Single-function paramedics in California

[venflon]

Does anyone know of any fire departments or county agencies in California (beside the City of SF) that hire single function paramedics?

Here in the UK there are single person fast response vehicles that can get through the traffic faster than a dual crewed ambulance. They assess a patient or incident and report back to the ambulance control to infrom them of requirements.

It works well if the control dispatch them sensibly, but too often they get used instead of proper ambulances to get the government stats up. More and more we are being used as cheap doctors.

[Dustdevil]

:?

[1EMT-P]

Dust we could be like Podiatry & have our own Doctorate... Doctor of Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine (DPEM)... .

[JPINFV]

First we would have to convice the world that what we do is removed enough from medicine that we don't have to be surpervised. My understanding (which might very well be wrong) is that the reason why podiatrists, dentists, and oral surgeons don't require MD/DO supervision is because, as a general rule, the MD/DO's don't want to do it in the first place. This will be kinda of hard when there is a medical specialty called "Emergency Medicine"

[JimH]

" My understanding (which might very well be wrong) is that the reason why podiatrists, dentists, and oral surgeons don't require MD/DO supervision is because, as a general rule, the MD/DO's don't want to do it in the first place. "

By rights, that would mean proctologists would not be under medical supervision either :wink:

[Dustdevil]

By rights, that would mean proctologists would not be under medical supervision either :wink:

LOL! You couldn't pay me enough for that one! :shock:

[dzmohr]

Dust we could be like Podiatry & have our own Doctorate... Doctor of Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine (DPEM)... .

I suppose I should do a search and see if this has been discussed already, I suspect it has.... maybe should even be in it's own thread, but I am being lazy tonight, but what is your vision of the paramedic of the future? Considering the nursing shortage, crisis of ER overcrowding, the pandemic of the month on the horizon and who knows what other scare tactics await us..I have always thought/wished the paramedic of the future would be a PA or NP specializing in prehospital care.

Pt has saturable laceration, we suture, write for pain and antibiotics and clear, no transport. Between calls we could do public health checks, immunizations, and such. We would have professional standing ( even being able to bill for services ourselves), and it wold relieve the crunch at the ER and there would be a career path for medics that needed to or chose to leave the street.

Dream a little, I am not asking if politically it could happen, I am asking what direction it would go in if you were King.