Teenage EMTs - YouTube Video

[Ridryder 911]

I'm not saying we should just hand it over to them, they should have to work for it, and they do need the training. What I am trying to say is that if they lose their desire to do this, they may never get it back, and we will eventually run out of people to do the job. Also if they start when they are younger (with restrictions) at least they will have hands on experience, I mean what better education is there than actually doing it?

Couple of things, I would quit while I was ahead , your age is speaking ... Seriously, there will always be someone who wants to do this job. Unfortunately, that is part of the problem, we have an over abundance of EMT's. I have yet seen in the past 30+ years, where there has never been anyone would not become an EMT. If they did not, it was not because of the job, rather the lack of pay, benefits, hours, etc. associated with it.

In regards to your statement..."I mean what better education is there than actually doing it?.... One can be an idiot and be doing it wrong for years, experience is great and is definitely part but one must have obtaine the education (i.e. degree) first, then gain experience and apply their knowledge to become successful in their profession. In medicine there is only so much OJT one can learn without having the basic foundation of education first.

R/r 911

[Chief1C]

Am I just digging myself into a hole that I'm not going to be able to get out of?

You're digging a hole, but you can get out at anytime you want. There are plenty of soap boxes to stack up, to aid your climb out. Just leave the hole.. Maybe someone will fall in? Job Security.

[Dustdevil]

Am I just digging myself into a hole that I'm not going to be able to get out of?

I'd say you are in a hole, but not necessarily digging any deeper at this point.

You are not saying or asking anything that a great many other people twice your age -- and even with years of experience -- think and say on a daily basis. All logical assumptions that you shouldn't be ashamed of or bashed for, but they just don't pan out in practice. The one about hands-on experience being the best teacher would be one of your most significant erroneous assumptions.

In order for experience to be a teacher, you first have to have a foundation to build upon. 110 hours of first aid class is not a foundation. It's just a brick laying on the ground. It is a piece of the building, but by itself, it is nothing you can build upon or progress with. As Rid states, the streets are a place to learn to apply your education. However, the streets are not a place to obtain your education. First things first. The so-called "experience" these kids are getting is more likely to be harmful to their professional development as a medic than to help it. Who are their mentors? Other sixteen year olds with the same 110 hour first aid course? The lone adult who might occasionally be there, with that same course, who is probably driving the ambulance instead of working with the kid? That's not exactly an educational environment. They are never even going to know when they are right or wrong, or when they have or have not learned a significant lesson, because there is nobody there to show them.

The old adage, "it takes one to know one" is very true here. If you have never obtained professional education, then you really can't be expected to understand what it is about, how it works, and what you are missing without it. But anybody who has sat through two to four years of college to learn a specific discipline can readily see the serious flaws in their previously held notions that "hands on" is the best way to learn, or that "there's the book way and there's the street way." Both are crap. Neither the book nor the streets are freestanding entities. One is a foundation, and the other is a mechanism for building on that foundation. It takes both to succeed. And quite predictably, it takes both IN THE CORRECT ORDER to maximise your educational and professional potential.

There are shortcuts to a patch, but there are no shortcuts to true education and professional excellence.

[AnnaBanana]

I'd say you are in a hole, but not necessarily digging any deeper at this point.

You are not saying or asking anything that a great many other people twice your age -- and even with years of experience -- think and say on a daily basis. All logical assumptions that you shouldn't be ashamed of or bashed for, but they just don't pan out in practice. The one about hands-on experience being the best teacher would be one of your most significant erroneous assumptions.

In order for experience to be a teacher, you first have to have a foundation to build upon. 110 hours of first aid class is not a foundation. It's just a brick laying on the ground. It is a piece of the building, but by itself, it is nothing you can build upon or progress with. As Rid states, the streets are a place to learn to apply your education. However, the streets are not a place to obtain your education. First things first. The so-called "experience" these kids are getting is more likely to be harmful to their professional development as a medic than to help it. Who are their mentors? Other sixteen year olds with the same 110 hour first aid course? The lone adult who might occasionally be there, with that same course, who is probably driving the ambulance instead of working with the kid? That's not exactly an educational environment. They are never even going to know when they are right or wrong, or when they have or have not learned a significant lesson, because there is nobody there to show them.

The old adage, "it takes one to know one" is very true here. If you have never obtained professional education, then you really can't be expected to understand what it is about, how it works, and what you are missing without it. But anybody who has sat through two to four years of college to learn a specific discipline can readily see the serious flaws in their previously held notions that "hands on" is the best way to learn, or that "there's the book way and there's the street way." Both are crap. Neither the book nor the streets are freestanding entities. One is a foundation, and the other is a mechanism for building on that foundation. It takes both to succeed. And quite predictably, it takes both IN THE CORRECT ORDER to maximise your educational and professional potential.

There are shortcuts to a patch, but there are no shortcuts to true education and professional excellence.

I totally agree. That is really well said- in a way I do not have the time or the brain power (nursing school is frying it) to do right now.

What about ride-alongs though? (on a restricted basis- no "traumatizing" calls, good supervision) I think getting a taste of EMS still would be good for teenagers interested in it...

[Dustdevil]

What about ride-alongs though? (on a restricted basis- no "traumatizing" calls, good supervision) I think getting a taste of EMS still would be good for teenagers interested in it...

I like to say that I am "all for it." I mean, I really would like to see them have the opportunity to see the reality versus what they are fed by crap like Turd Watch. But, in reality, I do harbour a few reservations. Nothing major that I can't get past, but concerns nonetheless. Especially in small towns. My patients concerns are more important than the observer's desire to see the job, or my desire to be a mentor. And many of my patients don't want their most intimate and vulnerable moments on display to their teenage daughter's friend from school. I can't fault them for that. They do have a right to privacy. And what happens when it gets back to the patient, or the public, that your Explorer was discussing their personal details to their friends at school? It happens. And it's not the kid that ends up looking bad to the whole town; it's you and your organisation. Those are probably my two biggest concerns, because those are probably the two most likely to come up.

Then there are the other issues that constantly crop up in these kinds of programmes. You can't hardly open a newspaper without seeing a story of another cop or medic who was busted for taking advantage of a teenaged rider. Again, it's not just a horrible reflection on the culprit. It is an irrevocable black eye on your organisation as a whole. When that news breaks, suddenly everybody in your community gets a sick feeling in their stomach when they see your ambulance drive by. They give you the stink-eye when you enter their house. And when that happens, you have to stop and think, was there anything of such critically important or necessary value to come out of that programme that it was worth destroying your agency's reputation over? I've seen it happen many times, and I've never heard one agency answer "yes" to that question. Seriously, what real valuable service are you providing with this programme? I bet that ninety percent of all those who enter EMS have never ridden on an ambulance before. Do you really think that other ten percent -- the group that was so serious about EMS in the first place that they sought ride-alongs -- is going to suddenly not join the profession because they didn't get to ride out? Of course not. And even if they did, so what? There is no shortage of individuals in this country who are interested in joining EMS.

Those are really the only serious issues I have with Explorers or other teen riders. As for their physical and emotional safety, meh... maybe. It happens. It's the exception, not the rule. And the dangers should be thoroughly discussed and understood ahead of time, by all parties involved. But, of course, any agency who thinks that waiver that the kid faked his parents' signatures on is going to mean a thing to a civil jury after the kid is killed or seriously injured in a wreck, is living a fantasy. I had one employer bankrupted after an adult EMT student was injured in a ride-along crash and sued their pants off. And the crash was the other drivers’ fault even!

So really, the service we are providing to these kids is of negligible value to them or to us. Sure, they love it! And I love hosting guests too, young, old, or otherwise. I have no personal objection to the concept. I'm just being realistic from an objective, professional point of view. From that angle, as fun as it is for all involved, it just really makes very little sense on any level.

[AnthonyM83]

Second's Dust's comment on the explorer/youth-volunteer & adult employee relations. I'd say there's one of those relations going at any given time PER county where explorers is popular.

[Medic2588]

I agree with the concept of offering ride-along programs and have occasionally brought interested parties on the road with me.

The only thing I would say with Anna's concept is the "no-traumatizing" calls is a silly concept since everyone seems to react differently to different situations and there's no way to judge what is "traumatizing."

What you'd wind up with is basically RESCUE 911 or EMERGENCY reruns. I'm considering a class action lawsuit against those who made those shows for making this job look clean. I mean honestly, when did anyone ever throw up or have diarrhea on the stretcher in those shows? :roll:

Devin

[Megan780]

Is this video for real? Isn't there laws against this? In every place in Canada you have to be atleast 18 to get into the program to learn to become an EMT. I wonder what the patients think. Is this still going on? Where else do they do this?

[AnthonyM83]

Probably a bunch. A lot of schools don't have a minimum age limit. The curriculum isn't that rigorous.

[Medic2588]

In NJ the minimum age is 16 to take an EMT class. I started when I was 16 and look at how well I turned out. Um, ok, so maybe not a great example. :shock:

You can't be by yourself in the back of an ambulance in NJ until you're 18, and most places do not allow you to drive until you're 21. However that is completely dependent on the agency and their insurance company.

Devin