House

[JPINFV]

Like it or not, according to the NREMT and NHSTA a Paramedic's actual title is NREMT Paramedic or EMT-Paramedic. So essentially a Paramedic IS an EMT.

Actually, with the new levels, the NHTSA is dropping the "EMT" from "EMT-Paramedic."

[chbare]

Actually, with the new levels, the NHTSA is dropping the "EMT" from "EMT-Paramedic."

You are correct and if EMS decides to take any initiative, this can potentially have profound implications. I see this as a potential step toward firmly establishing the paramedic as a true allied professional much like a physiotherapist or respiratory therapist. This same move was performed some years back when respiratory therapy removed the CRTT level and placed more professional and educational emphasis on the entry level providers. Currently, the CRT and RRT exist and the push is significant toward RRT licensure. Clearly, this and other moves has allowed respiratory therapy to expand the RCP role.

The paramedic role could very well undergo a similar metamorphosis, assuming EMS is ready to take steps foreword. I am not sure that volley and fire based control mechanisms are all that keen on having a more independent and established paramedic that is truly considered an allied professional. Clearly, I have my doubts and think there is a good chance the name change will simply mean a slightly different way of spelling the same old mediocrity.

Take care,

chbare.

Edited May 21, 2010 by chbare

[daedalus]

What I still don't get is this:

Why are people so hung up on titles? It's not like there's any more glory or praise in a 'superior title'.

Like it or not, according to the NREMT and NHSTA a Paramedic's actual title is NREMT Paramedic or EMT-Paramedic. So essentially a Paramedic IS an EMT.

My NREMT card says "Paramedic" on it under classification, not EMT-Paramedic. My California license says "Paramedic" on it, not EMT-Paramedic. My degree says Paramedic on it, not EMT-Paramedic. I am not a technician. My post-nominal for California is MICP, not EMT-P.

Here is some reading on the name change.

http://www.nasemso.org/EMSEducationImplementationPlanning/Toolkit.asp

[Lone Star]

Actually, with the new levels, the NHTSA is dropping the "EMT" from "EMT-Paramedic."

Yes, by 2014, it will only list the position as "Paramedic". But since that hasn't happened yet....My point is valid.

My NREMT card says "Paramedic" on it under classification, not EMT-Paramedic. My California license says "Paramedic" on it, not EMT-Paramedic. My degree says Paramedic on it, not EMT-Paramedic. I am not a technician. My post-nominal for California is MICP, not EMT-P.

Here is some reading on the name change.

http://www.nasemso.org/EMSEducationImplementationPlanning/Toolkit.asp

http://www.emtcity.com/index.php/topic/18424-is-there-an-i-85-to-i-99-upgrade/page__p__241887__fromsearch__1&#entry241887

This is exactly the kind of 'title love' I'm talking about!

You'll notice in the article directly from the NREMT that it clearly states EMT-Paramedic.

I'm not here to quibble about titles, I could really care less. I've got more important things to worry about; like getting my advanced degree so that I can be a better practitioner, and treat my patients to the best of my ability.

[daedalus]

Yes, by 2014, it will only list the position as "Paramedic". But since that hasn't happened yet....My point is valid.

http://www.emtcity.c..._1&#entry241887

This is exactly the kind of 'title love' I'm talking about!

You'll notice in the article directly from the NREMT that it clearly states EMT-Paramedic.

I'm not here to quibble about titles, I could really care less. I've got more important things to worry about; like getting my advanced degree so that I can be a better practitioner, and treat my patients to the best of my ability.

While you may not care about titles, I do. Call me shallow, but I see this as a vital step in the advancement of the paramedic profession. No one is going to want to help increase the educational requirements, practice rights, wages, and reimbursement for mere technicians. You say you are concerned with providing the best possible care for your patients, and so am I. We will provide better care for our patients when we purge the "technicians" from the ranks of paramedics and start to become a truly vital, flexible, and educated allied health profession. While the EMT-I to AEMT and EMT-B to EMT changes have not yet occurred, all the documents I have from the National Registry do not include EMT in the paramedic title.

[Lone Star]

While you may not care about titles, I do. Call me shallow, but I see this as a vital step in the advancement of the paramedic profession. No one is going to want to help increase the educational requirements, practice rights, wages, and reimbursement for mere technicians. You say you are concerned with providing the best possible care for your patients, and so am I. We will provide better care for our patients when we purge the "technicians" from the ranks of paramedics and start to become a truly vital, flexible, and educated allied health profession. While the EMT-I to AEMT and EMT-B to EMT changes have not yet occurred, all the documents I have from the National Registry do not include EMT in the paramedic title.

While I agree with purging "Technician" from our titles, its not the title that makes us 'professionals'. Increasing education (even if it's not mandated), pushing away from the 'cookbook bandaids' toward evidence based medicine is only the begining.

You can call the guys that go around picking up trash 'Sanitation Engineers' all you want; but at the end of the day, they're STILL picking up trash.

Until NHSTA, D.O.T., NREMT and other associated organizations stop advocating their minimalistic approach to education and training and start pushing to require REAL education like an advanced degree (like the other Allied Health fields require); EMS will continue to be looked upon as nothing more than a 'job'. It will just be a job with 'really cool sounding titles', and nothing more.

[JPINFV]

You can call the guys that go around picking up trash 'Sanitation Engineers' all you want; but at the end of the day, they're STILL picking up trash.

You know what's funny? They (as a part of an organized sanitation system) are saving more lives every year by picking up trash than EMS is by responding to medical calls.

Until NHSTA, D.O.T., NREMT and other associated organizations stop advocating their minimalistic approach to education and training and start pushing to require REAL education like an advanced degree (like the other Allied Health fields require); EMS will continue to be looked upon as nothing more than a 'job'. It will just be a job with 'really cool sounding titles', and nothing more.

Never happen short of some sort of drastic adverse event (and I doubt that any adverse event will reach that level because EMS primarily operates at the individual level). What's going to need to happen is either the public demands more or the providers demand more. Organizations like NAEMSP, NAEMT, NASEMSD, or the other alphabet soup EMS organizations are going to have to be the ones to call for higher standards.

[AnthonyM83]

While you may not care about titles, I do. Call me shallow, but I see this as a vital step in the advancement of the paramedic profession.

I think the response you got was because you said wrote your previous post in response to people talking about changing the title to progress EMS. You made it seem like you were a little above that because your specific papers already said just "Paramedic". That's not the norm in a lot of places, though...and even EMT programs are still teaching EMT Basic and EMT Paramedic.

The MICP is a joke I've been told (from people who have transferred into the state)...as far as what an MICP really is...

[daedalus]

I think the response you got was because you said wrote your previous post in response to people talking about changing the title to progress EMS. You made it seem like you were a little above that because your specific papers already said just "Paramedic". That's not the norm in a lot of places, though...and even EMT programs are still teaching EMT Basic and EMT Paramedic.

The MICP is a joke I've been told (from people who have transferred into the state)...as far as what an MICP really is...

I was speaking about California. The name change has already occurred here, if you take a look at the CA EMSA's website they have changed all mention of EMT-P to Paramedic, including in the Title 22 text of state law. So by law, at least in California, there are no more EMT-Ps. I understand that most of the country still refers to medics as EMT-Ps, and I do not think I am above the possibly large number of great paramedics in these parts of the country. However, I am glad that the NREMT and Cal EMSA have decided to drop the "EMT" from the title, and I hope the rest of the nation will follow in suit. This is not an ego thing, it serves a couple of very important functions including decreasing fragmentation of EMS provider levels, showing that we in EMS are attempting to move past our infancy and become a full fledged allied health profession, being able to provide superior patient care, and giving ourselves a chance to become something other then a stepping stone. You can call me a fierce advocate for the EMS agenda of the future in its entirety, the name changes for provider levels are just a small part. I look forward to EMT classes moving from 110 hours to 190 as a national standard. I look forward to increasing the basic medical science background of paramedics to a "comprehensive and complex" understanding (wording from the NASEMSO). I look forward to the scope of our education and practice to increase to a level where we can function in CCT, primary care, 911, public health roles without going back to school to get a nursing degree. These are just steps in the process.

Never happen short of some sort of drastic adverse event (and I doubt that any adverse event will reach that level because EMS primarily operates at the individual level). What's going to need to happen is either the public demands more or the providers demand more. Organizations like NAEMSP, NAEMT, NASEMSD, or the other alphabet soup EMS organizations are going to have to be the ones to call for higher standards.

- JP

Which they are starting to do. I have heard from some people close the NREMT and the NASEMSO, the EMS agenda for the future is being taken very seriously. You can expect to see the updated sets of curriculum within the next year or two, with major textbooks coming out next spring for the new provider levels. NREMT will no longer test paramedic candidates who did not complete an accredited program. Small steps that were long overdue, but here they come.

Edited May 21, 2010 by daedalus