High School 911

[EpiEMS]

EpiEMS, it isn't that the standards are extraordinary- it's that the standards are extraordinarily low, to the point that high schoolers can do them en masse. Given that I would like to see EMS progress to a true clinical role, Glee Club EMS doesn't really do it for me.

To their defense, they are (more likely than not) smarter (see: average SAT scores at their high school, for example) and probably more mature than the average high school student. Of course, I agree that standards for the EMT level of practice (as well as for EMR, AEMT, and Paramedic, for that matter) are far too low. However, we cannot demonize these kids - they're not the problem. The problem is a bigger one that starts with the whole model we have for EMS in the U.S., and how that trickles down to educational standards. It's the problem that leads these high-achieving kids to try out EMS and never come back - they go to "the professions."

 

[RocketMedic]

I'm not demonizing the kids. I'm attacking the system that thinks High-Functioning Glee Club EMS is a functional answer to public health and safety in 2016.

There's plenty of high-achieving teenagers out there richer, smarter, stronger, faster and more personable than I am. Some could likely do my job better than I can. That does not translate to building functional EMS systems out of high schools.

 

[RocketMedic]

To their defense, they are (more likely than not) smarter (see: average SAT scores at their high school, for example) and probably more mature than the average high school student. Of course, I agree that standards for the EMT level of practice (as well as for EMR, AEMT, and Paramedic, for that matter) are far too low. However, we cannot demonize these kids - they're not the problem. The problem is a bigger one that starts with the whole model we have for EMS in the U.S., and how that trickles down to educational standards. It's the problem that leads these high-achieving kids to try out EMS and never come back - they go to "the professions."

Exactly. Darien has set the standard that EMS is a teenager's job and not a profession or a career. I don't see many high school nursing hospitals, CPAs or lawyers...

 

[NomadicMedic]

There's a lot of stuff out there in the world that is just plain crappy. I don't think highschoolers volunteering to deliver EMS, with a significant amount of oversight and education, is one of those things.

 

[Carlos Danger]

Exactly. Darien has set the standard that EMS is a teenager's job and not a profession or a career. I don't see many high school nursing hospitals, CPAs or lawyers...

Actually FWIW, lots of high schools offer LPN programs.

CPA and attorney are poor comparisons because they require significantly more education than any level of EMS certification does.