For anyone wondering what the heck an OEC Technician is…
Well in a nutshell, for EMT’s it’s in a large part yet another acronym to add to your name. What it is, is a emergency medicine course, led by the NSP National Ski Patrol, and is primarily oriented to Ski Patrol candidates, but from what I have heard is open to other folks.
The reason for my posting this on here, is recently I decided that I would like to join the local Volunteer Ski Patrol, for when I’m not teaching on weekends (I have been a professional ski instructor for the past 6 years), and I have to take the course, and had never heard of it before. Actually, I don’t have to take the entire course; I’m taking a “course challenge” which is just a few selected classes that focus on specific Ski Patrol procedures, and then the exams and practicals to show that I know the stuff, as I am already an EMT-B and WEMT.
Anyways the course itself is pretty much a nationally accepted outdoors emergency medicine course; like an EMT-B course, but outdoors oriented, and then you can call yourself a OEC (Outdoors Emergency Care) Technician. So far other then some outdoors/wilderness procedures and differences, it’s pretty much the same as an EMT-B course, but doesn’t seem as though it’s completely up to par with the EMT-B curriculum, and in my opinion the OEC is a few steps above a FR/WFR, or a step bellow urban EMT-B, or quite a few steps bellow WEMT.
For an already EMT-B it is really repetitive, and pretty much a refresher, and I have to admit, it’s kind of annoying that even though I already have a current AHA CPR/AED for the professional healthcare provider card, I still have to go to a AHA CPR/AED refresher to join the NSP. And the $200 in books, are for the most part nearly the same as my EMT-B book.
So all in all, it has been pretty easy, as I already know nearly all of the stuff so far, but a good refersher and the same seems to apply to another EMT-B in my class and an RN in my class; but the rest of the folks aside from a few folks have little or no EMS education, so they are learning a bunch of new stuff. So all in all I just thought I would post a little information about what the course is, and my on going review of what it’s like so far for anyone that is interested.
Well in a nutshell, for EMT’s it’s in a large part yet another acronym to add to your name. What it is, is a emergency medicine course, led by the NSP National Ski Patrol, and is primarily oriented to Ski Patrol candidates, but from what I have heard is open to other folks.
The reason for my posting this on here, is recently I decided that I would like to join the local Volunteer Ski Patrol, for when I’m not teaching on weekends (I have been a professional ski instructor for the past 6 years), and I have to take the course, and had never heard of it before. Actually, I don’t have to take the entire course; I’m taking a “course challenge” which is just a few selected classes that focus on specific Ski Patrol procedures, and then the exams and practicals to show that I know the stuff, as I am already an EMT-B and WEMT.
Anyways the course itself is pretty much a nationally accepted outdoors emergency medicine course; like an EMT-B course, but outdoors oriented, and then you can call yourself a OEC (Outdoors Emergency Care) Technician. So far other then some outdoors/wilderness procedures and differences, it’s pretty much the same as an EMT-B course, but doesn’t seem as though it’s completely up to par with the EMT-B curriculum, and in my opinion the OEC is a few steps above a FR/WFR, or a step bellow urban EMT-B, or quite a few steps bellow WEMT.
For an already EMT-B it is really repetitive, and pretty much a refresher, and I have to admit, it’s kind of annoying that even though I already have a current AHA CPR/AED for the professional healthcare provider card, I still have to go to a AHA CPR/AED refresher to join the NSP. And the $200 in books, are for the most part nearly the same as my EMT-B book.
So all in all, it has been pretty easy, as I already know nearly all of the stuff so far, but a good refersher and the same seems to apply to another EMT-B in my class and an RN in my class; but the rest of the folks aside from a few folks have little or no EMS education, so they are learning a bunch of new stuff. So all in all I just thought I would post a little information about what the course is, and my on going review of what it’s like so far for anyone that is interested.
