# EMS Education in Washington State



## PNWMedic (Nov 21, 2008)

I am an state & national registry EMT-B for a small private EMS agency in Washington State, and I am interested in EMT-I, or at least airway, IV & Defibrillator Tech certs; does anyone know of any programs or courses in Washington state for EMT-I, or airway/IV/Defib Tech EMS? I know, I should just take the paramedic route; but unfortunatly I won't meet the experience qualifications, (I will be one month premature to the 1yr requirement for applications for 2009) to enter any of the local Washington state programs until the 2010 program.

Well if anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it. I have so far been unable to find any tech or EMT-I courses in the state. Thanks for your help!


----------



## ffemt8978 (Nov 21, 2008)

PM me with your exact city...I may be able to point you in the right direction.


----------



## PNWMedic (Nov 21, 2008)

Thanks for the reply; I just PM'ed you. Any help anyone has is greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!!!


----------



## VentMedic (Nov 21, 2008)

This state has always fascinated me.
How did Washington State end up with 8 different levels? Who was the driving force behind that? Which group did the hardest lobbying for the additional legislative paperwork? 

http://www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/emstrauma/download/emssop.pdf


----------



## BossyCow (Nov 21, 2008)

Our state is in the middle of huge revamping of our EMS system. I received notice yesterday that as of March 2009 the state is officially out of the testing business and all initial cert, recert and challenge testing will be done through the national registry. 

Currently there is no arrangement made for the ILS testing. So, if you are considering doing ILS I would highly recommend getting into a class that ends before March 2009. 

They are also eliminating the state provided OTEP program. Currently the regional councils have provided an Ongoing Training/Evaluation Program which is one of the methods for recertification. The other two being CME or re-taking the test. The state is no longer going to provide those OTEPs and those who use the OTEP method are being instructed to either submit an OTEP program to their region for authorization or to sign up with one of the Online OTEP programs. 

There are no provisions being made for ILS on any of these. This is because of the odd way our state set up its levels. Currently you can get different skills certified. I am an EMT-B with and additional certification in IV. You can also get an Airway Cert. As I undestand it, part of this new program is to eliminate some of that. EMT-B's with IV or Airway certs will be encouraged to up to ILS certs. According to my Regional Council Rep, there are only two EMT-Airway certs in the whole state so that will most likely be the first to get the ax.

Vent, part of the history that caused this was the autonomy of the individual regional councils. My state has a very diverse demographic. We have a lot of Wilderness areas some in close proximity to urban centers and some very remote. We have large commercial farming communities and timberlands with extremely sparse populations. The agencies serving those areas had to adapt to the conditions specific to their locality. 

Basically the skills were broken down into a sort of modular concept with various combinations of skills being taught and practiced according to the whim of the MPD in charge of the area. For example, my MPD not only allows but insists on EMT-B's providing blood sugar on all pts entering his ER. We are also routinely instructed by the MPD to provide Nitro sub lingual spray in the field to pts with no prior prescription for it.  

I can start an IV if I am calling for ALS intercept. I cannot do D5W but the region next to mine who has a different MPD can give sugar in the field with the same cert level that I have. 

I think some of the changes that are happening state wide as pertaining to the NREMT are going to help standardize some things within my state. But having met most of the players involved in the planning.. my hopes are not high.


----------



## Oregon (Nov 23, 2008)

BossyCow said:


> Our state is in the middle of huge revamping of our EMS system. I received notice yesterday that as of March 2009 the state is officially out of the testing business and all initial cert, recert and challenge testing will be done through the national registry.
> 
> Currently there is no arrangement made for the ILS testing. So, if you are considering doing ILS I would highly recommend getting into a class that ends before March 2009.
> 
> ...



Dang, that's messy.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.  The few times I've crossed over into your neck of the wood s for SAR missions I've always been impressed with the quality and temperment of your BLS and ALS crews.


----------



## PNWMedic (Nov 24, 2008)

Hey Thanks for all of your help and responses, unfortunatly it looks like with Washington's new EMS system I am going to be stuck being an EMT-B until 2010 when is the next paramedicine program is accepting applications  As far as I can find there are no EMT-I programs in Washington anymore; as they are phasing/phased out due to Washington's "rearraingement." Well maybe I will be a paramedic in 2011... Thanks again for all of your help anyways!


----------



## BossyCow (Nov 24, 2008)

PNWMedic said:


> Hey Thanks for all of your help and responses, unfortunatly it looks like with Washington's new EMS system I am going to be stuck being an EMT-B until 2010 when is the next paramedicine program is accepting applications  As far as I can find there are no EMT-I programs in Washington anymore; as they are phasing/phased out due to Washington's "rearraingement." Well maybe I will be a paramedic in 2011... Thanks again for all of your help anyways!



Our county is doing one last blast of EMT-I next year. I'm not sure how they are going to handle the testing though with these new regs.


----------



## Cowfire (Dec 3, 2008)

*EMT-I Classes??*

Does anyone know of any EMT-I classes anywhere near Snohomish?? They are very few and far between around here...


----------



## yowzer (Dec 4, 2008)

Cowfire said:


> Does anyone know of any EMT-I classes anywhere near Snohomish?? They are very few and far between around here...



Gold Bar/District 26 FD used to run one a year for their members (And maybe neighboring districts?). Dunno if they still do... I think they were trying to get funding for paid medics a while back.


----------

