sir.shocksalot
Forum Captain
- 381
- 15
- 18
Getting back on topic, I think that until there is a large, definitive, prospective study that clearly illustrates how poorly we are doing our jobs and how much our lack of education is to blame I doubt we will see significant educational changes.
The problem lies with all of us, our employers, and our medical directors. EMS has become such a transient or part-time/volunteer career that we lost any sense of stability in the profession.
As providers we expect more out of our "education" in terms of job security and compensation, yet we don't improve our education or increase entry requirements to the point that paramedics are exclusive enough to demand reasonable compensation. Many lament our pay, however fail to note that a high school graduate can walk out of school and within a year be a practicing paramedic. I don't see RNs, RTs, MDs, PAs, etc who have their career open so quickly to high school graduates. Then we also have a large portion of card carrying paramedics who only got the training to enter a separate career entirely (firefighting is completely unrelated to EMS, regardless of what hosemonkeys try to insinuate).
Our employers recognize the transient nature of the workforce and take advantage of it. Most private ambulance paramedics are actively seeking work at a FD, so why try and attract paramedics with decent wages when most will simply leave for a FD. And why pay attractive wages when a recent high school grad will happily drive a flashy red firetruck look-a-like around for $9.00/hr. The employers in the best position to push EMS forward don't because then working for a FD will become so exclusive to those practicing pre-hospital care, and lord forbid that firefighters have to do more medical stuff. 3rd service providers are the most likely to successfully push for more education, but for some reason they don't.
And medical directors are often uninvolved with Paramedics at their service that sometimes gross incompetence and negligence goes unnoticed until a lawsuit is filed. Furthermore, many medical directors lack a complete picture of EMS from the educational (or lack thereof) background of paramedics to the way they think and practice on the streets. Due to their ignorance, willful or otherwise, they do not often push for more education.
All the people that should be pushing education to the front of issues facing EMS today (in the US), are not. And I can't come up with a good reason other than, "there is no real proof that what we are doing now is bad, and we have been doing it this way since ... blah blah blah.... FD traditions... blah blah blah.... response times etc." It's distressing really.
Note: I realize many of you work for outlying agencies that break some of these issues, but I speak for most EMS agencies, not everyone. There are always odd ones out that do the right thing (or "right-er" thing as the case is).
The problem lies with all of us, our employers, and our medical directors. EMS has become such a transient or part-time/volunteer career that we lost any sense of stability in the profession.
As providers we expect more out of our "education" in terms of job security and compensation, yet we don't improve our education or increase entry requirements to the point that paramedics are exclusive enough to demand reasonable compensation. Many lament our pay, however fail to note that a high school graduate can walk out of school and within a year be a practicing paramedic. I don't see RNs, RTs, MDs, PAs, etc who have their career open so quickly to high school graduates. Then we also have a large portion of card carrying paramedics who only got the training to enter a separate career entirely (firefighting is completely unrelated to EMS, regardless of what hosemonkeys try to insinuate).
Our employers recognize the transient nature of the workforce and take advantage of it. Most private ambulance paramedics are actively seeking work at a FD, so why try and attract paramedics with decent wages when most will simply leave for a FD. And why pay attractive wages when a recent high school grad will happily drive a flashy red firetruck look-a-like around for $9.00/hr. The employers in the best position to push EMS forward don't because then working for a FD will become so exclusive to those practicing pre-hospital care, and lord forbid that firefighters have to do more medical stuff. 3rd service providers are the most likely to successfully push for more education, but for some reason they don't.
And medical directors are often uninvolved with Paramedics at their service that sometimes gross incompetence and negligence goes unnoticed until a lawsuit is filed. Furthermore, many medical directors lack a complete picture of EMS from the educational (or lack thereof) background of paramedics to the way they think and practice on the streets. Due to their ignorance, willful or otherwise, they do not often push for more education.
All the people that should be pushing education to the front of issues facing EMS today (in the US), are not. And I can't come up with a good reason other than, "there is no real proof that what we are doing now is bad, and we have been doing it this way since ... blah blah blah.... FD traditions... blah blah blah.... response times etc." It's distressing really.
Note: I realize many of you work for outlying agencies that break some of these issues, but I speak for most EMS agencies, not everyone. There are always odd ones out that do the right thing (or "right-er" thing as the case is).
