When I moved to Virginia it was a shock that many departments place EMT-I's in the same category as Paramedics, call them "ALS," and give them identical lattitude /scope.
Where are you located in the Shenandoah Valley?
Where I come from, the I-99 (EMT-CC in NY) was largely mother-may-I for most interventions, in that they had to call for everything, and appropriately so. The educational levels are too different, and the current Paramedic curriculum is barely adequate as it is. The better medics take it upon themselves to educate past the standard curriculum.
You are 100% correct, but very few that I see pick up a book after completing class.
To me, the EMT-I, at least a new one is still too much "see A - do B" instead of using clinical judgment due to the lack of education. It baffles me how providers here want to go EMT-B > E > I > P instead of going right from B to P. NYC medics go this route, and do fine. Taking baby steps is unecessary, expensive (both for opportunity cost of not making medic pay and also the cost of the classes) and redundant.
