In 25 years...

[MMiz]

As a Historian I love looking back and learning from the past. The history of EMS is colorful and exciting. There have been unbelievable changes within the last 10-15 years, and it's maturing as a profession rather quickly.

I love hearing stories of medics talking about how they judged their worth on how much blood they had on their uniform and hands. No gloves back then of course!

I'm wondering what you'll be looking back on in 25 year thinking "I can't believe we did that."

Personally I think there will be major innovation in ambulances and equipment, but I think there will be an even stronger push towards PPE.

 

[GaEMT]

Not too show my age........

This is the second time I have been in this industry after a career in banking for 13 years (Don't ask, too long a discussion) In the mid 80's I remember the only gloves you had on an ambulance were in the OB Kit!

 

[Jon]

I agree... something big will probably come along "PPE wise" - perhaps a germacidal foam that you can apply before pt. contact that keeps working for hours...

I think a REALLY big change will be coming "aero medical" wise - many of the helos used these days are 15 or 20 years old... very little has changed over the years, and the accident #'s have been going up (yeah, I know there isn't as much of a change when you compare deaths v. total flights) Are we using the safest availible equipment? Are the flights needed?

How about a portable X-ray? We joke about this, but the technology should be on the horizon - around here, they are using a Filmless X-ray system... where everything is done on computer screens.

 

[Jon]

"I can't belive they didn't wear special restraint harnesses to keep the EMS staff Safe.

 

[dizzymedic]

Just to show about the other way around. My father gave me a book from Saint John ambulance when he first took a FA course in '62. It shows techniques like the Sylvester technique for AR... It will be funny to see in some years to come the improvements in EMS.

We will be the anoining old person in the care homes when the medics come in and say:" you know sunny, i used to do your job when I was young. Off course back then it was different......"

 

[MMiz]

"I can't belive they didn't wear special restraint harnesses to keep the EMS staff Safe.

Good one! Our newest ambulance, the one with a computer up front that can do my laundry, has a safety net in back. I like to call it the "Oh :censored::censored::censored::censored: my partner can't drive" net.

 

[Ridryder911]

I hope in 25 years most are ALS, look at how slow EMS is to catch up. I have been in EMS for 29 years and actually feel we did more then, than we do now.

There are still over 1/4 of the communities that still do not provide ALS care, for what logical reason ?....

Yeah, I am sure we some minute changes.. but really how much?... For example, compare ACLS standards with those of 1978 .. and they are are almost identical, we continuously return to back to doing things we used to.

I am sure within 50 years, they we will consider how barbaric it was to actually shock someone or to stick needles into someones body..

Hopefully, we will agress much forward than we have in the past 25 years...

R/r 911

 

[disassociative]

I would like to see a world in which nobody is more than a 20 minute drive away from a level 1 trauma center. I would also like to see new levels of EMS training; such as the Paramedic Practitioner, etc..

 

[Stevo]

33 years ago i was scraped up and brought to an er by people that didn't judge me

25 years from now i'm sure i would fare much worse as that lower class uninsured boy, a potential casualty of the exponential classism in Amerika

but hey, you can all insure your place in heaven via onboard credit card verification, and just ignore the have nots right off your records, and out of your rigs in the future....

~S~