Research Study for a Class: Would standardization in delivery of EMS care be supported?

[Kiwiology]

you're welcome, but i might have to tax you a little ....

[DwayneEMTP]

Very well put, thanks a bunch for your input!!

You'll want to be a little careful here. Though Kiwi is relatively well spoken for an Underworlder, his jump bag does still contain rattles, blood letting equipment, and protocols for 'vagina blowing' to help resolve fertility issues. Should you encourage him too much, or two often, your next thread will likely be titled, "Brain bleach. Can it really remove complete bullshit that I've seen and heard?"

Just a heads up is all.....for perspective.

Dwayne

[Richard B the EMT]

Food for thought: mid 1970s in NY State, many volunteer and proprietary service providers, both 9-1-1 providers as well as Inter-Facility Transfer services, fought the statewide upgrade for minimum standard of EMT. It still went through.

2000s? We might go Paramedic, but who knows?

[ljugaitafa]

You'll want to be a little careful here. Though Kiwi is relatively well spoken for an Underworlder, his jump bag does still contain rattles, blood letting equipment, and protocols for 'vagina blowing' to help resolve fertility issues. Should you encourage him too much, or two often, your next thread will likely be titled, "Brain bleach. Can it really remove complete bullshit that I've seen and heard?"

Just a heads up is all.....for perspective.

Dwayne

duly noted lol

Food for thought: mid 1970s in NY State, many volunteer and proprietary service providers, both 9-1-1 providers as well as Inter-Facility Transfer services, fought the statewide upgrade for minimum standard of EMT. It still went through.

2000s? We might go Paramedic, but who knows?

Interesting, I'm curious to know what was the main idea behind fighting the upgrade to minimum standards exactly.

[Richard B the EMT]

In some areas of the state, training facilities were many hours travel time away from either residences or the job, posing travel problems for some squad members. Classes were usually evenings, and one night a week, or 2 non-consecutive nights a week. Then, there were more American Red Cross First Aid, and Advanced First Aid instructors than EMT instructors, too.

Let's face it, if you're at a level of training, would you want to be forced to go to a higher level, when comfortable where you are? Complacency may have also been a factor in causing all the complaints.

Me? As PVAC was then a brand new service, we were simply told that it was expected of us to get the First Aid, Advanced First Aid, and NY State DoH EMT training, as was the mandated order of training back then. We didn't know any different until we had, and then found, via reports from around the state, that the more isolated area squads were fighting it.

[Kiwiology]

This is sort of what happened here.

Back in the day the minimum standard for volunteers was a one week Elementary Ambulance Aid course whilst for paid staff it was a six week (full time) Proficiency Ambulance Aid course. The difference being theory and four additional authorised competencies: salbutamol, BGL measurement, aspirin and cardiac monitoring.

A volunteer could hope to eventually get onto a block Proficiency course i.e. taught in blocks not six weeks full time and this often took a year or more or simply they chose not to.

Come 1995 the Proficiency Ambulance Aid Certificate was replaced by the Certificate in Ambulance Patient Care and Transport which no longer took six weeks but closer to six months to complete. Again the volunteers had to do a number of block weekends and class days (a total of 29) which made it really difficult for them to get enough time to go to the classes and for the Ambulance Service to find a group of students who were all free at one time to do the class!

The very low completion rate of the National Certificate became something of a problem between the Ambulance Service and the Ministry of Health a couple years ago and it had been touted for several years before then that the Certificate was quickly becoming inadequate educationally for the modern demands placed upon the Officer i.e. much greater scope of practice, leaving people at home, evidence based medicine etc.

We've now introduced the Diploma in Ambulance Practice which is a one year course completed via the internet (distance learning) plus a number of classroom blocks and an ongoing practical component. Sure, some people moan its too hard but most people don't know any different so they are keen and enthusiastic about it.