EMS-Cat

FLK - Funny Looking Kid [for those ped patients that just ain't right, but you can't put your finger on what's wrong] LNC - Local Native Color [aka: urban outdoorsman]

Great fantasy! Keep me in your dreams, will ya? :wink:

I like! I could go for this. Is it just in the planning-chat stage or is it getting off the ground? Who'd be the certifying body? Local? State? Fed? NAEMT? You've deff. got my interest.

Not going to flame anyone. I'm just running the lists and coming up with: Already have [in a couple of cases at least twice - RT, nursing, ACLS plus an ATA on comp programming/system analysis and had to take several of these 'again']: ENG 101 English Comp I 3hr - MAT 101 College Algebra 4hr BIO 101 Biology I /w lab 5hr CHE 101 Basic Chem /w lab 5hr PHY 101 Physics Algebra I /w lab 4hr BIO 201 A&P I /w lab 5hr EMS 135 IV Therapy 2hr HPR 104 Nutrition 3hr BIO 202 A&P II /w lab 4hr EMS 160 Simple Pharmacology 2hr BIO 240 Patho Physiology 4 HPR 190 Basic EKG 2hr PSY 101 Gen Pysch 3hr COM 101 Public Speaking 3hr HPR 105 Medical Terminology 3hr So, that effectively leaves EMS 201, 202 & 210 out of this program that I can't say I've 'done' [except maybe for the clinical]. I just worked out the number of hours I spent getting my EMT-B: 112. That's not counting 10 hours of clinical ER rotation or the 8+ hours of finals [written and team practical] or the state written exam. Add those and it comes up to over 130 hours. For an EMT-B. No EKG's other than what we cover in AED [and our instructor did go over basic rhythms - he didn't have to but he expects us to be the Paramed's extra hands and knowledge never hurts], basic EMT meds and how they interact with everything else [in my county we use O2, gluc, charcoal, epi, ASA and assist with MDI's and NTG], we do finger sticks as part of our county protocol, etc. This was 130+ hours of nothing but EMT. No speech, nothing else. So, based on what you've presented, I should be able to add three classes to what I already have on record and qualify for my 'advanced EMT' [not sure what you mean by advanced - EMT-I maybe? Our EMT-I's tube and start lines.] Now, I have no problem if this scenario would work out - just tell me where you live and I'll be on the next bus there [ ] . And I realize I'm probably the exception to the rule, but let's face it. I'm in the 50's, want to get back into EMS to teach and don't want to spend an arm and a leg [and my pocket book] going back to school for 2+ years to redo and re-validate stuff I can already prove I know and can do. So yeah, I want there to be an acceptable 'option' for us 'Old Farts' who have been around since an MA-1 was a brand new ventilator, nobody knew what the hell PEEP or CPAP was and the idea of "Medic One' and the 'Medic Two - citizen CPR program' was just getting off the ground. There's not a lot of us out here, but we've got a personal database of 'real life' that could be helpful and useful out there in the 'Real World' [tm]. I'm sure it sounds terribly selfish to all you young bucks out there, but life is like that sometimes.

Okay, I probably didn't word that right. I'm not talking about practicing outside of the scope of medical direction, I'm talking about simply being able to renew my state license without being 'owned' by someone. I can't practice respiratory therapy under my RT license without medical direction, nor can I do nursing care under my nursing license without an MD writing orders somewhere. But I can give the state my money and get my license renewed so long as I keep my cont ed credits up, don't break the law, etc. I don't even have to keep private malpractice insurance. But here in the state of Washington, you can't get/keep/maintain an EMT-B, EMT-I or EMT-P license if you don't have a 'sponsor'. In my case, yes I do have one. It's the American Red Cross. But they don't have a local medical director I work under, they're simply the folks who have said 'Yeah, she can belong to us' - right now I professionally fall under the MD for the county EMS system. [Not sure what happens if I end up going somewhere/doing something - I'm sure the ARC has something in place, I just don't know about it yet]. And all they do is 'sign' off my 'request for state license' as my 'sponsor' [isn't that such a great, nebulous term? Sponsor?]. They are not my employer like a hospital, an ambulance service or the fire department would be [even a volunteer fire service]. I simply exist under their 'umbrella' because the State has to have that space on their 'request for license' filled in. But they don't *do* anything: keep cont ed records, require me to attend in-services, etc. I do all of that myself. To repay them for their sponsorship [and don't get me wrong, I am *most* glad I have it otherwise I couldn't get back into EMS right now], I owe them "X" number of hours in a year. And those don't even have to be doing EMS - they could be stacking boxes in a warehouse, typing and filing in the office, etc. So, why can't I do the same for my EMT, et all? Why do I have to 'belong' to someone to simply pay the state money? I have no problems with the need for cont ed and I know it's my responsibility to find it and get it. So as long as I meet the binding cont ed requirements, what's the harm in my simply 'getting my license'? Interesting food for thought.

What I said [or meant to say] was: why should I have to retake classes I've already had to take several times before just so I can 'get the hours'? Med terminology hasn't changed all that much in the last three years and I think I'm a big enough adult to be able to study on my own. Same with 'personal health' [ a required 5 credit class in our local EMT-P program]. Or take a whole extra 3 credit class [and have to pay the costs] for *another* CPR class when I have to maintain my 'CPR for the Professional Rescuer' for my EMT-B? Yeah, EMS and RT are different fields, but medicine is medicine and the language and science of medicine is the same no matter the field. The local program slots their students into the same basic classes the RN program uses. And the RT, the X-Ray techs etc. That sounds pretty generic to me. Mandatory hour/class credit requirements will only create a 'paper professional'. We all know folks who can 'talk the talk', but get them out scraping 'pavement pizza' and they can't make 'the walk' work for them. One thing my local comm college program require that I think *is* one of the ways to go is you have to have your EMT-B first and work at least a year as one before you can start the selection process. This is a "Good Thing" [tm] in my book because folks going into the program know what they're getting into. But I am still and will always be against 'mandatory hour/class' requirements just to fill someone Elses idea of a 'professional quota'. Book class work is just that and if a person can demonstrate functionality gained outside of that particular classroom, why not? Spend the time and funds learning the stuff specific to the EMS field, not the stuff that every health care provider needs to have. Spend the money on making cont ed available to everyone. My current sponsor is the Red Cross [working on a Fire Dept Sponsor also] and they don't provide squat for cont ed for EMS [except for hosting the monthly OTEP]. Make cont ed available to us 'sponsorless' folks who don't have the bennies of working for companies and depts who provide cont ed for free. Get the info out to the folks using it. So, again FWIW, I know a lot of health care fields don't do 'cross-over'. Why do you think I've got so many 'little' degrees. :wink: But no one should be put out in the finance dept. because someone somewhere decides that you *have* to have "X" hours in *this* program's classes when you've already don't the silly things somewhere else. In the end it's 'reality' and 'experience' that teaches, not always the classroom. More hours on your butt in classes won't turn out good EMT-P's. More time in the field learning the ropes with a good foundation [no matter how it was gotten] will. As I've said: JMHO - YMMV. Next rant? Why do EMT-B / EMT-P have to have 'sponsors' [at least in Washington State] to get/ get their state license and other health care providers don't? Why can I simply renew my nursing and RT license each year mo matter if I'm currently working or not [as long as I can prove CE's] but to keep my EMT I have to be on some-body's 'hand receipt'? Think about it...

DBI: Done Bled In DBO: Done Bled Out [go fig.] Cerebral Asthmatic: They wheeze when they think about it HTH: Hot Tub Hypotension More as they come to mind...

I already have a couple of diplomas/ATAs in various health care fields [RT, LPN/RN, ORT, Combat Medic, ACLS/BCLS though not all of them are current license] and I, for one, don't want to spend *another* two years [on top of what I've already spent getting back into my EMT-B] going for my EMT-P. I can understand that if someone is coming into EMS for the first time that they may well need the additional time, but some of us simply don't want to have to take/retake 'medical terminology' again, or basic A&P again. {Nor do out budgets want us to take them}. As long as there is something in place for us 'Old Fogies' to challenge/CLEP, I'm willing to discuss the possibility. I can already 'tube' [RT], been starting IV's for years [that whole nursing/medic thing], etc. Yeah, a refresher in new techniques and meds is deff. a must, but please don't penalize some of us by making things 'maditory' across the board. As I said, JMHO - YMMV. I know not all of us are 'Old Fogies' who seem to collect medical certs as a hobby. :wink: