Advance Practice Medics in NC

[SeeNoMore]

http://www.wakeems.com/blog/?p=77

Pretty interesting. Seems the future of EMS is a sort of medical/social work hybrid.

I would guess we will see more of this, and less Paramedics engaged in classic Emergency responses given the science is against intubation, fluid resuscitation in trauma the use of various drugs in various situations etc etc (Excuse the bitterness I'm just really regretting going to Paramedic school right now)

But I did not know this was happening yet in the US. What do folks think?

 

[TransportJockey]

Why are you bitter about going to medic school?

Anyways, I think it's a damned good idea. And probably a sign of where we are headed to, if we could get advanced education to go along with it.

 

[Veneficus]

http://www.wakeems.com/blog/?p=77

Pretty interesting. Seems the future of EMS is a sort of medical/social work hybrid.

I would guess we will see more of this, and less Paramedics engaged in classic Emergency responses given the science is against intubation, fluid resuscitation in trauma the use of various drugs in various situations etc etc (Excuse the bitterness I'm just really regretting going to Paramedic school right now)

But I did not know this was happening yet in the US. What do folks think?

I think you are way behind if you just figured this out.

less than 5% of all Emergency medicine is actually emergent anyway, what did your school tell you the job would be like?

 

[FLEMTP]

This was introduced over a year ago.. they called them advanced practice paramedics.. when they really aren't.. at least not in the advanced practice paramedic as we think of it.

They basically are an extra pair of hands on a call, someone to ask for advice or give authorization for orders without having to call a doc, and can make decisions about transport the regular road crews cannot.

They dont do suturing, they dont do home treatment of certain nonemergent medical conditions.. its a fancy title, IMHO to attract media attention.

There is nothing advanced about what they do, forward thinking for some places yes, but all of our road medics have the ability to do the same things here...

maybe we should run around calling ourselves advanced practice paramedics, and tout to the media how we've been doing this on all of our ambulances for years...

Sorry, I guess I do have a very ho hum attitude about this... call me and let me know when they can start doing things that set them apart .. like suturing... writing prescriptions... treatment of minor ailments at home without a transport, or transport to a clinic or urgent care.

Education is the issue there, along with the lack of guidelines for EMS reimbursement of these services by medicare medicaid and private insurance

 

[SeeNoMore]

Yeah it's not breaking news. I was just unaware it was going on in the US. I had read about something similar in the UK.

To be honest I really did think there would be more emergent situations as a Paramedic. I figured out pretty quickly that was not the case being an EMT especially in an area where 911 jobs were hard to come by.

But the term Advanced Practice does seem to be a bit overdramatic I agree. More a refocus of the role. Or perhaps a more honest look at it.

 

[MMiz]

When I worked as an EMT in Michigan we had a few lone SUV Paramedic units on each shift that did follow-up calls for diabetics, went on all priority 1 calls to act as a third set of hands, and acted as experts of community locations and protocol. We did it only because it was paid for by the communities we served.

Wake County EMS, while progressive, I feel dropped the ball on their Advanced Practice Medics program. In the depths of a recession, when the county is laying off thousands of employees, including public safety workers, went out and purchased expensive new cars, outfitted them with expensive lit bars and equipment, and created a huge media buzz with little to really show for the program. Based on what I've seen, I don't know why these services couldn't be provided by regular EMS units.