EMS Captain isn't an EMT

trevor1189

trevor1189

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Say your dept has an EMS captain who isn't even an emt. Does anyone else think that doesn't make sense?

Edit: title shoould say isn't. Typo from my phone.
 
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trevor1189 said:
Say your dept has an EMS captain who isn't even an emt. Does anyone else think that doesn't make sense?

Edit: title shoould say isn't. Typo from my phone.
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It's confusing, for sure. It captain purely an administrative position? Is the captain a physician or RN?
 
bstone said:
It's confusing, for sure. It captain purely an administrative position? Is the captain a physician or RN?
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No. Just a firefighter who doesn't really run any calls...
 
A captain's job is usually in charge of operations. Its scary
 
What does your captain do that would necessitate him/her being an EMT?
 
Scout said:
What does your captain do that would necessitate him/her being an EMT?
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If he is in charge of ambulance operations, he should be an EMT.
 
Was he ever EMT certified or did he take the class/run a few of his own calls.

I would say that if he let his cert expire, that's different from never doing it. You want to be familiar with what your employees are doing for you, but you don't have to be able to do it all, that's why you hire employees. If he took the class and did enough ride alongsx, or worked as an EMT back in the day I think that suffices.
 
My guess is this is a very small, rural department where its totally volunteer and its membership is worried about status based on what office they hold. Could be wrong, but I've seen many of these department types in Pennsylvania.

As an EMS Captain, they should be an EMT and the qualifications for the positions should be spelled out in the company by-laws. How can you lead in a position in which you have no authority or capacity to engage your subordinates and make decisions related to field operations?
 
doesn't say EMT captain: says EMS captain.

What is wrong with an EMS officer not being an EMT? the are supervisors, managers and CEO's all over that are not what the are in charge of.
Look at Hospitals. Most hospital Managers or CEO's are not doctors. so what.

used to work for a company that the owner and CEO's were not in EMS in any way shape or form. they were still the boss. As long as they didn't try to boss me around in EMS I was fine with them.
 
Trevor- I asked a question similar to this a couple months back except your captain is our chief...make sense? It seems that half the people thought it was crap the other said whatever. We are a small dept as one person pointed out that smaller dept/vol tend to see this more often.
 
You have to understand the department type that is in question. The EMS officers in these departments need to be at least an EMT because they are usually the ones who make the decisions related to equipment purchase and replacement, SOP development, provider oversight, PCR QA, EMS command in the field, etc. If they are not an EMT or active provider, how are they gonna be able to do the job? And secondly, without the proper credential, an officer making decisions they are not qualified to make will open up litigation should something go horribly wrong.

Plus, how can an officer be respected when they are only playing the part without having the credentials and experience of the people under them?

doesn't say EMT captain: says EMS captain.
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But it does say "Captain". And Captain is a front line, operations position... not administrative.
 
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Another question:

Is there a separate EMT captain, or Medic supervisor? I'm pretty sure some of the fire chiefs around here aren't EMT trained even though we run EMS based fire supression ( :p ) but each shift has multiple EMS supervisors who are paramedics with a super-supervisor who also is a paramedic.
 
ResTech said:
You have to understand the department type that is in question. The EMS officers in these departments need to be at least an EMT because they are usually the ones who make the decisions related to equipment purchase and replacement, SOP development, provider oversight, PCR QA, EMS command in the field, etc. If they are not an EMT or active provider, how are they gonna be able to do the job? And secondly, without the proper credential, an officer making decisions they are not qualified to make will open up litigation should something go horribly wrong.

Plus, how can an officer be respected when they are only playing the part without having the credentials and experience of the people under them?



But it does say "Captain". And Captain is a front line, operations position... not administrative.
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Exactly.
WuLabsWuTecH said:
Another question:

Is there a separate EMT captain, or Medic supervisor? I'm pretty sure some of the fire chiefs around here aren't EMT trained even though we run EMS based fire supression ( :p ) but each shift has multiple EMS supervisors who are paramedics with a super-supervisor who also is a paramedic.
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No we have fire officers, but EMS captain is the highest ranking on the EMS side of the dept. Even the fire chiefs are at least an EMT, one a medic.
 
One way it works best: captain listens and learns.

Makes for shakey QA. Maybe she/he is superseded by a medical director?

ALso maybe the organization simply did not have any EMS people step up for the position, or it's a fluke of the pormotion system, or they are warehousing a good officer during cutbacks in the EMS corner.
 
Our agency is organized into two separate organizations, the corps and the corporation. The way I understand it, the Corps is the organization that performs day-to-day EMS operations while the corporation is the financial arm that supports the Corps. Corps officers are referred to as Line Officers, and all accept for 3rd Lt and Secretary must be at least certified as an EMT-B (as well as to varying NIMS and ICS levels). The corporation officers as well as the board of directors need not be EMTs as far as I'm aware.
 
It all depends on how your department is set up. My department (fire ems) requires that in the least the chief be at least FF2 and an EMT-B, with a certain years of experience in both, including in the department, etc. We do that so they know both sides of a response and the obligations that come along with acting in the capacity of either role at a scene.
 
No one here asked the simple question "what exactly are the duties of this "EMS" captain?"

Really, it depends on what this guy is doing. Is he on scene directing rescuer efforts like a captain usually does? If so, he is probably breaking the law. Every EMS system I have worked in (2) has had a provision set up by the government that the person with the highest medical training is in charge. In that case, even you as an EMT can over ride the captain simply because you have the cert.

If he is just making policy like response times, station duties, etc, than it is within his rights to do so, however stupid it may be.
 
daedalus said:
No one here asked the simple question "what exactly are the duties of this "EMS" captain?"
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Scout said:
What does your captain do that would necessitate him/her being an EMT?
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Still waiting for the answer, he could just be a title for middle management responsible for rostering and such. You dont need to be an EMT to manage them.
 
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