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Paramedic Refreshers


EMS2712

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I sat in on a paramedic refresher at Loma Linda University two months ago, and it was the most impressive thing I have ever encountered in EMS continuing education. Loma Linda "gets it!" They don't just rehash the same old crap that you covered in medic school, and every two years since then. Their refreshers are truly CONTINUING education, focusing on advanced concepts and current trends, in order to keep you on top of your game, instead of just keeping you at the same ignorant level you came out of school with.

Of course, all the firemonkeys in the class just sat there in a daze, totally not understanding what was going on, and worse, not caring. They were expecting to just hear the same old shyte again.

My recommendation is to follow that example. Challenge your students intellectually! Present them something they didn't know before. Make sure they know what the latest research and medical practice trends are. You are never going to excite anybody by just giving them a condensed rehash of the entry-level DOT nonsense. Help your students GROW, don't facilitate their stagnation.

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What about having groups go through a scenario that is as realistic as possible, write a run report and then defend the report and their actions? It wouldn't be easy, but it could be a good training exercise if done right.

Other than that, donno. Haven't had a refresher yet so I don't know what a bad one or a good one looks like firsthand.

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What about having groups go through a scenario that is as realistic as possible, write a run report and then defend the report and their actions? It wouldn't be easy, but it could be a good training exercise if done right.

We did something very similar at Loma Linda. We broke into groups of 5 (50 participants), and each group got a scenario. Then, after about half an hour, each group had to present their diagnosis and plan orally to the rest of the class. It led to some pretty interesting debates over both the diagnoses and the plans, resulting in a great learning exercise.

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For some reason even in the government department setting, we don't have a large training budget at all. Department wide, we actually are budgeted more cleaning supplies that ongoing training. We have done some excellent hands on portions. Today we did two hours of self-defense tactics for EMS providers. We did a gross cardiac anatomy lab in which we did heart dissections. We did the same with the respiratory systems, and worked it into a surgical airway lab. This will be the 5th refresher I have done in the past two and a half years, and I think total I have spent about 400 dollars. I am just looking for ways to spice it up for minimal cost. I feel if they would just give me a budget for the medic refreshers that I could at least PAY my instructors instead of expecting them to do it for free. Doing it for free has made the program more prone to instructor call-offs, and creating bigger headaches for me. If they call off, either I have to find someone else in a hurry, or do lesson prep to cover the lecture. I don't know everything about this job, but I am competent in my job. I am just am not sure how else to spice it up. My numbers keep going up which means I am doing something right. I try to keep my classes under 35. My numbers have justified me to add another refresher to keep up with the demand.

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