EMS in Taiwan

[Mink0417]

The EMTs

In Taiwan, EMTs are divided in 3 levels

The EMT-1 - the basic level of EMT, require 40 hrs of training. Available treatments includes most BLS treatments like OPA、NPA、O2 access...and so on.

The EMT-2 - main man-force of Taiwan Pre-Hospital EMS, require EMT-1 Licence and 280 hrs of training. Available treatments includes all EMT-1 techniques plus LMA insertion with cardiac arrest patients、IV infusion with Normal Saline/Lactate Ringer or Glucose Water、NTG SL for chest pain patients.

The EMT-P - highest level of EMT. pre-requirement is EMT-2 qualified for 4 years or EMT-2 with degree of college. Training hour is 1280 hrs. And available treatments are those what EMT-2 can do, and ALS procedures are depend on protocols of counties.

In my City, paramedic ALS Protocols available are
1. Adult oral ET tube intubation with cardiac arrest patients.
2. Epinephrine、amiodarone administration with cardiac arrest patients.
3. Aspirin with suspect AMI patients.
4. Fenoterol MDI with severe asthma attack patients.
5. Epinephrine SC with anaphylactic shock due to bee bites.

To Be Continued.....

 

[ExpatMedic0]

Hey Mink, Thanks for sharing!
How long have you had "Paramedics"?
When was a mandatory degree required to become a paramedic in Taiwan?
How much do EMT's and Paramedic's make there?

 

[Mink0417]

Hello, ExpatMedic0：

How long have you had "Paramedics"?

I finished my training and get the license last year, so I've been a paramedic for about half year.

When was a mandatory degree required to become a paramedic in Taiwan?

Sorry for my poor language... I can't really get the meaning of this question. :huh:
But about the degree, there is no educational degree/diploma of paramedic, the training is mostly held by fire dept., entrust medical center to execute the training, and the license is issued by Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine.
For the EMT-2 with college degree stuff, the degree has no specific limitation, no medical-related needed. It has some relationship of fireman training in Taiwan, maybe I'll explain it in the reply for other subjects later.

How much do EMT's and Paramedic's make there?

In Taiwan, pre-hospital EMTs/Paramedics is fire dept. based, the payment is the same, actually, all in-the-field EMTs、paramedics、fire fighters、rescue team members all recieve the same pay, the only make the payment different is how long you've been in the department and the examination hold by government.(I know it sucks. :sad: ) And the number is about 1490 USD general pay+ 560 USD overwork pay per month(A little bit higher than local consumptive level).

IFT EMTs/Paramedics is hired by private funded company or hospital, I dont know the exactly number of how much they get, but I guess its about 1000 USD per month, I'll collect more information for this.

Thank you.

 

[ExpatMedic0]

Cool, thanks for the replies! Regarding my first question though. I was wondering how long Taiwan has had paramedics? Have you had them for 30+ years or are they a new concept in Taiwan?

 

[Mink0417]

Cool, thanks for the replies! Regarding my first question though. I was wondering how long Taiwan has had paramedics? Have you had them for 30+ years or are they a new concept in Taiwan?

Sorry for the misunderstanding. :rofl:

The systemic EMS law is funded in 1995, and the first group of paramedic trainee is sent to Canada in 2002. It's a newer concept in Taiwan.

 

[Mink0417]

The Rig

In Taiwan, ambulances is almost modified from civil vans, popular models are VW T4/T5、Hyundai Starex、Toyota HiAce Solemio... and so on. But in my city, we use prefer VW T5, with standard model and height-increased model.

In our branch, we have both model of rig.

Back view of standard model, a trauma pack and an AED is on the stretcher. The spinal board is hidden under the stretcher, and 2 oxygen cylinders(E type) are hidden in lower right corner.

Back view of height-increased model, the packs on the stretcher are trauma bag and O2 backpack(with D cylinder inside).

Monitor on board, the stuff block the view is a fold-able traffic cone, and net on the wall holds O2 supplies like NRM, the blue stuff on the right-up corner of the pic is a plastic CPR board.

Light weight stair chair. In our city, we face extremely number of medical calls that is located in higher floor (up to 6) in the building that without an elevator, so we rely on the chair very much. But it's still painful when facing heavyweight patients..... :wacko:

This is the walk through of our rig.

Thank you.

To Be Continued......

 

[PotatoMedic]

Very cool! I look forward to seeing more. Thank you for sharing.

 

[stemi]

Very interesting read. Im hoping to see more posts from you!

 

[NomadicMedic]

Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Mink0417]

The Manforce

Thanks for everyone who reply the post I'll keep on sharing more information about our EMS status. :lol:

Pre-hospital EMS is under fire dept.'s control in Taiwan, so we start the topic from training of fire fighters.

There are two ways to become a fire fighter in Taiwan,
1. Go to Taiwan Police College when graduated from high school, and attend national special exam for fire fighters. When qualified, you become one of the force. (EMT-1 training included in college course, and mostly will train into EMT-2 after start working.)

2. Attend national special exam for fire fighters after graduate from any university/college, go training in National Fire Agency Training Center after qualified. (EMT-2 included in NFATC training course.)

They all dispatched to cities/counties all over Taiwan depends on manforce amount that cities/counties request for.

So basically, fire fighters = EMS personnel in Taiwan, the only situation is in Taipei City, some branches is totally composed with paramedics, they only run EMS duties and never wear fire jacket.

Paramedic training is held by NFA or richer fire dept., entrust medical centers to execute the training, and the license is issued by Taiwan Society of Emergency Medicine. After the training, you still have to wear fire jacket.(Except those branches in Taipei City I mentioned above.)

To Be Continued......

 

[stemi]

In Taiwan, pre-hospital EMTs/Paramedics is fire dept. based, the payment is the same, actually, all in-the-field EMTs、paramedics、fire fighters、rescue team members all recieve the same pay, the only make the payment different is how long you've been in the department and the examination hold by government.(I know it sucks. :sad: ) And the number is about 1490 USD general pay+ 560 USD overwork pay per month(A little bit higher than local consumptive level).

Wow, am I reading this right? Between EMT-1, EMT-2 and Paramedic, all of them receive the same pay?

Also, how common are paramedics on ambulances?

Again, great info.

 

[Mink0417]

Wow, am I reading this right? Between EMT-1, EMT-2 and Paramedic, all of them receive the same pay?

Yes,the reading is 100% right, in fire dept., pay for EMT-1 = for EMT-2 = EMT-P, and even equal to special SAR team members with EMT-p license.

Also, how common are paramedics on ambulances?
Again, great info.

Ah, I forgot this important information, thanks for mention. The total number of EMT-P in my city is about 400, total manforce is about 3000. And the Paramedic on ambulance is depended on type of branches. In my branch (ALS Unit), we have 9 EMT-P、3 EMT-2, and co-work with 16 special SAR team members with EMT-2.
For normal branches, most likely to have 1 EMT-P and 15 EMT-2.

More info about duty will be in my later posts, thank you.

 

[Mink0417]

The Work Hour

This topic is probably in greatest concern, I'm also curious about working hours of EMS personnel all over the world.

About the (crazy) working hour for firefighter/EMS worker in Taiwan, our total stand-by working hour is mainly 48 hours, then comes a 24hrs day off and the hand-over time is 0800 am.

For example, I started to work at 08:00 05/17(today), and the day off time is from 08:00 of 5/19 to 08:00 of 5/20.

We're not on duty for all 48 hrs of course, but the duty time table is still not so easy.First, we cut 48 hrs into 12 4-hrs-period (6 for each day).
Second, take my branch for example, there are two rigs, so the EMS duty divided into two arrangements, the 91 duty(priority dispatch, first to respond calls) and the 92 duty(secondary dispatch, respond calls when 91 have another call).

Usually, my first day of work, I receive 2 of 91 duty(usually at 08:00~12:00 and after 00:00) and 1 of 92 duty(usually in the afternoon).
In Second day of work, usually receive 1 of 91 duty and 2 of 92 duty, and the duties usually not scheduled in 08:00~12:00.

When you are not on duty, we call it stand by duty. You can do what ever you want in the branch, but you have to wear fire jacket and get on the fire engine if fire alarm rings. :wacko:

Try to express in English of my best, hope everyone can get the meaning.

To Be Continued......

 

[chaz90]

I think you're doing great with your English. You're certainly getting your point across and doing much better than any of us would in Mandarin!

Excellent thread by the way! It's fascinating to read this perspective on another country's EMS system. Thanks for putting time and effort into this.


Yeah, those working hours seem unreal. It sounds like you're still basically working for 48 hours straight, even if you're not first due to every call. Over here, departments that work 48 hour shifts often either have rotating schedule schedules with 72 or 96 hours off. Far more of us work 12 or 24 hour shifts as well.

 

[learninginprogress]

Accreditation

Hi
I am a newbie here. It's interesting to know that EMTs are trained from police college. You said that some of your people went to Canada in 2002. Does it mean that your accrediation for Emt course is from Canada?

 

[Rahil Patel]

2. Attend national special exam for fire fighters after graduate from any university/college, go training in National Fire Agency Training Center after qualified. (EMT-2 included in NFATC training course.)​

Hey! Have more info about the exam you mentioned here? I sent an e-mail (in English and Chinese) to the training center (found in tc.nfa.gov.tw), but no response. I'm quite used no responses to e-mails in Taiwan, so I'll try calling, BUT, if you happen to know a better place to obtain information about this, please do share! I just want to see if it's even possible (if so, then the requirements too) for a non-native to train here, while I'm still here.

Or, you know, it's quite a pretty scooter ride to Nantou, if it weren't raining and cold.

Also, have any experiences about emt.org.tw (社團法人中華緊急救護技術員協會)?

 

[Rahil Patel]

Oh snap. That's right. Although the fire training center didn't respond, TEMPTA (emt.org.tw [currently down], facebook.com/temta2002/ [lol, I forgot that Facebook is the best way to communicate in Taiwan]) responded by e-mail!

"只要您符合衛福部規定，並繳交完整資料，便可以參加課程以及考試"

Apparently, they're quite okay with non-native people attending their EMT courses, without much requirement (know Chinese, provide your education diplomas).

I have no idea how this goes toward getting a job in Taiwan though, considering what Mink said (it's all gov-controlled).

 

[supreme]

How is the driving through taiwan with lights and sirens? Do cars let you go through easy? For example, Taipei would be hard to drive due to how many cars are on the road all the time.

 

[Summit]

Thank you for making this thread!

 

[Rahil Patel]

What sirens? No sirens. No changing lanes. Ambulances ever so slowly get to the site. I'm not sure why this cultural bit hasn't changed either. I understand the care of cultures, minds, and old people, but to not change this behavior here is a ridiculous decision.