"But the state said I'm good for 3 years"

[NYMedic828]

I'm really sick of hearing this when I tell people in my volly department that we don't do enough EMS training.

I actually had one gentleman stand up in anger when I replied to him that the state test is a joke. (the regional test is open book!)

I do my best within my knowledge base to host trainings/drills and still no one shows past the same 3/4 people.

 

[WolfmanHarris]

If you really want to piss them off do up a chart comparing education and in-service requirements for real services. Maybe knowing just how far they lag in a clear, non-sugar coated way would smack them upside the head a bit. What are your neighbouring services doing? What are the closest professional services doing? How does your state compare to neighbouring states? Countries etc?

When I was in University my volunteer Emergency First Response Team (non-transport, FR trained (40 hrs) ) completed a mandatory 4 hour training session the first friday of every month following classes. They also had to spend a full 10 hour day at the beginning of every academic year doing a full review (unless due for recertification which is a 28 hour weekend) and a full 8 day of scenarios at the end of the academic year to be signed off for the following year. That was the bare minimum for a bunch of students handling about 200 calls a year. Failure to make a training, poor performance during a training or identified deficiencies on calls would result in a training suspension pending remedial training. Optional trainings happened all the time usually one formal optional training a month.

 

[firecoins]

I'm really sick of hearing this when I tell people in my volly department that we don't do enough EMS training.

I actually had one gentleman stand up in anger when I replied to him that the state test is a joke. (the regional test is open book!)

I do my best within my knowledge base to host trainings/drills and still no one shows past the same 3/4 people.

Are you on long island? Is the REMAC really open book?

 

[NYMedic828]

Are you on long island? Is the REMAC really open book?

Yes to all the above.

Nassau county open book, 25 questions...

 

[mycrofft]

I ran into this issue in the CERT I was involved with to some degree.
Part of it is the problem of a peers telling another peer they need to do something. That has to come down from on high or it is seen (and sometimes can be) a means of getting over the other volunteers.

Unless it is mandatory, and interesting, you will keep getting the same three or four people or less.

 

[Wheel]

I'm really sick of hearing this when I tell people in my volly department that we don't do enough EMS training.

I actually had one gentleman stand up in anger when I replied to him that the state test is a joke. (the regional test is open book!)

I do my best within my knowledge base to host trainings/drills and still no one shows past the same 3/4 people.

I have a feeling that this is an attitude that will bother me about a career in EMS. I guess to some people there is no incentive for pushing yourself, since you'll still get paid slightly more than minimum wage (in some places) and you'll still make the same as the guys who do the bare minimum.

 

[fortsmithman]

In the winter my volunteer service trains nearly every week. In the summer we train once or twice a month because of forest fire season with some of our member being employed to fight said fires. We jhave to constantly train practice our skill s. Learn new and better ways of doing treatments.

 

[MonkeySquasher]

Yes to all the above.

Nassau county open book, 25 questions...

I'm in the WREMAC region, and while ours isn't supposed to be 'open book', it's all online and you're still able to open the protocols in one window and the test in the other. At my fire company, I scored 100% on the test. A couple people in charge were hassling me, trying to trip me up to prove I'm not as smart and that I found a way to cheat the test, because they only got 80-90%.

I'm in the same boat you are, I believe. I belong to a volunteer fire company which also does ALS transport and intercept for about 1/4 of my county. I work at a paid ALS ambulance agency which covers most of the big surrounding cities and towns. The attitude toward EMS in my fire company is, honestly, frightening. It's run like a club more than a vital public service. There's very little training... Just be with the popular crowd, get your AEMT-CC (because they figure, why bother becoming a Paramedic? They're the same thing, right? -_-) and then you get to play. Almost all training time goes toward Fire-related things, and the small time dedicated to EMS is a joke. And because of where I work, I'm seen as a threat and a liability more than a Medic who has gained a lot of experience to bring back to the company.

tl;dr - Politics has no place in EMS, and it's volunteer/paid agencies with mentalities like this that are holding us back from becoming a more recognized profession.

 

[DrParasite]

As a general rule (and this applies to both paid and volunteers), many in EMS only complete enough CEUs to recertify, and if it isn't mandatory, they don't want to do it. Paid guys will say "If i don't get paid to do it, it isn't worth my time" as well as "I do this every day, I don't need to take classes" and volunteers say "I'm a volunteer, I don't have time for all this, the class alone was a killer."

Personally, I don't attends CEUs that are a waste of my time. I take ones that are challenging, and increase my knowledge for use in the field. I will travel or pay out of pocket if needed, because I do think that sometimes just doing CEUs in-house can turn into a huge social hangout time instead of an educational opportunity.

The only downside is supervisors, senior people and upper management often frown upon using education and techniques that are taught in class that haven't been reviewed by them personally (despite other medical authorities saying they are better than the old ways and have scientific evidence behind them)

 

[mycrofft]

The rank structure hires you to do their bidding in their protocols. They have a right to expect you will follow them. If an excursion from protocol is necessary, document why, then be prepared to take the step any REAL professional is required to do...fall on your sword rather than do a pt harm.