Official Name for Driver

U

utah739

Forum Ride Along
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
1
So I was just wondering what is the official name of the ambulance driver, along with how long the training is.
 
A service in Albuquerque has set the official title of their Basics as EVO (Energency vehicle operator), as it shows what the baisc will normally be doing in 911 operations.
 
Underoath87 said:
?
That is the correct answer. I've never heard of someone driving an ambulance who wasn't at least an EMT (in the US, at least).
Click to expand...
We often have literal "ambulance drivers" around here. They're certified in EVO and CPR. That's it. The EMT just has to be attending in the back.
 
We used to have volunteer driver only people. CPR was the only requirement, EVOC was not deemed necessary.

We no longer have volunteers. While many agencies around us rely on reserve volunteers to augment their duty crews, we pay our per diem people to show them we value them and have much better results.
 
Underoath87 said:
?
That is the correct answer. I've never heard of someone driving an ambulance who wasn't at least an EMT (in the US, at least).
Click to expand...

DMV doesn't require having an EMT cert for ADL. The requirement for AOs is to acquire an EMT cert within a year from getting the ADL.
 
Qulevrius said:
DMV doesn't require having an EMT cert for ADL. The requirement for AOs is to acquire an EMT cert within a year from getting the ADL.
Click to expand...
And most states don't even have such a thing as an ADL
 
Why would anyone hire a driver when they can get an EMT for, what, $1 more? My old IFT company had drivers, but they didn't have any certs and could only drive the wheelchair van. They also made the same $9/h as the EMT's, which I found a bit insulting.
 
Underoath87 said:
?
That is the correct answer. I've never heard of someone driving an ambulance who wasn't at least an EMT (in the US, at least).
Click to expand...
There are many variances. Many places use EMTs to drive. Some have paramedics who drive. Some areas call them Ambulance Operators (fancy term for ambulance driver), although they are usually trained as EMTs also. Many volunteer organizations also have ambulance drivers, who do NOT have EMT training.

Even in California, you can get the Ambulance Drivers License without emt certification (although it is required witin 6 months or a year of employment)
 
Driver
Maybe EMT.
EMSVO.
Emergency Medical Services Vehicle Operator.
Con ed required to maintain your ability to operate an ambulance regardless of certification level. 1 con ed per year of certification cycle(so 2 for medics, 3 for EMT's).
Anyone else doing this?
 
EMT. You're either the Driver or the Attendant. You and your partner can switch out as desired. Some switch roles every other shift, some do so during shift, heck I've even seen the guy who drove to the call be the one who attended to the patient in the back before. Our ePCR's in the crewmember section have two checkboxes, one each for Driver and Documenter (the attendant documents the ePCR) for who did what To Scene, and then To Hospital next to each name block, and as long as both crewmembers are authorized drivers and you check the boxes properly, they don't care.

Every new EMT at my company is an Attendant only at first. We don't do drivers training during New Hire Orientation or during your 5 FTO shifts...typically after a month or two of being an Attendant only after training will they do EVOC and have an FTO ride shotgun with you while you drive (I wanna say it's 3 shifts..), only then are you cleared to be a Driver.

A lot of other companies here do the same way, hire on as an Attendant only at first then train you as a driver after a while. Others will do drivers training as part of new hire training. In either case the driver is still a certified/licensed EMT or Paramedic.

I worked for a fire department that hires Ambulance Operators. Each ambulance was staffed with two AOs, both certified EMTs, once again both able swap out as the driver or attendant. I only know of one FD around here that hired single role EMT AOs and paired them with a fire medic on the ambulance, but that department also staffed dual EMT-AO BLS only ambulances as well for lower level calls so being an Ambulance Operator for them didn't automatically consign you to driver only (though I heard that wasn't really popular amongst the crews and they may have since switched back to dual fire medic ALS ambulances with the BLS AO rigs, not sure though)
 
^ for fun, my partner and I will do "front half/back half"; one takes the first 6 hours, the other takes the last 6. We alternate on holdover.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top