EmrgncyTec5

The NREMT is no more an EMS Agency than the SAT tests are a school for children. NREMT's one responsibility is to ensure a basic level of knowledge and understanding of the material. Having taken the test and having passed it, I believe that it is a beneficial system to have in place. I know for a fact that I will not live/work in Santa Barbara, CA for my entire life, so it comforts me that when I decide to move out to a new place, my accredidation as an NREMT will follow me and assist in gaining reseprocity (forgive my spelling. I just woke up and the spell checker program is unavailable.) Canada and all Western countries with organized EMS systems should adopt a similar system, because lets face it... not all EMT programs are the same. In some, the training and hands-on is extensive... in others, merely basic. I sleep better at night knowing that I live in a county that requires all emergency responders to pass a proficiency test.

As happy as I am to see more Paramedic/EMT representation on TV, I am horrified of Saved. We are a profession that is vastly unknown to the majority of the public. What little they do know about us... comes from television and movies. I remember as a kid wanting to be a firefighter because Kurt Russel was the man in Backdraft and because he did all those amazing (and risky) stunts. I thought that's what firefighters do.... I was wrong. The public knows us be the images they see of us. Many people when they find out I am an EMT ask me what it's like. Because I work with a Rescue Ambulance, and closely with the fire department, they ask if it's really like Rescue Me. It is GREAT that television producers want to make shows about us to try to show the public the truth, but they really need to hire a consultant to tell them what it's really like. Hell... they can give anyone of us a call and we could set 'em straight. lol.