Union Affiliations

[VentMedic]

Michael,

I have yet to work for an EMS company or hospital that didn't provide me with CPR, ACLS, PALS, NRP, state mandated CEUs and any additional training that is required for the job. I would also hope the union didn't tell you that 24 hours is anywhere close to a Cardiac Tech which takes an Associates degree to test for the CVT. I would also hope your medical director is overseeing any additional skills he/she is wanting you to be competent at.

The unions were not established to educate. They were established to represent laborers who had almost no education and were essentially illiterate. The unions made the decisions for them since the laborers were not able to read contracts or any form of documents pertaining to their work. They HAD to trust the unions. Yes, the companies were taking advantage of the uneducated several decades ago. They still have a strong hold on factory and coal mining occupations because many of these laborers have no college and enter the job right out of high school.

The unions have little say concerning the professionalism of EMS when it comes to legislation for standards and reimbursements. Yes, they can lobby for standards on hours and safety but can do nothing to change the 50+ EMS certs or establish an identity for the providers. Nor can they do much for evidence based medicine. Those are the issues that prevent better reimbursement.

With the exception of nursing which has its own agenda, there are very few healthcare profession with advanced education that want to be a part of a union unless forced to in a closed shop. PT, RT, OT and SLT have done much better through their professional associations which have emphasized their educational levels and not a "I can scream louder" union technique. The "I've got connections" for the union stance in Washington DC died with Jimmy.

RT now has a Bill pending that recognizes Bachelors and Masters degreed practitioners in out of the hospital environments for enhanced reimbursement and autonomy. It opens up many opportunities. Just the passing of the Associates degree for entry level almost doubled our wages in some areas. And, those of us who do Specialty Transport are chosen by skills, knowledge, dedication and not just senority. The same for lead or research positions. Those that are "over it" and have put not effort into their career for 20 years can not just expect to get the job because they have the years in as they would in a union shop.

I guess I am speaking more as someone who has education and who has advanced through the ranks by education. I do realize that many EMS providers have only a few months of training and without national standards for education with unified certification levels, it is a tech or laborer job. That is unfortunate because unions will feed on that just like they did on those with only a 3rd grade education 100 years ago.

Ask your union officials when they are going to push for the Associates degree to be the entry level for EMS providers and watch their reaction.

[Richard B the EMT]

I have yet to work for an EMS company... that didn't provide me with CPR, ACLS, PALS, NRP, state mandated CEUs and any additional training that is required for the job.

Except for my Vollie ambulance, and my current Municipal EMS employ, the 5 "private" ambulance "Inter-facility Transfer" services I had worked for never even offered such. Two of them actually gave me grief for declining overtime, so I could get to my EMT Refresher classes.