Study: EMT-B students largely ignorant of the profession

[JPINFV]

http://www.emsresponder.com/print/Emergency--Medical-Services/Sowing-the-SEEDS/1$7284

Extracts:

Intermediate EMT licenses are not recognized in northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, the location of all the classes surveyed. Therefore, these 44 students either plan to relocate after completing their classes or have a gross misunderstanding of the levels of prehospital care workers in their areas.

Educators should explain to students the current job outlook in the geographic areas of their classes. This is especially critical given that 132 of the 203 students (65%) said they wanted to work for fire departments. The Chicago Fire Department currently has a waiting list of thousands of candidates, and many suburban fire departments only hire paramedics and individuals with firefighter certifications. A trend we've noticed at Loyola is the number of firefighters required to take EMT classes. Many of these individuals have little interest in working with the medical side of a fire department, preferring to focus on the firefighting aspects.

Many job opportunities for EMTs lie with private transport companies. Although 30% of students planned on this setting for employment, it is likely that a much higher percentage will ultimately work for one of these companies. These companies may not provide the action of fire departments, but they do provide employment, and frequently pay better than municipal agencies.

Another important topic to students is the financial implications of prehospital work. Our survey showed that 82% of students had expectations of receiving benefits from prehospital employment. According to a 2006 study, 51% of EMS organizations share medically related benefits with employees, 60% with employees' families, 49% have dental coverage, 61% offer life insurance, 41% short-term and 39% long-term disability, 58% have tuition reimbursement, and 84% have uniform reimbursement.2 In recent years there has been an increased focus on non-monetary benefits (e.g., paid time off).3 With retention of EMTs being difficult for many departments, these percentages may need to increase in order to continue to attract and maintain people.

When students were asked about the minimum salaries they would accept, 17% were willing to accept $15,000 or lower, 37% between $15,001–$25,000, 22% between $25,001–$35,000, 10% between $35,001–$45,000, and 6% expected $45,000 or greater. We felt these numbers were more in line with the reality a full-time EMT in the Chicagoland area could expect. Still, many students may have to settle for lower salaries than they'd anticipated. We wonder if high salary expectations are one of the factors pushing EMT students to consider becoming paramedics or entering other, more highly trained professions.

...and my personal favorite...

Finally, it is worth mentioning students who have plans to get RN or MD licenses. These students often have the greatest educational backgrounds. Many told us they are taking EMT classes because it is a part-time commitment that will boost their resumes. They may frustrate other students with their ability to rapidly understand lecture material and their familiarity with preparing for written exams. An instructor must develop strategies to intellectually inspire these students without overwhelming other students in the class.

With that last one, good luck inspiring advanced students with EMT-B class work.

 

[Eydawn]

Ain't it the truth!

JP, the one thing I do have to say regarding challenging those students with deeper educational backgrounds is that you can always bring more depth to your material. Sure, you might not be able to add much to the C-spine or splinting lectures... but for the person who gets the physiology already, you can make case presentation in the medical and trauma sector much more interesting.

As for people being frustrated in not knowing how to prepare for exams... assigning them to the more patient upper level students could be beneficial for both. I know I certainly understand material better after teaching it, so it wouldn't be a detraction to the patient kollege stoodent, and it would probably help those who can be helped (read, the EMT-B students who really want to learn and the rare firefighter who develops yen to understand more than just enough to pass the exam).

Then again you always get the slacker that expects someone to carry them through. For them, I'd pair them up once, and then tell them they're on their own until they bring some evidence of solo study....

Wendy
CO EMT-B

 

[JPINFV]

JP, the one thing I do have to say regarding challenging those students with deeper educational backgrounds is that you can always bring more depth to your material. Sure, you might not be able to add much to the C-spine or splinting lectures... but for the person who gets the physiology already, you can make case presentation in the medical and trauma sector much more interesting.

The problem, though, is balancing the material. On one hand, the instructor can't sacrifice class time trying to better the ones who get it if half of the class doesn't understand the basics. You don't want a situation where the instructor is talking to one or two students about a scenario/case and have that conversation 2-3 times above the heads of the rest of the class.

On the other hand, you can't excuse them from a part of the class or let them blatantly [i.e. study for another course] not pay attention because then you are giving preferential treatment to a few students. Sure, those students aren't the ones who are going to be hurting when it comes to exam time, but it doesn't help the instructor control the rest of the class. Unfortunately, the current setup isn't done in such a manner to allow testing out of segments like is available in advanced programs [e.g. the medical students at my school can test out of some of the 1st and 2nd year courses like biochemistry. Mind you, there isn't an hour requirement for medical school either like there is for EMS levels].