navy corpsman needs advice/help

[HNcorpsman]

hello all. my name is Greg and i am a Navy hospital corpsman, i will be getting out of the navy around 2012/2013. i am currently in okinawa, japan and will be leaving the island in dec 2010... i am currently a EMT-B and am about to go TAD to the camp firehouse as a EMT on the ambulance... my plan when i get out is to attend paramedic school... i plan on getting a associates degree, i know i can get a cert, but the way the medical field is advancing, i think i should better myself and just get the degree. besides the military is paying for it anyway... for anybody who is prior/or still active duty... will the navy allow me to attend a paramedic school while on active duty??? also what classes (online) or others... should i take to better prepare myself for the paramedic course... what pre reqs do paramedic schools usually want... (AP, CHEM, BIO, MICROBIO... what else??? another question... my EMT-B cert expires in march 2010, can i submit a request to NREMT to postpone my renewal until i get back from overseas, or will they just say no and when i get back i will have to go through another emt-b course again...

thank you all

greg

 

[daedalus]

Hi Greg,

I am not sure, but if you already have state certification you may not need to renew your NREMT. It is not useful unless you plan on leaving the state you are licensed. I am not sure about the navy letting you start the paramedic program, but take advantage of the fact they will pay for your education! The pre-req courses should be listed on the admissions page of the schools you want to apply for.

goodluck!

 

[ki4mus]

if you can take a collage level A&P (1 and 2) corse and a Pharm. class those would help alot... other than that you could take the NIMS classes off the FEMA website to be more familar with ICS.

 

[Griff]

The FEMA ICS courses are required now for all 7th Fleet first responders based on paygrade (at least, they are at my command ). You can get a transcript from FEMA listing the courses you completed (as well as the ACE recommended college credit / course) as well. If you would like some ICS study material, just shoot me a PM and I'll email it to you. ^_^

-Griff

 

[HNcorpsman]

ok great thanks... Griff.. do you think the navy will let me go to paramedic school while on active duty??? what if i get deployed??? i am 8404 so my chances are unfortunately high..

 

[Griff]

Hey Greg, I'm not entirely sure, so I'll ask one of the HM1s on base tomorrow.

 

[HNcorpsman]

awesome, thanks griff!!

 

[traumaangel26]

When I was in you had to get the okay through ur chain of command by submitting a request. Usually they will let you but it probley have to be nite classes. I would not recommond taking your paramedic class online. A&P I believe is a Pre-req now. Pharamacology would be awsome. There are so many new drugs out there. Thanks for serving our county.

 

[HNcorpsman]

unfortunately since i am in okinawa, i cant even take online courses pertaining to paramedicine... the only classes they have are like management, and some science, which i will take... lately i have been gnawing at the idea of ultimately becoming a flight paramedic. for most flight programs they want the paramedics to have a bachelors in health science, so i guess i can start that now... does anyone know if i can get some of the credentials like PHTLS, ACLS, PALS, PPC, ILS, while i am still in the military... does anyone know of the navy offers these classes and certifications?

 

[tjbroussard]

Check out www.nationalemsacademy.com for their specifics.

PM me if you have questions....

Good Luck,

Terry

 

[AJ Hidell]

Disclaimer: I am not now, and have never been in the Navy. I spent 18 years as an Air Force flight medic and Army Nurse. But I have spent two tours deployed with the Navy/FMF, so I am somewhat familiar with the issues involved here.

ACLS, PALS, and some other merit badge courses are available on many military bases, but it is certainly not universal. It depends on the local unit, whether they have any instructors, and whether they have an aggressive educational team. I did my last couple of PHTLS certifications at Fort Sam Houston. I've done ACLS on several different Army and Air Force bases. They are also available online, and many, many deployed personnel are taking them that way. So are EMT and EMTP recertification courses. You shouldn't have any problem keeping up with those (even if you expire, you can just refresh and retest without repeating the course). But even in a classroom, I wouldn't count on much education out of them. It's rare to find an instructor teaching a card course -- or even the students taking them -- who are interested in anything more than getting it over with.

As for taking paramedic school while in the military, I can't think of any reason why the Navy would object. However, the uncertainties of military life may well make it difficult to complete the program. Deployments, rotating shifts, alerts, and other such things can cause you to have to drop out, which can be a real bummer. I have, however, taught active duty personnel who were indeed able to complete the program.

Good on you for going for the degree. While the piece of paper itself does not necessarily make you a competent medic, or any better than other medics, the education you receive to get that piece of paper does. A medic without those support courses is less than half the medic he could be with those courses. What will be a lot easier to complete while on active duty are those support courses. What is required for the degree varies greatly from school to school. Some schools have a lot of relevant prerequisites. But many others just pad their degree program with pointless nonsense. Obviously, if you know where you intend to complete your degree, then you should focus on their specific list. But regardless of where you go, there are certain courses that -- required or not -- are essential for a complete foundation for medical practice. Those include:

Anatomy & Physiology 1 & 2
Microbiology
Chemistry
Intro Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Intro Sociology
Communications
Algebra

Of course, you're going to end up needing English, History, and other non-science support courses to graduate. And they are equally important to your professional development. However, those are courses that are not immediately necessary for building your foundation for the medical courses. And they can easily be taken later on, even during paramedic courses, without being too much of a distraction from the medic courses.

You might, however, check into online classes for History and English, Sociology and Psychology, and even Algebra, if independent study works well for you. There is the potential to receive a quality education in the non-sciences through distance learning. And that would be a few less courses you'd have to worry about on down the line. And you wouldn't have to worry about dropping them if you get a PCS, deployment, or schedule change.

As for flight medic, I've never seen anyone requiring a BS in Health Science for a flight medic. The flight medic jobs seem to go to those with major street experience, serious educational credentials, and those who "know somebody". But it's pretty damn hard to find a street medic with a BS degree in anything, much less Health Sciences. If you follow the course recommendations I listed above, you're going to be qualified for almost any Nursing school, so that gives you an option that is much, much more likely to get you into the air than a degree that doesn't carry a license with it. There are some excellent BS degree programmes for paramedics, but unfortunately, there are others that are very poorly structured, resulting in little to no medical education beyond your initial paramedic education. If I'm hiring flight medics, your Health Services degree, which typically has a lot of non-relevant courses, is not going to be half as impressive as a BSN or Respiratory Care degree. And RTs who want to fly are in a lot more demand than nurses who want to fly. Combine that with your AAS in paramedicine, and you'd be at the very top of any hiring list. And hospital experience is really the only way to get the critical care education and experience you need to become a true critical care medic. Hopefully, you can get some of that while still in the Navy, depending upon your assignment. But working the base ambulance isn't going to do it, that's for sure.

That said, flight medic isn't as glamorous and sexy as it is made out to be by all the admiring rookies. That helicopter is just another ambulance. And the people on it frequently aren't any more qualified than the people on the street. They are frequently overused for too much BS by incompetent EMTs and medics who don't know how to properly triage or care for their patients. Consequently, a very large portion of your patients didn't even need your services, just like on the streets. A lot of flight nurses and medics die a horrible death every year flying total BS runs that should have never been dispatched in the first place. I've lost a few friends that way. There's nothing heroic about having your body ripped apart and incinerated over someone's whiplash wreck, leaving your family without you. It's at least as great a job as being a street medic, for sure. But I'm just saying to do some serious research into it before you get crazy pursuing that goal. All the sexiness wears off pretty quickly.

Best of luck, Greg! You've got a good while to go, so take your time and use it wisely. Map out a solid plan to establish the best educational foundation you can before entering medic school. Then never stop being a student. If I can help you with anything, shoot me a PM.

Alek

 

[BLSBoy]

Do a quick google search for EMT CEUs.
The military should pay for renewal of all licenses pertaining to your rate.

Fair winds and following seas, Shipmate!

 

[HNcorpsman]

thanks alek!! your help has been greatly appreciated!!! well... my reason for flight medic isnt really for the "sexiness" its more just a goal for me to get... i will decide later on if i really want to pursue that avenue or not. i figure its a profession where you need to be the best of the best... and i believe that flight medics are probably one of the best pre-hospital care technicians... sure there are plenty of street medics that might be better than some flight medics, but for the most part a flight medic is generally a better medic, not only because of experience and skill but because of the amount of education a flight medic needs in order to keep flying... thats the way i see it anyways... but your right i have ALOT of time before i can make my decisions... for right now im going to take your advice and start up on those classes... that is after i take my HM3 /E4 exam and get my FMF warfare device...

thanks alek!!!