I believe that EMT-B and EMT-I should be called EMT's. Paramedics go through a butt load of training, time and effort for the their title. Now I do refer to myself as a Medic student. As I get into class more and expand my knowledge and skills I dont feel that i really belong to either group. Guess Medic Student in a group of its own. I very seriously doubt I will even call myself a Medic until I have gotten about a year on the streets.
Ambulance Driver = EMT = Medic
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DwayneW
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This is crazy to me! They have no idea what you mean because you have lied to them. Doing hospital clinicals, had I ever given this response to a patient that asked my status, I would have been immediately removed from clinicals and dropped from my medic program. If I was lucky, the wasting of two years of education would have been the end of it. I am an EMT-B. Being a few months from "medic" does not make me a "medic", to pretend to be so is, and should be, criminal.
I'll ask you to forgive me if I remake a point here, I had to bail on the bickering after the 5th page...
I think the attraction for basics to be called medics is that the term brings to mind in the general public a paramedic, from TV fame, or Medic from the military movies, both pretty prestigious things to aspire to (the stereotype I mean). I don't think basics have earned the right to be called medics, any more than I allow my family or coworkers to nickname me "doc". I didn't earn that title, it doesn't fit, and I'm not going to feed their misconceptions.
EMT is a clear title. Many have said that the person bleeding on the ground doesn't care about titles, yet in the next breath claim they are confused by the term EMT.
The further I go in my education, the more I realize I may never know enough to fill the shoes of a good "medic." But I have worked for it, my family and I have sacraficed for it, and I hope to some day deserve it. If so, I know that I will have earned it. The term medic is not a generic catch-all for anyone that's survived "some type" of medical training and it's not neutral. It carries weight with most people that I know outside of the medical professions.
If there is such a need for a generic term, choose one that others haven't sacraficed to give weight and character. And no, I'm not a paragod, I have no idea if I'll even make a good medic, it just kind of bothers me that we want to pretend that "medic" is just some random term folks picked out of the air to avoid confusion. I think there's more to it than that...
Have a great day all.
Dwayne
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Okay, this has gone on for long enough without a solution.
For those of you that are offended by an EMT-B or other using the term medic because you don't want to "confuse" or "misrepresent" or whatever to your patient, nows your chance to fix it. This includes all who want to keep telling our patients what our specific level is for whatever reason.
I challenge everyone to come up with a single term that will apply equally to all members of pre-hospital EMS so that the public can be educated.
After all, how can we begin to be treated as a professional if we can't even decide what to call the members of our profession. Like nurses are part of the nursing profession, we need a label/name that will identify our profession.
For those of you that are offended by an EMT-B or other using the term medic because you don't want to "confuse" or "misrepresent" or whatever to your patient, nows your chance to fix it. This includes all who want to keep telling our patients what our specific level is for whatever reason.
I challenge everyone to come up with a single term that will apply equally to all members of pre-hospital EMS so that the public can be educated.
After all, how can we begin to be treated as a professional if we can't even decide what to call the members of our profession. Like nurses are part of the nursing profession, we need a label/name that will identify our profession.
Rattletrap
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With the exception of those who are trained in First Aid and First Responders ,in the United States, we are all EMT's. There can not be a universal term. You are given a level of certification and you should be identified appropriately, be it EMT for EMT-B or Intermediate for EMT-I or Paramedic for EMT-P. As EMS professionals we should expect this and educate Joe Public and the "Bed Pan Attendants" (Nurses Aids, LPNs, RNs, RNBSNs).
"Bed Pan Attendants": RescueShirts.com, see what you got started.
cprinstructor
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You refer to yourself as a "medic student"?!? You're going to call yourself a "medic"?!? Since you seem to be such a stickler for legal names and initials, I assume you'll refer to yourself by your correct, legal title, right? Will that legal title be "medic", or will it possibly be something else? If you truly believe what you're talking about here, you should NEVER refer to yourself as a medic.
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Yes, there can be a universal term if enough people want it. Given all of the different levels of EMT's in this country, going by your level designate is not always appropriate or possible. In my state alone there are nine different levels of EMT, and other states have more or less.
And if you want to be such a stickler for terminology and use the letter designates as part of your identification, then paramedics must be referred to as paramedics and not medics...after all, medics are only in the military.
Rattletrap
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The people who handle billing for EMS Providers would love to have a universal term. It would make their life easier, also would make medicare fraud easier.
Insurance companies would hate the universal term for just that reason. These are the guys I am betting on. Of course they want "ambulance driver" as a universal term so they could pay out less money.
Think about the issues that would be caused for transport units. A basic level truck would be sent to transport a cardiac patient with a bunch of drugs hanging and a cardiac monitor. They would have to then use a non universal term to get the appropriate truck sent.
Oh, yes. Just think what that would do to pay levels for those who already are under paid.
We already have the universal term "ambulance driver" and it is not working and is upsetting to those of us who paid our dues to earn our level of certification we have. You can change the words to what ever you want but the outcome will be the same. which is people being upset by being compared to someone else who has not put in the time and sacrifices(mostly with their families) that they have to achieve what they have.
A good start to education would be educating yourselves on the proper terminolgy of the professionals (healthcare or otherwise) you are attempting to educate. This might include their education levels, credentials, licensure and the current title that is appropriately used in the 21st century. When my accountant rattles off his impressive list of credentials, I just smile and nod because he's lost me after CPA.
Even Ridryder911 still addresses me (with RRT- Registered Respiratory Therapist) as a Respiratory "Tech" at times. I usually overlook it because that is how my current profession was addressed since the early 1960s. But, it is offensive to the new B.S.R.T.s. However, just recently when RT did raise their education minimums to A.S., we changed our titles. We are no longer have Respiratory Technician and Respiratory Therapist. We are all called Respiratory Therapists with the same amount of entry level education (A.S.) but the opportunity to be credentialed as Certified (CRT) or Registered (RRT). We are all credentialed with national exams and licensed in each state we work in. But, unless you (EMT whatever and John Q Public) were on the RT national mailing list, how would you know? We know who we are. And, the patients we make contact with know who we are and what we do. That is all part of a good and professional introduction. Short, sweet and to the point but can be elaborated on if requested.
Even in the hospital, it is difficult to keep track of the various titles and professions. Many healthcare professionals will never come in contact with pre-hospital people unless they are in an accident. Sometimes you are just called the ambulance or rescue team in fear of addressing your title incorrectly. Yes, I have heard some very rude corrections in the ER from time to time from all sides.
There is very little EMS workers have agreed upon the in past 35 years so why start now. If minimum education standards ever get established and the 46 different certifications consolidate into some type of suitable title, then maybe pre-hospital people could concern themselves about one or two titles to call themselves.
Do you understand the handle you just flew off of because I sure don't. I dont agree with EMT-B and EMT-I refering to themselves as medics or Paramedics because to get to the point of Paramedic takes a lot of effort. Not because of the legal title. I dont see what the problem with the term medic is. You act like i just called them the south end of a north bound donkey or something.
Emtgirl21, you are correct. Medic is not a protected term for any certification or licensure.
Medic is a general term for any medically trained individual, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical personnel. Military medical personnel use the term but also have their official titles.
To prove your point, here is the Merriam Webster Dictionary Definition of "medic
M-W Dictionary said:
The term is so vague that hundreds of professions and titles fall in to the definition. I understand the discomfort with the term, but it seriously can mean so many different things.
Just as a side note, look at the first definition at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=medic
Urban Dictionary is a slang dictionary.
sandboxmedic
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The name game
i think displaying EMT Vs. EMT-Intermediate Vs. Paramedic is needed. Especially when working a BIG scene, or if you happen to be grouped with multiple agencies working on a problem. Having that name on a Vest lets people know who you are, the level of care, and if your overwatching a big incident at a glance you can see who you have where and whats being accomplished. I think its a much needed an integral part of an ICS (incident command system). I also think their should be labels for Nurse-RN, Physician as well. I always get a little irritated when i would bring in a trauma patient and everyone is wearing masks and a blue gown...LOL. My local ER (stateside) had implemented easily readable tags for the truama support teams so you could tell at a glance who was who, helps save ya from repeating yourself, and stepping on the residents toes when ya immediately ask for the "attending trauma physician" to give report.
How do you folks do it?
i think displaying EMT Vs. EMT-Intermediate Vs. Paramedic is needed. Especially when working a BIG scene, or if you happen to be grouped with multiple agencies working on a problem. Having that name on a Vest lets people know who you are, the level of care, and if your overwatching a big incident at a glance you can see who you have where and whats being accomplished. I think its a much needed an integral part of an ICS (incident command system). I also think their should be labels for Nurse-RN, Physician as well. I always get a little irritated when i would bring in a trauma patient and everyone is wearing masks and a blue gown...LOL. My local ER (stateside) had implemented easily readable tags for the truama support teams so you could tell at a glance who was who, helps save ya from repeating yourself, and stepping on the residents toes when ya immediately ask for the "attending trauma physician" to give report.
How do you folks do it?
Rattletrap
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He he he, you know the Respiratory Therapist analogy is a poor one for me as my father retired a number of years ago as a Respiratory Therapist. Though I do get your point.
In the ER's I rarely am mis addressed as to my title unless there is a "rent a nurse" working. Yes "rent a nurses" happens in one hospital in my area quite often as a money saving factor.
One of the biggest reasons I am called an "ambulance driver" is that someone is too flipping lazy to read my name tag which has the word "Paramedic" in half inch letters on it. I have since quite wearing it for that reason.
"rent a nurse" is definitely not cost saving through the registry. The hospital has to pay the agency and a very good wage to that nurse. Using "rent a nurse" is one of the biggest budget busters in the industry. You will also find that a hospital is staffed throughout,, RNs, RTs, Radiology, PT etc with registry or travelers that may make up to 20% of the licensed staff in some hospitals especially during "season". Many of these "rent a nurses" are from other states/countries where the certifications for EMS might be totally different. So, no, they may not be familiar with the local EMS system.
So you have the advantage on some professions by already being familiar with hospital workers. You may also be an outgoing type of person that readily tells someone who you are right away. My point is not everyone is as well versed on the correct terminology of other professions because it is changing all the time. Many EMTs don't know how many different professions even exist in healthcare. I'm amazed at the number of certifications and titles in EMS. Florida has 2, Alabama has 3 and Washington State has 6 different titles or certifications for EMTs. And, there is not that much education or skill separating some of the certifications. The patches that used to be readily identifible for EMS/Fire change also. Florida finallly started recognizing the NR.
Name badges help with the name but there is still an alphabet soup behind it. In the city, we may have 20 different services coming to our ER at any given time with different uniforms, multiple titles and various credentials. There are paramedics like myself that have multiple licenses and credentials. When I worked on HEMS, my tag read RRT, EMT-P, CCEMT-P, FP-C. The CCEMT-P isn't well known also. Some use NREMT-P. When working in the hospitals the EMT-P is not a recognized credential so that is not on my tag but I have another list of credentials and certifications for RT. Some agencies allow paramedics to put their whole alphabet soup on their tags. When you get all the specialty certifications on there, it can be confusing. So it is not just the different levels that are create problems identifying different EMS professionals.
Many RNs in Florida have EMT-P behind their name especially if they do HEMS. They want to addressed by their nursing title and not as a paramedic. They may have challenged the paramedic exam to stay flying and to them it may be just another certification. Some were paramedics and then nurses. I usually use the first title if I can recognize what that is with the many different professions.
So with a progressively changing medical profession, don't expect the world to stop just to learn all the pre-hospital worker titles. New certifications seem to appear every few months. Other professions also have the different levels but manage to deal with it when someone addresses them incorrectly by politely correcting them or moving on. The patient is the priority, not someone who needs his/her ego stroked appropriately.
The RT profession, when a title offended us because it represented a lower education and certification, raised the educational standard and eliminated that title. The technology is changing rapidly in the RT/healthcare profession where we can not have the "lesser" trained/educated credential or individual.
The 15 pages spent talking about this on this forum could have been put to better use writing your State board about education standards and cleaning up the alphabet soup into a recognizable profession. The plans for EMS and the Paramedic that were started in the college systems in the 1970s have yet to be achieved. Seems like the EMS industry does a lot of projecting their issues onto others instead of taking care of their own problems. No need to criticize others if your profession has issues within itself.
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BossyCow
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The pompous, know-it-all style is my favorite part of your posts! Did I ever mention I'm married to a paramedic?
sandboxmedic
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A funny story on the name deal
With all the chat here on names and job title designators, it reminded me of something funny that happened to me.
Working in the sandbox, i was sent to an "outlying Ops. unit" and being they lost their last medic, i was the "new" guy. Typically, in these types of teams the medic/corpsman (sometimes anyone even slightly medically inclined) gets the call sign of "DOC". SO, me and another guy 2 new additions to this team, they tell the other guy he gets 1 of 2 names until he does something stupid to "earn" his call sign, these 2 static names are "s***paper or showershoes" he can pick between the 2. They look at me and say, you, were just gonna call you "DOC". I laugh and proceed to joke them back and say how unoriginal that name is, as EVERY other team iv'e worked with had the same name for me,...promptly, and without missing a beat.....i was named "band-aid".....sarcastic *******s....LOL
This was ALL fun and games until I threatened to Nasally tube them with a Combitube.....HAHAHAH....so back to "DOC" i go.....
Then I proceeded to enlighten them with a Bit O' mal-adjusted medic humor.." A wise man once said, It is very BAD Karma to piss off the medic"
h34r:
hahahah
With all the chat here on names and job title designators, it reminded me of something funny that happened to me.
Working in the sandbox, i was sent to an "outlying Ops. unit" and being they lost their last medic, i was the "new" guy. Typically, in these types of teams the medic/corpsman (sometimes anyone even slightly medically inclined) gets the call sign of "DOC". SO, me and another guy 2 new additions to this team, they tell the other guy he gets 1 of 2 names until he does something stupid to "earn" his call sign, these 2 static names are "s***paper or showershoes" he can pick between the 2. They look at me and say, you, were just gonna call you "DOC". I laugh and proceed to joke them back and say how unoriginal that name is, as EVERY other team iv'e worked with had the same name for me,...promptly, and without missing a beat.....i was named "band-aid".....sarcastic *******s....LOL
This was ALL fun and games until I threatened to Nasally tube them with a Combitube.....HAHAHAH....so back to "DOC" i go.....
Then I proceeded to enlighten them with a Bit O' mal-adjusted medic humor.." A wise man once said, It is very BAD Karma to piss off the medic"
h34r:hahahah
medic417
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Just make everyone a paramedic. In Mexico everyone is a paramedic.
Then just say soy un paramedico, I am a paramedic. Just add basic, intermediate, or advanced to the end problem solved. bye bye, adios, hasta la vista.
Then just say soy un paramedico, I am a paramedic. Just add basic, intermediate, or advanced to the end problem solved. bye bye, adios, hasta la vista.
Heres one for ya. Went on a call for fainting....turns out to be high BP and we are trying to talk this lady into going to the hospital. She looks at the fire men and goes well yall aint doctors. Then looks to me. I said ma'am i'm an EMT so then she looks to my Paramedic partener and says so your the doctor he said no ma'am I'm a Medic. She says well then yall dont know whats wrong with me when I called 911 I wanted a doctor. Wow thats all I could say. Our medical director does go on calls with us. He would of been handy that day.
sandboxmedic
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Oh, i hate it when that happens. Even if the M.director IS there, but some of the "country folks" grew up in the time of "house calls"and aren't the wiser. Just smile, be polite, and if stubborn, convince them to go with you, to the DOCTOR.
JGUSresponder
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Why can't we just say EMS? "EMS was called" "EMS is onscene" While I agree that EMS might not be a great universal title, it represents all of us. We also need a way to distinguish between the different levels of EMS. The current system (EMT-B, EMT-I, Medic) is understood by all of us responders. If the general public calls us medics, emts, responders, let them or correct them, but I don't see why we have to get a universal title when we know what the hierarchy is. I don't see how primary, intermediate, advanced is any different. What are we going to be yelling when we have emts and paramedics on scene and we need to intubate? "We need an Advanced" It doesn't seem easier to me.