I used to work on a CCT ambulance as an EMT for about three years. I don't know why nurses expect so much out of EMTs. The nurse is being paid a ton to setup the ventilator, IV pumps, and stuff like that (oh, can't forget their clinical judgement too); Not the EMT. The EMT should focus on safe patient transport, which is the same on BLS and ALS too. It doesn't take long or require a classroom to learn how to assist them with things like attaching the patient to the monitor, doing a 12-lead, spike an IV bag, etc. Other than attaching the patient to the monitor, most of those things will be rarely done on CCT anyhow. I used to setup the IV pump and ventilator for the nurse by punching in the numbers I see on the hospital's ventilator or IV pump. I would attach the ventilator tubing. If we had new medication, I would spike it and attach it to the IV pump. The nurse still had to confirm that what I did was correct, attach it to the patient, and press start. In my opinion, this is very risky for the nurse. The EMT is unlikely to know the normal dose or values. They can easily make a mistake or misunderstand something (eg the ambulance IV pump is in mL/hr, but the hospital IV pump is in mg/hr). Things like that. Even though I did it, I think it is perfectly acceptable and safe for nurses to not have the EMT do that.[/QUOTE
