5 things EMS must do in 2012

[nypamedic43]

This is from EMS1.com.

http://www.ems1.com/columnists/art-hsieh/articles/1210290-5-things-EMS-must-do-in-2012/

[flamingemt2011]

The authors text:

1) Let's get education on track. Paramedic should be an associate's degree. EMTs and Advanced EMTs should require more anatomy and physiology.

Educators should know more than the book, and be trained to teach, in order to push students to a higher standard. Not everyone can be successful in EMS, and that's okay.

2) Push for a living wage. That would include a working environment that doesn't require 60-80 hours a week in order to make ends meet. EMS providers have families, take vacations, save for retirement. Don't all of us deserve that?

3) Be more than what we are. The only constant in life is change. EMS is no different. To not evolve is to perish. We can do more to benefit our community, to be more meaningful and have a more effective mission.

I hate to disappoint some of you, but we have been around long enough to have our own dinosaurs. Johnny and Roy have been gone a long, long time. Why do we still think in that paradigm?

4) Be the master. EMS exists at the nexus of public safety, public health and health care. The overlap of function varies from one region to the next, but the general premise is clear: we are a jack of all trades, and master of none. This cannot continue to exist; we need to be masters of all we do.

5) Commit to service excellence. We would all like to think we provide the highest quality service. Fact is, most of us provide the best service we can, given the circumstances. The two concepts do not mean the same thing.

MY RETORT

1. Get the educators out of EMS, and let the industry decide. Educators only keep lumping on more classroom hours, and more certification levels to increase their industry's jobs. More class-room requirements, equals more teaching jobs, and they have flooded the market with EMTBs that drug all of our salaries down. I think education is a good thing, but it should not be mandated by the instructors.

2. I agree, everyone that "works" for a living should make at least $100k/year. Obama will get us there.

3. Cant argue with that, very few advancements in our industry since the 60s have come from within.

4. As long as healthcare is the mess it is, we will never achieve this goal. There is not enough funding through our claims to support our function, so we will always be the red-headed step child until Obama-Care is initiated.

5. Can not argue with that, can anyone in this room tell me two things your service IMPROVED in 2011 ?

[MedicAsh]

Interesting article. There are some things I agree with and some I disagree with.

1. I think this is a local or state issue. When I took my paramedic I had to take additional anatomy and physiology classes.Does this make me a better medic, no. Does it help with my knowledge of disease and the processes of the body yes. I agree with the fact that there needs to be a greater knowledge of anatomy and physiology.

I also feel that there needs to be more clinical time. We had to do 505 total hours. There has been talk that they want to have more classroom time and less clinical time. I am not sure about anyone else but for me the clinical time was some of the best learning. I am not saying to lessen classroom time because this is also valuable in learning. You need to learn in the classroom to do well in the clinical setting. Like I said, I am only speaking for me.

2. Yes, sadly EMS doesn't get paid well. It is a fact of life and it sucks somedays. There are people who are trying to raise a family and pay the bills. I have to say I am not in EMS for the pay. If i wanted to have a good paying job, I would have gone to nursing school or something else. I am not saying its fair that we don't get paid much but I don't see anything changing anytime soon.

3. I agree. No other comment.

4. I agree with this too.

5. I believe this is what we should continue to do. I know the company I work for encourages this. Its actually part of our values. I sadly see many that dont believe in this. I work with some people who dont care about committing to excellence. They want to stay where they are and dont think they can improve anything.

[chbare]

If the industry decided, we would be back in the days where you could obtain paramedic credentials via a six month, 750 hour shake and bake course. Oh wait, you can still find them if you look hard enough. Is it too much to ask that people spend 2-3 years of their life in college before putting other peoples lives on the line? Look at most of the other allied health providers. Nearly all have a minimum of an associate degree. Many such as physical therapy are BS and MS driven. It's sad when I had more clinical hours in my AAS respiratory therapy programme than total hour requirements for many paramedic programmes. I am not saying this to be pretentious, but EMS does not stand up when compared to many other providers in terms of educational preparation and entry into practice. Yet, somehow we are entitled to make 100k a year?

[nypamedic43]

Now that I have a bit of time to sit down and formulate my thoughts...here goes.

1. I dont believe that education should be a local or state issue. I think that all states should be at comparable level. Between clinical time and didactic time, my course was 650 hours. Not enough time was spent on physiology or pharmacology. I took extra classes in those for myself so that I understood things better. I also think that national testing should be a higher standard, not the minimum that they test at now.

2. We all work for a living. We have to pay our bills. I dont think any of us merit $100K a year but I do think we should make more. And no Obama will NOT get us there.

3. I agree with this one.

4. I agree with this one as well. And no Obama-care will not fix anything. It will make things worse. Thats why it was repealed.

5. I also agree with this one. If we dont commit ourselves to demanding excellence of ourselves, how can we expect anyone else too. If people are used to providing mediocre pre-hospital care how do we get them to step up to the plate and get to where they provide excellent care 100% of the time? Well, the way I see it is this way...our employers must demand it of us. But I think they also need to provide the tools for us to get there.

As for 2 things that my service has changed in 2011? The state of NY requires quarterly skills review. 12 skills. Our service implemented a monthly skills review with 34 skills. You go into a room with a preceptor and practice everything from how to give a shot to how to use a quik-trach. We also implemented a web based program for 12 lead EKG's, once we hit the send button, our 12 lead goes to the ED, the cardiologist on call's cell phone and the Cath lab itself. There are a couple other ones as well but those are the 2 biggest ones.

[romneyfor2012]

I hate to say it, but I have to agree with flaming a little. For all the increased education standards, have we really improved in EMS. Can you point to any definitive studies that says we are saving more lives today percentage wise, than the guys in the 80s. Sure we have better technology, but I am not sure I can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are better.

[Asysin2leads]

I swear on my balls flamingemt is just another guise of crochity/IHLPP. His/her/it's blatantly ignorant and inflammatory statements are similar to all the others. Troll or not, I have pocket lint that is more intelligent.

[chbare]

Unfortunately, educational standards have not improved universally and significant variation exists from programme to programme.

However, there is a fair amount of literature out there. In fact, the American College of Surgeons reported as of 2005, a 40% reduction in overall paediatric mortality from trauma as compared to 20 years prior to 2005. They credit implementing formal trauma systems and their EMSC push as being big contributors to that number.

[nypamedic43]

What increased education standards? The curriculum for paramedicine is about the same all over the country. The clinical hours required run about the same as well. The program I went through hasnt changed in 10 yrs, which is why I took those 2 extra classes. How can we say that we are healthcare professionals when we cant keep up with whats necessary? We are smart individuals but to be honest I think that the paramedicine curriculum should be 2 years minimum plus clinicals.

I shared an article with this forum that I thought was interesting. Why should I have to prove anything with studies? There is A LOT of room for improvement in EMS, theres no denying that. I, like a lot of people, sit back and say "oh let the next person try to make change. I dont have the time to do it, so I will leave my future in someone elses hands" But I truly think that our future in the field of pre-hospital medicine should be in OUR hands not left with lawmakers and the fire depts.

All I am saying is maybe...just maybe, we should get off our asses and take EMS where it needs to go. A seperate, recognized, highly trained profession.

[JPINFV]

I hate to say it, but I have to agree with flaming a little. For all the increased education standards, have we really improved in EMS. Can you point to any definitive studies that says we are saving more lives today percentage wise, than the guys in the 80s. Sure we have better technology, but I am not sure I can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are better.

Is mortaility rates the only thing that's important for EMS, or just the easiest thing to measure? If mortaility rates is the only thing that matters, why are paramedics allowed to give medication for pain relief? Pain relief doens't decrease mortaility.