A first aid instructor's conflict with bureaucracy...

[Ridryder 911]

Race and MedicDude, you both bring out some very important points, as well as Dust. Part of the adult learning is to properly evaluate your students needs and background. As a professional educator, I do understand our dilemma as well, but try to observe all situations.

Yes, I agree it is foolish to re-teach veteran Paramedics on "chin-lift maneuvers" after they have been performing these for several years. Yes, it does make sense to "modify' your course to fulfill you students needs and requirements. To accelerate and zoom into the "meat" of the course.

However; here lies the potential problem. Standards and measures. Yes, we can assume that seasoned and even those that grasp things can accelerate faster. Yes, the instructor should be able to modify their courses to adapt and meet the expectations of the course sponsor and participant. But, recent research has shown that we are not properly doing that, especially in CPR, etc. In fact recent studies have shown that we are lecturing more than we are teaching.

This is one of the reasons AHA has went to DVD interactive education. More emphasis is placed onto didactic, visual and psychomotor skills all at one setting. The instructor is only there to facilitate and assist in practice and to ensure the standards are met. So many instructors were adding or deleting national standards.

I might suggest writing notes or documenting the reason classes were shortened such as " participants were able to properly demonstrate ____ skills, after practice without any noted errors. or These participants had previous experience that enhanced their learning time or class size ratio decreased practice time..

Hopefully administrators will understand the need of personalized attention. Some may need lengthened classes as well as those that grasp the subject in a shorter time...

Good luck,

R/r 911

[RaceMedic]

Cynic, Thanks for the compliments.

Dust you are right most people all they want is out of class early and want the card for work. i understand this but i also know that if you have a class of full time nurses, Doc's and Medics that do what i am teaching for a living (ok im streching it with the docs. LOL ) But you get the picture. you have to agree that sitting for 4 hours watching the same video that gives the same information and nothing new is very redundant and not conducive to education. I should have included that after verification that the students understand and can perform the basics, i like to include personal experiance and run scenario's with the students. For example if the class is made mainly of nursing home employees i will tailor the class to fit what they do.

Yes i admit i am ussually done with the class anywhere from 1 to 2 hrs early. The class always remarks that they have learned something new and potentally useful to them and their work. I know i did not outline this before. Not to mention that i also teach the hospital recert courses and they are strictly limited to 2 hrs.

I to believe that increased education is the key to furthering EMS as a profession, as you have pointed out. But i can also recognize the need to streamline certain areas of the educational process.

Be Safe

Race

[RaceMedic]

Rid, i agree we do lecture to much .. thats the main thing i have shortened in my approach. i do lecture but very breifly. My classes are taught on the floor and tables and where ever thay need to be. I prefer hands on, keeps the class awake and interested in whats being taught and demonstrated.

I have recently earned my Training Officer II and will be assisting in medic and basic courses. I feel like i have proven my worth as a "canned" course instructor now i will be attempting the meatier classes if you will.

Be Safe

Race

[MedicDude]

Rid, that's a good point you bring up... Instead of rigidly setting out that "45 minutes must be spent lecturing on cardiovascular emergencies" (just as a vague example), I'd feel a lot better going through a checklist of skills. That way, if students weren't understanding and performing to standards, we could take extra time to do it. Or, if they were really sharp (like many of the classes I've taught) we could move past certain points quickly. I already teach this way to a certain extent, but it's hard when your students are sharp and want to get out of there, but you have to ensure that you take at least 8 (or thereabouts) hours to teach.

As far as I'm concerned, rigid schedules make classes boring, forgettable, and sometimes unpleasant. I know-- I used to teach that way when I was first starting off!

[Dustdevil]

Race, you bring up a situation that I was not considering. The majority of my FA/CPR instruction has been to lay persons, not to healthcare professionals. Certainly, if you are recerting healthcare professionals who have had this over and over, then yeah... you can breeze through it.

If you are teaching lay persons, which is the situation addressed in the original post, then it is a whole 'nother animal. Some are making ASSumptions that to take the entire class time means you are throwing in a bunch of extra "boring lecture," and that is not necessarily the case. Certainly not in my case.

The true measure of the success of a class is not measured by the clock. Too long or too short is irrelevant, really. And it doesn't matter how much they enjoy it or how satisfied you are with their performance. The true measure of success is how well they UNDERSTAND the material and how well they REMEMBER it.

I take every minute available to me to ensure that both of those criteria are met. If you do not, you are shorting your students.

[AnatomyChick]

Ok... I MUST insert my .02 here.

First of all let me state that I am an Instructor who LOVES / LIVES to teach.... I enjoy and am passionate about all aspects of it... from Instructing Didactically ( I NEVER use the term "lecture" ) to performing skills in both practice and test modes. My students do well, and I receive compliments on most every class (I won't lie, there are a "few" people who don't like my instructional style).

With that said, I'll say this... and Rid eluded to it.... all Nationally Recognized programs (with the exception of maybe ASHI) have moved towards Watch then practice or View while "doing" programs. The Instructor had been removed from doing anything instructional, and is now nothing more than a facilitator. Am I happy about this? HECK NO.... see my above comment on loving what I do.... Do I think it's necessary? ABSOLUTELY... I've heard way too many people go above and beyond what really needed to be covered.. it became more of a "listen to all of the cool things that I've seen / done", not a "watch all the cool things I'm going to teach YOU to teach YOU how to save a life".

As EMS providers we love the War Stories, we love hearing them, telling them, retelling them, and sometimes even telling someone elses stories... IMHO the latter of those is what ends up getting passed on as "real education" in many CPR & FA courses.

Keep this in mind though... the time frames that are given for courses are "average or suggested"... what I have found is that if you have a full course (met your ratios and cannot accept any more students) then you're most likely to go the full time (and honestly you SHOULD meet for the entire time)... if you have fewer students, then it is appropriate to adjust your time accordingly. Also keep in mind that I'm talking about FA courses here..not CPR.

The AHA (for whom I have instructed for nearly 20 years) has "renewal" courses with shortened time frames for those providers that only need a quick reminder and to show / complete their skills. The AHA also has programs that are specific to Day Care, Police, Security, School Staff type individuals (the Heartsaver Course was invented for just these people).... Remember, just because Healthcare Personnel are the majority of staff that you train, that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't equip yourself with the appropriate tool kits for all courses (and yes, I know that gets costly) to teach the course that your offering... As my Grandfather who was a Carpenter by trade used to say... "Don't take a Pipe Wrench in to Hammer a Nail"....

*Climbs down off of soapbox*.

[RaceMedic]

I don't want to put out there that i do not care about my students. I take great pride in my teaching and all but beg the students in my classes to be honest and truthful in filling out my evals. that is the only way we can learn to better serve our students and give them what they need outside of what we present and the way we present it. I have worked my butt off to get to where i am and it is only right that those that follow me have to do the same.

As Dust pointed out, and i agree the importance to teaching is students remembering what was presented by us as instructers and it being properly implimented in the field or in everyday life. I do teach to that end. My goal is to promote further education and understanding of what is being taught. I have and continue to ask lay people to leave my classes and attend a full 8 hour course to get the proper initial education.

I do also teach full 8 hour courses for the local Community college here. I do take the full 8 hrs. i do use the video and i go futher indepth in to the subject matter i want my students to know and be confident enought that if they need to use the skills out in the public and at work that they will with out hesitation. after they have the proper baseline education that the classes can be modified to fit the classes as they form from there.

If i have presented myself otherwise that is my fault. I hope this clears up my stance on education. Dust i know you and i have discussed these issues in depth and am not to worried about that.

Be Safe

Race

[AnatomyChick]

Please don't misunderstand, my frustration is not with your ability... I have no way to gauge that from Missouri.... The point that I was trying to make is that all programs should basically be the same now... the AHA, ARC, NSC, etc... have basically taken the actual "Instructing" part out of the classes. All programs are intended to be very close to identical. In other words the argument about if you should be adding in your own information and if that should take you more or less time is really a non-issue.