Recent content by Wayfaring Man

Depending on your budget, I sure have loved driving International TerraStars.

Unions are generally good for any place or time when management is potentially abusive. They're especially important in fields with high turnover or a large hiring pool. Without a union, employees have no recourse against the abuses of management, being fired or disciplined arbitrarily, having...

A master's degree would be a reasonable enough option if only because presently many medic programs are already 2 year degrees culminating in an associate's. One reason that myself and many other people have generally opposed degree requirements is that we already have degrees in other fields...

That's not really true. There is some non-fire EMS. I guess you could consider that "3rd Service" but for example CRS in Hagerstown is a private company, that is, it's not governmental. Additionally, as an update, Butler does run Paramedic and Nursing units, but only has a few out of...

I can't speak too much towards what you're looking at in terms of "zero to hero" status - have you used your EMT cert at all? Even as a volunteer? I was accepted into a medic program fresh out of EMT-B, but put it on pause because I wanted to learn more about what things looked like from the...

This right here is the part I absolutely agree with. The part about not needing to prove you're smart enough to slip an ET or an RSI, because the training and ability to perform those skills is enough to justify performing those skills (as avered by a standardized curriculum and accrediting...

Fair enough. I don't think those things are too much to ask except that education in general is still difficult for a lot of people. It's still unnecessarily burdensome in my opinion, but yeah, I agree with your assessment regarding the respect it would afford the field. Having a degree would...

Edit: What you're saying makes good sense. I don't agree, for the reasons I had written already which follow, but I definitely see your point. Having a "BS in Emergency Medicine" or something like that would definitely improve the image of an EMT to the public. I think EMS degrees should...

You've missed my point here. My point is not that level of training is unimportant, or that a degree is a problem. I have a degree, incidentally. I strongly agree that we need to maintain high standards of training. We need to enforce high levels of competency because lives are at stake. A...

This would be a great idea if there were ways to get degrees in the US without going through the for-profit education industry. It is a terrible condition our country is in where education requires thousands of dollars at least, often tens of thousands, for even 2 or 4 year degrees. Requiring...

After gaining my EMT certification from Maryland Fire & Rescue Institute through my volunteer VFD and taking NREMT, I am wanting to continue to move into EMS as a paying field. I recently was extended an interview for a commercial EMS operation near Baltimore. I've never interviewed in the...

Frdude1000 what do you know about ProCare Ambulance? I see them hiring basics out in the metro area but haven't heard if they're any good or not for IFT gigs.

This is the part I'm curious about. It's not necessarily a bad decision, but it's the wrong reason. I wouldn't turn down college education in order to pursue certification, especially when becoming a paramedic is basically an associates degree or equivalent anyways. Having a college education...

LACoGurneyjockey has it right on the money. The reason it's so available in Russia and throughout Europe is that it can be made with readily available, over the counter medications like Co-Codamol / Tylenol with Codeine and so on. Much like Sudafed is easily converted into meth, but with a...

In Hagerstown itself there's Community Rescue Service, Inc., which handles 911 for Hagerstown proper and some of the surrounding areas. My understanding, and maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong, is that Washington County does not have a county system like Frederick or Montgomery's DFRS...