There were certain questions and comments posted that I wanted to address.
1. EMT's are worth more money and have many responsibilities due to the inherent risk of the profession. Such as becoming infected and being regulated by: a) National agency's such as the NREMT. b) State agencies that distribute licenses. c) County and city agencies which require specific education and licenses. d) DMV which requires a good driving record and special certification. If at any point there is a mistake on the job, all these licenses and certifications are at risk. Not to mention that all of these licenses and certifications cost LOTS of time and money to obtain and maintain.
There are plenty of trades, jobs, and careers that require national certification.
Same with B.
In regards to C, a couple hour system orientation course is hardly something to complain about.
D. The DMV doesn't require a good record. Private insurance companies require a good record.
In regards to your last sentence, it does not "cost lots of time" to obtain and maintain EMT (or paramedic for that matter) certification. One can be obtained in lest than a month, the other in less than a year. That hardly compares to RNs, where the minimum is essentially an associates degree, and quickly rising to a bachelors degree.
Finally, none of that significantly pushes the supply and demand curve towards the demand side, and none of that changes the focus of EMS away from being a fancy taxi ride (which plenty of EMTs and paramedics are more than happy with).
If being an EMT is such a low skill set, why are there so many government agencies regulating our profession? Being an EMT is NOT a low skill set.
In most cases there's 1, maybe 2 levels of government regulation. State and region/county regulation. That's hardly "so many." Furthermore, the vast majority of EMT interventions either aren't used, or are so simple that it's pretty much requires criminal negligence to truly screw up. You aren't going to kill anyone by giving too much oxygen and aspirin (the only other frequently used EMT level medication) pretty much requires criminal intent to cause an OD with. [/quote]
2. Many job posters and wanted ads have been very specific on the need for EMT's with EKG certification or ACLS/ PALS preferred. I have seen these ads specifically in CHOC and Western Medical Center.
1. When you have a bajillion and a half applications, you need some way to cut it down.
2. It's really not like the tech is interpreting the EKG (every place I've been it's been handed directly to a treating physician) or running codes.
3. The ROP program is around 160 hours of classroom, skills, and ride alongs. So yes, "ROP courses are even doing full time college level hours". And yes they do equal to college level science because you have to know anatomy and physiology to understand how interventions will effect people and how to name the site of injury. You can't tell a nurse, "the leg bone is broken".
Oh, please. I'll trade you EMT level A&P and you can take the anatomy course and the physiology course at UCI. Want to compare those two (because... ya know... I can).
Oh, wait... I had 90 hours of organic chemistry (60%, give or take, time wise). Since the EMT course is longer, it must be harder, right? I'm sure you can ace o-chem because... ya know... hours is the only thing that matters and the EMT course is at a college level.
4. I have been reading a lot of posts recently that state with an attitude that EMTs are disposable, low skill set, and lazy because all they do is drive patients through parking lots.
1. No one is calling EMTs "lazy" simply for being an EMT. There does come a point, however, when it's time to move up. The sooner... the better.
2. Being a "hospital transporter" at places like FV Regional Hospital (which, considering I grew up in FV, I know the hospital's layout) is disposable and is a very low skill set. It's literally taking a patient, putting them in an ambulance, and driving across a parking lot. There really isn't more to it.
3. Compared to just about anything else in medicine and health care, EMTs are a low skill set. If it was such a great skill set, why do so many EMTs glorify the "diesel bolus" for patient's that they're supposed to be trained to help. It's like a cardiologist punting heart patients to another field.
Stating questions like, why should EMT's be paid to do nothing? or Why should EMT's be paid more for no education? Having to re certify every 2 years and take an exam with a skills test every time I go for a job interview seems like a lot of education to me. No other health care provider must re certify their license every 2 years nor be tested at a job interview the way an EMT must. Nor do they have to pay so many agencies a fee to participate in their scope of practice.
1. You must not be familiar with hospital credentialing and privilege setting. It's not a skills test, but they'll scour over your education to ensure that you can properly perform any procedure you want to be allowed to do.
2. The last time I recerted my EMT, I did it though recert by exam. It took me 15 minutes.
