is/ or least was top notch. With so much tourist dollars coming in they couldn't give the money away.

I negelected the Hot Springs area in my first post. You're right, they're good too!