In my EMT-B class we completed a course and got a certificate for EMS driving. They told us we could go ahead and send off for our license however in the paperwork it had a place for an NREMT number. Our teacher knew very little about what we needed to do and kind of left us hanging on that. What I am wondering is do I have to pass the NREMT before I send of to get my license or can I do that now.
EMS drivers license
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Mufasa556
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What state are you in?
P.S. We have the same birthday!! Albeit, about ten years apart.
P.S. We have the same birthday!! Albeit, about ten years apart.
Im in Mississippi.
Mufasa556
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Looks like Mississippi has certification for EMS Driver. You need to be 18, have a valid DL, and have completed the EMS Driver course.
You don't need your NREMT number since you're, at this time, only certifying as a driver. You should be good to send them your stuff and pay the $35.
Though, don't take my word as gospel. I am in California.
http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/47,0,307,373.html
http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/2949.pdf
You don't need your NREMT number since you're, at this time, only certifying as a driver. You should be good to send them your stuff and pay the $35.
Though, don't take my word as gospel. I am in California.
http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/47,0,307,373.html
http://msdh.ms.gov/msdhsite/_static/resources/2949.pdf
I greatly appreciate your help. I think the form we use here in MS for the drivers certification is also the form for something else NREMT related and that may be the reason for the place requesting the NREMT number.
RobertAlfanoNJEMT
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In New Jersey you don't need any special license. As long as you are 18 and have a valid regular license you can drive the ambulance.
Wow thats interesting, I wish Mississippi was like that. We had to take a 2 day class that was classroom and actual driving time.
RobertAlfanoNJEMT
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Yea not like that at all in NJ.. There is a medical transportation class you can take for driving a patient caravan but if you are an EMT it is not required.. It's covered in your certification. I was riding along with a squad yesterday, I'm not even a member yet, and they were like oh you're an EMT? You can drive if you want! I've never had any training in driving an ambulance or even sat in the front seat of one.. But it's really no different than driving a large van with the exception of lights and sirens and you have to know what you are alowd to do with them and when to use them.
Jim37F
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Yikes, just let a guy off the street drive my rig? No way, because guess who answers to management if he crashes? Every company/department I've worked for has had some sort of internal drivers training. That's varied from a powerpoint class in new hire orientation with an FTO riding shotgun while you drive for a day or two to be signed off, all the way up to a formal EVOC course taught be local PD driving instructors with a behind the wheel cone course. (All this is completely independent of the States required Ambulance Driver Certificate which was just an easy test you can find the answers to online and some money and Live Scan to get)
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I bet their insurer would really love that.
TransportJockey
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Its NJ, so that kind of behavior isnt surprising.
RobertAlfanoNJEMT
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What are you saying about NJ?
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EMS in much of NJ is not exactly known for leading the way in terms of developing the industry.
Though I say that, I should add that our SOPs allow for anyone with a driver's license to drive our ambulances if a need can be justified. Really that just makes it easier for me to get a driver, no one is going to ask joe schmoe unless the world is ending, I hope.
RobertAlfanoNJEMT
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I think a lot of it has to do with state mandates that hold us back from being able to perform a lot of which other states allow EMTs to do. It also probably has to do with the fact that there are so many hospitals in NJ and there is such a dense population that we usually are not with the patients long before we turn them over.. It's not nessisary that we do much because they'll be at the hospital soon. Honestly ALS is becoming less and less useful in NJ.. They usually aren't able to ketch up with us before we make it to the hospital.
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Well. I think looking at what you can and cannot do when it comes to a few skills is the complete wrong way to think about why there are issues. A small part of the picture.
As for ALS not being useful, is that because there isn't enough or are the EMTs too headstrong to call for ALS because they can just act like its the 50s and drag the patient to the hospital? Symptom relief does not save lives, yet that's much of EMS, and really medicine as a whole.
RobertAlfanoNJEMT
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No I didn't say that they are useless I said in New Jersey their role seems to be fading.. Since they are dispatched from hospitals and not the center of the town in which the call is coming from.. By the time they get to meet up with ambulance they're almost at the hospital... In both the town I live in and the town I ride with there are like 5 hospitals to choose from that are less than 15 mins away
RobertAlfanoNJEMT
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Most times if ALS is called they end up being canceled because it's pointless to stop on the side of the road when you're already close to the hospital
Jim37F
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So.....why aren't the medics in the same stations as the BLS ambulance or, gasp, posted on the street?
Though we've gotten pretty far off the original topic considering the OP is in Mississippi and not New Jersey lol (that and Mufasa pretty much answered the question in post #4)
Though we've gotten pretty far off the original topic considering the OP is in Mississippi and not New Jersey lol (that and Mufasa pretty much answered the question in post #4)
RobertAlfanoNJEMT
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Yea we have gotten off topic.. Lol they're only out of hospitals in NJ cause it's hard to explain but there are a lot of very small towns in NJ and every town has an EMS.. There aren't enough Medics for that to be possible.. So they get dispatched from the hospitals.. I don't know of one EMS here that has medics on their squad
Flying
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All medics in NJ are from hospital-based systems, but that does not mean they're geographically limited to the immediate vicinity of their home base. Plenty of medics can be found posted in rented space provided by volunteer EMS services or around fire/police departments in towns surrounding the main coverage area.
Besides all of that, the utility of medics in this state (or any state) shouldn't be measured by how many calls they don't get to. Are cops fading away because they don't catch every bad guy?