11outof10

That fits with what i have heard from a few other people. A well disciplined service. The average age of the employees there seems higher than most as well. I take that as a good sign.

I currently work for a private EMS service in Taylor,MI. I would like to make the move to HVA because Monroe Community Ambulance serves the county i grew up in. HVA seems like a very professional service. They require a written and physical agility test, as well as an oral board. This is then followed by weeks of orientation that include time in dispatch and evaluations by senior crewmembers. Has anyone here worked for HVA? If so could you share info about their hiring process and what to expect while working for them? Also positive or negative experiences would be appreciated. I don't want to change jobs any more. I would like to make sure this company is a legitimate career choice and move in permanently. Any input is appreciated. Thank you.

Ok, i get it mike, i suck at EMS and at forums. jesus christ, is that the last nail yet?

OK, honestly i Don't know how it got to this point. I have not tried to be negative about anyone. I have simply pointed out that I am attempting to apply myself the best i can. I don't really understand why everyone is jumping my case about it. Dwayne says i ride around in ambulances and giggle while the lights are on. Mike, is that the wealth of information that you are talking about? I really don't understand the hostility I admit i don't know everything and have much learning to do. What points are we still arguing about?

Bieber, I honestly have never claimed to know everything, or ANYTHING for that matter. All i claimed is that i work very hard to learn the curriculum provided to me under the approval of the DOT. Honestly, I agree that we need to have more. I get made fun of all the time because I talk about the whole Paramedic Practitioner thing ( australia and wherever else it exsists) They laugh because its just like you say. They stick IVs and monitors on people and 20 minutes later drop them in an ER bed. Maybe it should be a bachelors degree. Idk. When i actually started work as a basic EMT I did realized how little i actually knew. And it was terrifying sometimes. But I did what i was trained to do. Treat immediate life threats and get their butts to a higher level of care. If we are going to raise the bar then why don't we take some action? If the thousands of paramedics in the NREMT and NAEMT petitioned the DOT for a higher standard of education, why wouldn't they listen? EMS is still a very young system compared to health care in general. And the expansion of medical knowledge every year is astounding. Just today on the forum, i watched a video about regenerative medicine. "printing" organs with tissues and stem cells. Compared to that, what am i? I stop bleeding and hold peoples hand when their grandma dies. But we are still necessary. Without Basics and Medics doing what we do, most of these people would never make it to the ER in the first place. If we all want change so bad then lets do it. Lets demand associate degree programs. I'm all for it. But my 5,000 dollars is non-refundable. If i was the brightest bulb i probably would have gone to school BEFORE i was 25. I wish i did. But then i probably wouldn't have picked EMS. But now that i have chosen it, i love it. Its all i ever want to do. And i want to be good at it, just like anyone else. I have 21 total posts and i figure about 10 of them are in this thread. I don't know how to strike or not strike. I just copied and pasted? I do agree with you, we should know more about patients conditions. We only have certain types of protocols that we can perform, and a limited number of medications (Which probably don't cover those things) that we can administer. Having knowledge of a large number of conditions can be useful in forming an accurate field impression but doesn't necessarily change how we would treat those patients. I'm not disagreeing with you by any means. Knowledge is power.

I think it started at 12 weeks, went to 2 years, then lost a little weight down to 12 months.

Ok Dwayne, first of all. Like it or not, a 2 year degree does not a medic make. If you would like to get together and do some research into a time/cost benefit analysis of a 12 month program vs an associates degree program i would be more than willing to do that with you. Since you decided to push it i would like to make a few, simple, (Non-scientific) and non-insulting points. A "TWO" year degree does not actually encompass 24 full months of education. Many of the classes are prerequisites required by the university. I think we could both agree that there are some incredible educators at the college level, i believe you would also agree that some of them are there just to collect a paycheck. Attending a college does not guarantee that you will be taught by teachers that are any more knowledgeable than those involved in a certification program. My instructors have years of experience working for a variety of services and I feel that I gain immense amounts of information that applies practically to the "book" knowledge I'm gaining through my class. The DOT curriculum listed here http://www.nhtsa.gov...jury/ems/EMT-P/ is covered in the majority of Paramedic textbooks used in classes throughout the US. A crappy program CAN turn out crappy medics. But a stellar, well funded college program can turn out crappy medics as well. The didactic portion of our education serves to provide us with a knowledge base that ensures that the "fresh" medics hitting the streets will have the maximum learning potential when they reach the field. This is why the programs include hundreds of hours of clinical time. So that these newbie students (like me) can gain hands on, real world experience under the watchful eye of street savvy medics. So we learn, from books and from clinicals, how to treat patients medically. But the portion that you need the most is something that cannot be taught in a classroom. Empathy, compassion, being a patient advocate, getting puked on and smiling about it, getting pushed and screamed at by a mother who's child was just hit by a car and there's nothing you can do. I know plenty of programs that can fill you with years and years of medical terminology and assessment skills, and none of them can cause you to look on a drug addict and muster up a few more ounces of hope. This field is about way more than education. And until you prove to me that medics with 2 year degrees provide better patient care than medics with 1 year certificates then i would say that you don't have a single leg to stand on. OF COURSE we all need more education. Even DOCTORS need more education. They attend seminars, read journals, meet with colleagues just...like...we...do. Because in the end, school can only teach you so much. I would assume that the organizations that have spent decades fine tuning and testing education systems for EMS have a bit more experience than we do at setting a baseline for education. This is stated on the NREMT website http://www.nremt.org...about_exams.asp If you care to read over that you will see that national registry candidates have to achieve 95% confidence that they are simply competent enough to enter the field. It's not a measurement of all EMS knowledge EVER, as you said, we all are constantly learning. These programs are merely preparation for the field, where the REAL learning continues. If someone can reach that level of competency in 12 months why would that make you angry? I personally study my butt off every single day. I gave away my TV and xbox so i wouldn't be distracted. I'll be spending 12 hours in a classroom, 8-16 hours doing clinicals, 30+ hours working as a basic and 20+ hours studying EVERY SINGLE WEEK for the rest of 2011. So pardon me if i get a little offended when a bunch of "Back in my day" paramedics tell me that I am not as qualified to do the job I am dedicating 80 hours a week learning as they are. Thats an ignorant platform and I'll debate that with anyone who wants. I read my chapters over and over, make hundreds of vocabulary flashcards, study drugs, watch videos online, create my own quizzes based on covered material and then get online to get insulted for not having a degree? Nope, not going to take it, now or ever. I was watching a 2 hour interactive video during our first conversation, so pardon my simplistic response. I'll make sure that i spell everything out for you guys from now on. You will never hear me saying that I'm learning everything i need to know. The funny thing is, this topic has peaked my interest in paramedic degree programs. I don't know if it would work, but I do think that education is important, and I'm not trying to downplay that at all. But it should be obvious that different people have different opportunities. When I worked in Kentucky there was only one college with a paramedic degree, and it was over an hour drive away. Instead of choosing one of the short programs locally, I decided to wait. Because of the low quality medics they turned out. ( most never passed registry anyway). I'm just a firm believer that if you want something bad enough, you find a way to do it. And that applies across the board. If I want to be a good medic ( and i do) then within a quality program i will work my tail off for a year and become a good medic. Sorry for the book.

I don't have to chat online to prove myself to anyone. If dwayne wants to polish his buttons by trashing students in the forums who am i to stand in his way? He has obviously got paramedicine all figured out.

Wow. I guess the trolls are everywhere. It must have been tough following me around watching me giggle for all those years just to be qualified to make statements about the quality of care that i provide.

woohoo, my first point!!

You know you are having a bad day in EMS when you are over 40 miles from the station and there is a burning smell coming from the box of your truck...that your patient points out to you....and you are stuck waiting on the side of the freeway for a truck to come by and pick up your patient.

Hewlett Packard livers. Microsoft brains. ugh. I wonder if within a few years, they will have machines where you can insert trauma patients and it will grow them whole again? Ive always thought it would be very useful to have a scanner similar to a BG monitor that does PT labs immediately on scene and could be transmitted like a 12 lead. It wouldn't change our job at all, but it could improve the speed of pt treatment in the ER.

After I started my 12 month program I found a lot of information about accelerated programs. Honestly if the didactic hours are the same, and they don't skimp on clinicals... If you can do it, do it. There is a program that i believe is 100 days straight? 5 days of 12 hour classes and 2 days of 12 hour clinicals. It sounds like death to me, especially because there is no working during this time. There is similar flack over the medic to RN bridge program. (which I'm considering within a few years.) If I had time and money I would LOVE to take a 2 year paramedic degree program. But I am poor and rushed I don't feel like a shorter class makes a person any less of a medic. After all they still have to learn the material to pass right?

Thanks for all the responses. I will be renewing it for sure. The cost of maintaining it seems lower than the cost of re-certing. Especially now that I work for a company that offers free CE's and tuition reimbursement. I WAS happy to be able to transfer via reciprocity when I moved to Kentucky. Thanks for the input everyone.

Yes, spelling is important, and grammar.... (double negative) And immediate responses are tough because EMS tends to be populated by individuals who work lots of hours. I worked for Rural/Metro in Lexington,KY. Our biggest competitor (for transfers and such) was AMR. They had nicer equipment, better uniforms and more vehicles. One thing I always noticed was that the nurses were always telling us that they liked Rural/Metro more. Just because we were nicer to them and to our patients. All private services tend to be focused on $$$ but remember, that does not stop YOU from providing quality compassionate care to your patients. If they try to push you to do otherwise... attempt reform from within. When it comes to patient care, the correct action is pretty clear. Treat them with respect, follow your protocols, and document thoroughly. These are things you should be doing regardless of working 911 or private. YOU are the face of the company to the patient. Good luck in whatever you choose.