Hi everybody! Thanks for allowing me to be in EMTlife and though I haven't posted much I learned a lot.
I was born in Israel in 1983 but I moved to Argentina when I was 10. I've been living in the Province of Neuquen (in the Patagonia region) and during a couple of years I lived on the Atlantic coast in the Province of Buenos Aires. Then back to Patagonia.
I worked seasonally in the US in summer seasons of 2004, 2006 and 2007. Spent most of my time in Alabama, California and New Jersey/New York.
I am a professional lifeguard and among my certifications I am a PHTLS Advanced Provider. I took it last year at UCLA Center for Pre-hospital Care / Daniel Freeman Hospital Paramedic School in Inglewood, CA. It was a great course I recommend to everybody. It was quite an experience for me though, since I took it obviously in English (my third language) and without even being an EMT-B! -My only training in Pre-hospital emergency medical care until then was AHA BLS, ARC first aid and ARC CPR/AED for the Professional Rescuer ("CPRO").
I would like to get a US working visa (longer than the 4-month one) in order to, among other things, become and EMT-B and later an EMT-Paramedic. Followed by a year round lifeguard job position in one of the 'big' agencies.
In the meantime I keep working seasonally and "counter" seasonally (summer in Argentina goes from December to April) skipping winters.
About EMS in Argentina... as I mentioned in some of my posts... It's as chaotic as the country general situation. Ambulances and ERs are equiped quite basically. Ambulances are staffed differently in three main levels:
-The most basic one is for patient transport only and almost never for emergencies. Staffed with a dirver and a "camillero" (stretcherer in Spanish).
-The next level is the most common one for emergencies. Equipped for BBLS (not a typo).
Staffed with a driver and a "camillero" and only sometimes a doctor.
-The most "advanced" one has usually an old defribilator and BLS equipment. These ambulances are more common in main urban areas. Staffed by a driver, a "camillero" and a doctor. (Neither of the three properly trained for pre-hospital care). Intubation is never done in the field here even if there's a doctor. Mainly becasue the budgets are really low.
There are some paramedic courses here and there but most are not recognized by the province / federal government. Even in those cases where one of those courses is recognized by the government, laws and equipment limitations don't allow a paramedic to work as such. So, a paramedic in Argentina (really a rare case) works as a "camillero" and is not allowed to do anything. Plus he/she will ride with the driver and the doctor.
Emergency vehicle driving training of any kind is provided to ambulance staff in Argentina (neither to police agents or firefighters).
Also, there are no professional firefighters in Argentina. In every province capital city and big cities the provincial police (equivalent to state police -there are no city/county LE agencies) has a fire division. So its firefighters are police agents with training in firefighting. Also, the Argentinean Federal Police and the Coast Guard have their own fire divisions. Their jurisdiction is limited to some ports and the nation's capital (city of Buenos Aires). Their firefighters are police/coast guard agents. (Similar to the Port Authority Police Dept. firefighters in NY/NJ).
In rural areas and small cities local volunteer fire associations are the providers of the service. Some volunteer fire assocs. are fairly equiped and have some kind of formal training. Other are poorly equiped and the rookie volunteers learn from the senior staff in a kind of "in-service training." Some volunteer assoications have Jr. Firefighters programs and these teenagers only assist the volunteers in big disasters in logistics.
Well... that is all for now. Comments and queries are welcome.
Guri