Critical care / Flight paramedic programs in california?

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mrhunt

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So i DID look around and found an old thread but its dead and from like 4 years ago so i tried guys.

Any info on current FP-C / CCP-C courses in california? A co-worker of mine mentioned a week long course in san bernadino and ended up testing and getting his FP-C that way but i was a bit sketched on only a week long course? I was under the impression these courses were almost equal in time to a full fledged paramedic program....

SO anyone have links on schools, Relevant info etc please?

Also Ive been a medic a year now, What are usual school requirements for CCT medic training? Im by no way saying i know all there is to know about being a medic (far from it) but do you guys feel like a year of full time experience in a 911 system thats fairly busy would sufficiently prepare me for a cct course?....
 
Flight paramedic/Critical Care Paramedic training is mostly experience based, and then complimented by some formal education. Most education programs are 3-5 days.
Flight medical provider programs are designed to educate both paramedics and nurses in the critical care transport environment.

Topics often include some review from your paramedic education, including physiology, anatomy, airway, etc, but will introduce new topics such as central lines, ventilators, balloon pumps, invasive monitoring, and flight physiology to name a few.

The reason you might be thinking there should be more education, might be because the certification for flight paramedics and critical care paramedics is different than the other certifications you hold.

When you take ACLS, PALS, etc, your certificate states that you took a class, had a pulse the whole time and passed a basic written test. By contrast, the FP-C and CCP-C are board certified exams. There is no specific requirement for education to take these exams; that is to say, if you can pass the test you get the certification, but these exams are significantly harder and label you as meeting the standards set by a review board.

Many of the most popular programs are found online. I have paid for both FlightBridgeED and IA Med and have to say that, in my opinion, I found IA Med to be far superior is quality. I gave up on FBE after getting about 1/2 way through. Both programs offer seated courses and I'm sure the FBE seated course is probably much better. My IA Med course was through UCLA.

As far as being prepared, that's kind of on you. Critical Care Transport is a different beast than 911. A solid foundation of medicine, assessment and physiology will go a long way in critical care.
 
Awesome thank you. I'll research more on the UCLA website.
where i work we do IFT's as well as 911 so i have both sides of the coin experience but its still minimal compared to Some like 5 or 10 year veteran.
 
Most flight medics and critical care paramedics get their experience working in a critical care role before they test for their certification. CAMTS requires paramedics to obtain FP-C or CCP-C within 2 years of hire, so for most providers new to the critical care environment they use that 2 years to gain the experience they need to pass the test.
 
Scott33 said:
FP-C is no longer a CAMTS requirement.
Click to expand...
Where are you finding that information? In the 11th edition of CAMTS which I believe is the most recent as the 12th just just entered draft phase, FP-C is still required.
 
mrhunt said:
So i DID look around and found an old thread but its dead and from like 4 years ago so i tried guys.

Any info on current FP-C / CCP-C courses in california? A co-worker of mine mentioned a week long course in san bernadino and ended up testing and getting his FP-C that way but i was a bit sketched on only a week long course? I was under the impression these courses were almost equal in time to a full fledged paramedic program....

SO anyone have links on schools, Relevant info etc please?

Also Ive been a medic a year now, What are usual school requirements for CCT medic training? Im by no way saying i know all there is to know about being a medic (far from it) but do you guys feel like a year of full time experience in a 911 system thats fairly busy would sufficiently prepare me for a cct course?....
Click to expand...
The course your friend is stalking about is the IA MED course that San Bernardino county Fire hosted a little while ago. The course was 4 days long and you received a total of 40 hours of CEs.

In CA there really is no standard critical care course. There are critical care classes from out of the state. Most of the classes in CA are FP-C/CCP-C review courses.

With the FP-C/CCP-C certification you can take that test anytime you want to. You do not have to have a certain amount of experience nor do you have to take a class for it.
 
Air Methods just changed their hiring standards and will require an advanced certification prior to hire so no more 2 years to get it after.
 
There are still only 2 courses that I know of that are full fledged semester's worth programs. Both offer hybrid (online) versions, and I don't know how things have change for the clinical portions of each program post CV-19 pandemic.

dcp.ufl.edu

Critical Care Paramedic Certificate | M.E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management

Introduction Curriculum Overview Course Options Course Requirements Upcoming Courses Registration and Tuition Recertification Frequently Asked Questions CCP FacultyVeterans Services Introduction The field of Critical Care Transport is a growing branch of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The adv ...
dcp.ufl.edu

Critical Care Paramedic | EMS Education | Creighton University

The Critical Care Paramedic course at Creighton University provides advanced critical care training for paramedics and registered nurses.
ems.creighton.edu ems.creighton.edu

The rest, as others have mentioned, are basically prep courses for advanced certification testing. It's just really going to depend on what you're looking to get out of the course itself.
 
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